Interracial Marriage And Social Media

Interracial marriage has traditionally been viewed as a means of expressing a hatred of oneself, of escaping something in one’s culture or self that one no longer wants to identify with. Jacki Thompson Rand describes the outcome of this phenomenon in an essay on her experience as the child of an interracial marriage. She explains how her mother married a white man in an effort to make herself more white, and therefore more legitimate: “My mother 's marriage to my father was a racial love

For centuries human beings have been on a quest for love. As time has passed, this search has lead to mixing of races and resulted in interracial relationships, both long-term couples and casual dating.

I found my situation very thought-provoking that my family fell within the “51%” of African American kids that were raised by a single mother. Additionally, it was even more interesting that I fell within the “390,000” of black American male that is in an interracial relationship. Furthermore, Black Demographics (n.d.) states that “while black men marry white women at twice the rate of Black women, only 7% of married Black men had White (non-Hispanic) spouses in 2014. About 14% percent of African American men married non-Black or Hispanic women in 2014. It is Asian women who have the highest rates of intermarriage which is twice that of Black men”. As a result, the interracial relationship between black and white Americans has held strong.

In May 2005 ‘Navigating Interracial Borders’ was published by Erica Chito Childs. The article offers a refined and understanding analysis of the social and political context of interracial relationships in America. Childs explores the world of interracial couples and examines the ways that group attitudes shape relationships. Using her own personal experiences, interviews, group responses, as well as media sources, she provides compelling evidence which verifies that disapproval still exists toward black/white unions. However it is merely being shown in a more subtle manor.

In each generation, it seems as if there is always a very controversial issue. It usually varies from the legalization of marijuana or the lowering of the drinking age all the way to the views on abortions. However, one thing is clear, the issue on interracial relationships is still as controversial today as it was nearly fifty years ago. While times may have changed and society has gotten used to these interracial relationships, it’s still something that is being talked about regularly. Starting in the 1960’s, the issue on interracial relationships became more relevant. It sparked much controversy after a couple from Virginia was arrested for participating in an interracial relationship. The case, Loving versus Virginia, was taken to the

Interracial relationships are seen everywhere in America today. Even though they are common, the viewpoints in them are not. According to Social Psychology Quarterly, “perceived discrimination is often a defining feature of the interracial relationship among members of racial minority group, while perceived discrimination is less likely to be considered relevant among members of racial majority group” (Tropp). This states that the minority tends to see more discrimination toward them, thus this is going to be a major factor that will determine if they are in an interracial relationship. Therefore, the interracial relationships today are decided by both people in the relationship, and there are no punishments for being in one of these relationships. Society nowadays is accepting of interracial relationships. According to the book Elizabeth and Hazel Two Women of Little Rock, “By the spring of 1998 the sight of a white woman and a black woman together wasn’t all that odd” (Margolick 208). This quote fully demonstrates that people of different races are accepted to do activities

Over the years in America’s history there has been an increase in interracial relationship statistics. Passed research gives many reason for this increase but also gives reason for why the increase is at such a small percentage. In addition to that passed research studies individual’s views on the topics, which in turn assesses society’s perception on interracial dating and racial identity. Some studies such as Childs with Black women ignored the reasons for the perceived behavior of Black women compared to White women. In the current study the following questions will be explored: How does political conservatism influence individuals viewpoint on interracial relationships versus intraracial relationships? Does racial identity or an individual’s perception of another race correlate with their perception of interracial dating? Do interracial relationships cause unnecessary or more conflict than would be caused in an intraracial relationship? I hypothesize that political conservatism will negatively influence an individual’s viewpoint on interracial relationships versus intraracial relationships. I hypothesize that there is a correlation between racial identity and an individual’s perception of another race. I also hypothesize that interracial relationships do cause more conflict than intraracial

Interracial marriage can be defined as the union of two people of different racial or ethical background. Historically interracial marriage has been deemed as an issue in America. With the European powers in charge and a slave based economy, it was important to the early Americans to maintain control over their slaves by whatever means needed. Poor treatment of slaves was a common practice, which included miscegenation or interracial sexual activity, typically by rape. This continued all through US history even after the freeing of their slaves, a result of the US Civil War. Issues of interracial relationships and marriages were not brought to light until the African-American civil rights movements began to take place in the 1950s. (International Encyclopedia)

Interracial children have been born since the days in American when slavery took place. Many slave owners would rape their slaves and conceive children with them. Some slave

Marriages between African Americans and whites were prohibited by sixteen states, including Virginia, until the revolutionary United States supreme court case of Loving v. Virginia. Gunnar Myrdal illustrates in his essay, “Social Equality,” how society, specifically white men, felt about white women being romantically involved with black men. Ralph Ellison in his short story “Battle Royal,” gives an example of how African American men felt around white women before intermarriage was permissible. Before the case of Loving v. Virginia, various influential African Americans were in intermarriages. Today, miscegenation and/or interracial marriages are not only tolerable, but accepted by most United States citizens.

Diversity in cultures throughout the world can often create obstacles when developing relationships. However, despite years of desegregation, social and cultural differences still exist. One of the differences that still exist is the institution of marriage. This is especially true when it comes to the topic of interracial marriages. Which has been described as a marriage between members of two different races. Even though, it has not been that long ago since interracial marriage has been made legal throughout the entire United States. It continues to be one of the biggest conflicts in society today, considering everyone has their different viewpoints on the topic. Since these types of marriages are considered to be an exception rather than a norm, many couples continue to encounter various issues.

I will be exploring the sociological affects of interracial adoptions. One theory I will be applying to this topic is the double consciousness theory. Consciousness theory explains how we have different identities and how they may conflict with each other. An example of this would be when people point out that you are not the same race as your family. If you are adopted by a white couple , part of you believes that you are white . Your identity shifts when others outside the family mentions you are something else. Ideal Types is another theory I will be applying as well. In an ideal family the members are suppose to favor . For instance my Father and Mother were both blondes at one time ( my mother still is ) . My father has blue eyes and

In the book, The Color of Water, there were many events that have occurred throughout the story as well as conflicts that were involved at the time. Some events that occurred in the era at that time were the Black Panthers, the KKK, Malcolm X, being a Jewish immigrant, being a kosher, and etc. These events had a huge impact on how Ruth’s and James’ family came about and how they lived during those times. These occasions also affected the American society. With this in mind, to better understand the era in which events from The Color of Water took place, interracial marriage was a very crucial influence that occurred.

The two articles used were “Understanding the Occurrence of Interracial Marriage in the United States through Differential Assimilation” (Lewis, Ford- Robinson, 2010) and “Marital Dissolution among Interracial Couples” (Zhang, Van Hook, 2009). The first article “Understanding the Occurrence of Interracial Marriage in the United States through Differential Assimilation”, spoke about the unprecedented changes that our society is going though in the 21st century.

The success of an interracial marriage, to withstand all the prejudices in society, needs one major ingredient, and that is love. One of the hardest things an interracial couple has to deal with is acceptance from both their families and society. Interestingly, though, Interracial marriages tend to last longer than same race ones because people going into interracial marriages are prepared for a rocky road and are prepared to stick with it, while same race couples may have not experienced that same adversity, and at the first sign of struggle, back out of the marriage. This obviously tells us that whether the marriage is a success or not does not depend upon the races of the partners, or at least not in the way everyone thinks it does. It is obvious that people in general are becoming more open minded and accepting of interracial marriages, however, there still are many social taboos that prevent people from being in such a marriage. Society tends to concentrate on skin color when