Interracial Marriage Should Be Permitted Or Rejected

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.

America’s views on biracial individuals can be dated back to slavery when slaves were forced to bear the children of their masters. These children were referred to as mulatto, meaning “the offspring of a "pure African Negro" and a "pure white”(Davis), and their treatment was often based on the complexion of their skin; if they had fairer skin, they were sent to work in the master’s house and were often times treated

Love has a lot to do with race it has a way of bringing out both good and bad in some people and unfortunately in some cases the issues of love and race are taken too far. In today’s society it is not as much of an issue to see interracial couples together as it used to be in the past, but that does not mean that it is not still an issue for some people. Throughout the semester we have studied different ways that not only in the cases of love but also family, friendship, and community are affected by racial issues both past and present, which only goes to show that racism still exists in our world today despite all of the progressions that we have made towards fixing the issue.

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 the article “Interracial Intimacy: The Regulation of Race & Romance, Antimiscegenation Laws and the Enforcement of Racial Boundaries,” Rachael E. Moran writes about the problems blacks and Asians experienced in regards to sex, marriage, and family. Laws were created addressing interracial sex and marriage with the goal of keeping whites superior to all other races. Blacks and Asians encountered many restrictions regarding whom they could marry and have sexual relations with. Meanwhile white males were allowed to associate with black females, black males were punished for having any relationship with white females. Restrictions on sex and marriage were also evident for Asians. From all the Asians, Chinese were the ones who suffered the most as a result of these laws. Since many Chinese men were not able to bring in their wives or marry women from different races, they had no other choice than to live lonely lives. The results that these laws generated left both blacks and Asians to have undesirable personal lives.

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

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

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.

Throughout time, there were changes to the way Whites looked at African Americans, learning they related more than they had thought. The civil rights movement was a big game changer to the way everyone looked at each other. “It was not until the civil rights movement of the 1960 's that a profound national policy was developed to address racial injustice. What has emerged is a complex and uneven pattern of addressing racial discrimination in the areas of housing, employment, political participation, and social recognition.” “Although racial relations between whites and blacks remain strained, there is far more common ground than in previous decades. The races associate with far more frequency in the workplace. An increasingly greater percentage of persons of each race know someone of the other race who they regard as a fairly close personal friend. There are an increasing number of mixed marriages and the social disapproval of them has declined astoundingly”. (Race and Ethnic Policy Issues)

Have you ever wonder what I would be like to be restricted by law on who you could marry because of their race? Imagine, a world where you fell in love with someone that was of a different race than yourself and then not being allow to marry them because the law forbid it. In the United States this was often the case. There were states laws in various states, that prohibited miscegenation, which simply put was the interbreeding of people considered to be of different races. Miscegenation were laws that enforced racial segregation of marriage and intimate relationships by making interracial marriage a criminal offense. These laws were initially introduced in North America in the late seventeenth century onwards. In this paper, I will attempt

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).