Interracial Marriage

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

The musical Showboat acted as hammer in 1927 because of its ability to revolutionize musical theatre by presenting topics such as racism, interracial romance, and marital heartbreak as well as changing the course of musical theatre.

Richard and Mildred Loving, a biracial couple, changed millions of lives in 1976 when they triumphed in the federal case, “Loving vs. Virginia” at the Supreme Court. Their case ended the anti-miscegenation laws created in the 1930s which outlawed interracial marriages. Nearly fifty years later, the U.S Census shows that there were 2.3 million interracial marriages in 2007 which is seven times the number calculated in 1970. This figure, many would say, is a sign of hope for a society has become more accepting and less racist. But how realistic is that idea? Many minorities still face racism and constant oppression every day of their lives. As our culture is constantly forming and changing, there emerge issues with how we understand race and ethnicity. While the concept of race is simply a social construct, with no real science behind it, its societal repercussions are entirely real due to the challenges that comes with it. This system of classification has progressed through centuries and led to the social, economic, and political prejudice against people of color, and further, has institutionalized racism to and systematized the oppression of these people.

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.

According to Paul R. Spickard, “race is derived from an individual’s ‘physical features, gene pools and character qualities’” (Chávez and DiBrito 40). Counselors Gita Seshadri and Carmen Knudson- Martin define race as the “social identification attached to physical traits such as skin and hair color, despite huge variations among people that are considered a part of a particular racial group” (44). In that case, what is considered to be an interracial relationship? Rose M. Kreider of the Census Bureau defined an interracial relationship as one in which the spouses are “identified as falling into different categories where the choices are: American Indian, Asian, Black, White and Hispanic” (11).

The purpose of this study was to investigate college students’ perceptions o couples engaged in interracial romantic relationship compared to college students’ perceptions of couples engaged in romantic relationships with individuals of the same race/ethnicity. Also, adult college students drawn from the graduate population of a publicly supported, historically Black university and one private, Baptist University will serve as subjects as well. The researcher of this study predicted there will be a substantial difference in the perceptions of couples engaged in interracial relationships as oppose to same race relationships amongst these college students. Also stated that these differences might be affected by age, gender and education level of these participants.

According to the U. S. Census Reports, interracial marriages have more than tripled between 1980 and today. There are currently 1.6 million interracial marriages in the United States, and that figure is continuing to grow (Duru, 2012). Statistics show that over 70% of American society has no problem with mixed race relationships, and 40% of Americans have already dated someone of another ethnicity. For the most part relationships between people of different races are no different from the interactions between people of the same race (Duru, 2012).

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 marriages are still considered taboo in many countries in the world and even in the United States. While the opportunity to marry whoever one desires is a reality in America, it is not always common and sometime frowned upon in our communities. Much progress has been made as a country to allow interracial marriages to be successful, but the American population has had difficulty accepting the legal development that has taken place in our nation. Interracial Marriage has been fought throughout our history but is not an unethical relationship in fact it creates avenues to expand our diversity as a human race.

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.

The Bronzes had sent their daughter to a pajama party at a Black families place.

As of 2009, a Pew Research Center survey found that just 6 percent of whites and 3 percent of blacks said they could not accept a black-white interracial marriage within their own family. The increase in the proportion of marriages that are interracial reflects a general decrease in overt racism in the United States over the last several decades. Although overt racism has declined, many researchers believe that individuals express their negative attitude toward other races through “aversive racism,” personally avoiding members of other races while publicly supporting racial equality (Kleinpenning & Hagendoorn, 1993). Aversive racism might include a public acceptance of interracial dating in general, but a personal preference for only dating within one’s own race. This led us to our research question, which is, “Why are there differences between personal attitudes and general attitudes on interracial dating?”

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 law forbidding interracial marriage was terminated in 1967, and in the midst of rapid racial change, one fact is unmistakable: A growing number of Americans are showing that we all can get along by forming relationships and families that cross all color lines. In the past couple decades, the number of interracial marriages has increased dramatically. Interracial dating and marrying is described as the dating or marrying of two people of different races, and it is becoming much more common to do so. Thirty years ago, only one in every 100 children born in the United States was of mixed race. Today, the number is one in 19. In some states, such as California and Washington, the number is closer to one in 10 (Melting Pot).