Public Attitudes Of Interracial Relationships

American attitudes toward interracial marriage illustrate an “awkward historical moment” because after the interracial marriage law changed, one would think black/white marriages are common but they are the least. Over the years, interracial marriages has increased by a few percent, mainly from other races that are not black/white. In America, racism still exist even when laws are changing.

Therefore society’s views have changed about interracial relationships. Their changing views are evident because once the African Americans become accepted into society, that means that interracial relationships are not far behind. Therefore, interracial relationships have been an issue in America but this issue is slowly decreasing.

America’s population has become more diverse within the years ethnically and culturally, which created opportunities for individuals from different backgrounds to engage in more romantic relationships. In the past society followed the social norms, with accepting the racial boundaries in dating and marriage. Interracial dating has had consequences that included family rejecting and social ridicule, which is still prevalent today, just not as much.

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).

Being in an interracial relationship made me realize how blind I once was. In society, people have mixed views on it. Being in a different race relationship you are exposed to different ethnicities cultural and religions. From my point of view, I learned a lot in my own relationship, from my partner’s religion, and I can honestly say it’s neat and powering. I thought I would never be in an interracial relationship myself, but from time moved forward it happened I didn’t think anything about it. Whenever I people would ask me what kind of race is he I would say black, they would respond with “wow he is black” my thoughts would be confused. To me, it’s normal nothing new, but his skin color. It’s just like any other person in this world, why define an interracial couple if they’re the same on the inside?

Are you tired of hearing, you should love, date, and marry within your own kind? I mean c’mon people. It’s been decades—even centuries—and it seems like society’s acceptance of interracial marriages is still very much frown upon. Since my arrival here in the United States, in the early 80s till even now, I have been told, by my parents, aunts, uncles, and relatives, to stay away from other ethnic groups because they don’t understand our people, our language, our tradition, and our way of life. I would argue that we no longer live in Laos and we need to limit ourselves to old traditions or superstitions. That there are some many benefits, in America, to marrying someone of another race and culture. Some of the main benefits would be to break the racial barriers of discrimination, lessen hate crimes, and create a safer environment for our children, whether of mixed cultures or not.

Society’s perceptions place greater stress on interracial couples. Americans have a strong need to categorize and segregate. Even modern American society is obsessed with whiteness and the exclusion of anyone who is not of Anglo descent. This creation of a caste system sustains the high status of the White majority and oppresses minorities. Social norms declare that one must be American and White in order to be considered normal; non-Whites are abnormal, un-American, and physically and mentally inferior to Whites (Grapes). Moreover, skin color stratification gives those with lighter skin privilege and preferential treatment. This social norm of discrimination based on skin color further pits races against each other and introduces racial

Outside forces can place significant stress on interracial couples because of differences of race and skin color. In the movie, Guess Who, Simon Green (Ashton Kutcher) boss Nathan tells him not to marry his girlfriend Theresa Jones (Zoe Saldana) who is African American because he believes his clients would disapprove of her race. As a show of his love for his fiancé, Simon decides to quit his job and not let the outside forces intervene in their relationship. If Simons boss (Nathan) would have taken the time out to get to know Theresa, maybe he would not have disapproved of her and Simon getting married. However, Simon boss allowed his prejudice towards Theresa Jones to cause a rift between him and Simon. Although Simon chooses love over employment,

I begin this study with a review of contemporary literature on the topics of interracial dating, diversity in schools and communities cross group friends, and individual’s perspective of attitudes and beliefs on interracial relationships. Next, I outline the methods used in this study and reveal its results:

We are an insensible society. We jump at the chance to trust that bigotry is a relic of days gone by; this is a long way from reality. We, the general public, love to play imagine. We jump at the chance to trust in the uprightness and virtue of this general public. Interracial marriage is legitimate; we have pioneers of shading, and believe that anybody, regardless of what shading they are, can be anything they accomplish. Yes, we have come some routes as a general public, yet at the same time, glance around. Prejudice runs wild through urban and rural lanes alike, bringing about racial strains to flare and many to question how far we have truly originated from the times of subjection. These pressures can be viewed as in America, we saw the most transparently bigot president hopeful turn into the president of the United States of America.

Sometimes couples can be frown up on. Interracial relationships will experience a wide range of reactions to their relationship in public. This can include rude stares, bad comments, and mean gestures. People may be afraid on how to treat interracial couples. Maybe it is a personal decision. Many people was taught as a kid to be prejudice. Even though, the United States is diversity, society has not come to term on interracial

The causes of interracial couple conflicts are stemmed from many sources. One source in which conflicts arise comes from members of society. The views on non-Blacks and Blacks interracial marriage is frowned upon. Although interracial marriage is more common members of society are not fully in agreement with these mixed unions and there are opposing views on the idea of society acceptance of this union. For example, in the article by Batson et al. research findings examined explanations that social relationships and arrogance in American society intensely suggest a strong Black and non-Black racial gap. The implication for Blacks in American society is that interracial marriages with Whites will continue to be less common than they are for other non-Black racial minorities (2006). Discrimination against interracial couples doesn’t just end there, discrimination occurs at restaurants and other public areas, people stare as if they had just seen a ghost. Sixty-four percent of African American and Caucasian interracial couples experience undesirable public reaction. This negative response can be moderately minor, such as stares, but can also take the form of derogatory jokes and comments, and subpar services (Leslie & Letiecq, 2004).

Racial and ethnic perceptions affect nearly everyone on this planet. These perceptions play a major role on the statuses of individuals associated with the labels. Native Americans are not an exception from this. For centuries they have been the victim of many racial stereotypes and this has greatly affected their status as American citizens. Currently they account for 1.2 percent of the U.S. population compared to whites who make up 62 percent of the population (Broman Review). This small percentage of the population is even more alarming when you analyze how white’s racial and ethnic perceptions of Native Americans made it so that they are greatly underrepresented in many social institutions. From education to employment Native Americans have for centuries been subject to harmful racial and ethnic perceptions.

Lewis and Ford begin by pointing out the Civil Rights movement that began in the 1960’s which acted as a jumpstart to the more diverse institution that we now know today. The article conveys that although there is a significant difference between interracial marriage and interracial dating – there has been a tremendous increase in both in the past several decades. A study and chart done by the U.S Census Bureau in 2004 shows, that there was a 26% increase of White/Other marriages from the 1980’s to the 1990’s; where in the 1990’s to the 2000’s there was a significant 72% increase. The chart also shows a drop in interracial marriages where Black/White marriages from the 1980’s to the 1990’s was 38% to a smaller 31% from the 1990’s to the 2000’s. The chart seems to show a significant trend in dating habits over the last few years, which is something that I was not expecting to see.

Relationships formed by two ethnicities can create a union between different cultures such as Asian, Hispanic, African American, American, and many others. One factor that comes from these relationships is children. Adolescents, whether they are involved in or are the product of mixed race couples, are negatively affected by interracial relationships. In result of these relationships, those adolescents face social, emotional, and cultural issues. Those issues include receiving social backlash from those around them, experiencing an identity crisis, and receiving neglect from their families.