The Debate of Interracial Marriages and the Unseen Barriers of Relationships

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

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.

Using the 2008 Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES), Whites’ attitudes towards dating, cohabiting with, marrying, and having children with African Americans and Asian Americans was studied. It was found that 29% of White respondents reject all kinds of relationships with African Americans and Asian Americans, while 31% endorse them. Second, Whites are less willing to marry and start a family within an interracial relationship than to date interracially. These attitudes and behaviors are related to political conservatism, age, gender, education, and region. Third, White women are likely to approve of interracial relationships for other people but not for themselves. White men however, express more willingness to engage in such relationships

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

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.

The first black president, the world’s best golfer, or twins that we grew up watching; Barack Obama, Tiger Woods, Tia and Tamera Mowry, besides from being in the light of superstardom, they are each a child of a interracial marriage. In the 21st century there are approximately 1.6 million interracial relationships or interethnic marriages, with the marriages making up 3% (Troy, Lewis-Smith, & Laurenceau, 2006). Interracial relationships over generations have changed from the way society has viewed them. As early as the 1600’s legislation has been banning black and white interracial marriages, and this law has stayed in place until 1967, and Alabama being the last place to maintain the law until 2000 (Troy, Lewis-Smith, & Laurenceau, 2006).Years ago white women and black men were severely punished for engaging in sexual relations, however the white male power was not threatened by exploiting black women nor by a black woman having their baby (Childs, 2005). In contrast, a white woman who gave birth to a black man’s baby, would be considered polluting the purity of the white race; thereby including racial boundaries and the power of white man (Childs, 2005). Irony as times progressed in 1993, there were 246,000 black-white marriages an 163,000 of these were between black men and white women (Childs, 2005).

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

The world is filled with a diverse array of cultures and ethnicities, and these are surrounded by biases that developed over generations. The current events in the news show that there is still a strong issue in the United States with regards to someone’s race and sexual orientation. This is not to say that everyone maintains the same biases within their respective cultures, but nevertheless the stigmas associated with certain types of people tend to linger. With regards to ethnic background nearly two decades ago seeing an interracial couple was not the norm, but today this is a common occurrence. Although it has become a more common occurrence the older generations of people tend to frown upon such things based on their cultural and

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 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).