The Importance Of Interracial Marriage

Interracial marriage was a very tough topic not very long ago, and most of the nation has grown to accept it. The Supreme Court delivered a verdict in favor for couples to marry interracially in 1967, they stated that the laws to prevent interracial marriage was nothing more than an attempt "to maintain white supremacy" (Stoddard 413). The United States Supreme court concluded that laws against interracial marriage served no purpose other than discrimination, and that they should be eliminated. The gay rights movement has become very similar to controversy about interracial marriage. The problem is of whether or not same sex marriages should be legitimate in the United States. In the aforementioned case, the Supreme Court ruled that marriage

Traditionally, people have believed that when a person marries outside of their race, they do so as a way to escape from their race, culture, or traditional beliefs. In contrast, popular culture theorizes that interracial marriages are motivated not by a desire to leave behind one’s heritage, but by love between two people who happen to be of different races. In this paper, I seek to analyze and compare these two perspectives, proposing a theory that combines the two by accounting for a person’s upbringing and beliefs when deciding what their motivation may be. I first analyze the traditional belief of interracial marriage in comparison to the popular culture belief and present my theory combining the two. I then analyze the effect of dominant versus nondominant culture on motivations, and use examples from popular culture to look at the effect a person’s culture and upbringing can have their motivations for marriage. Lastly, I explain how my perspective will affect the way I live my life.

The community has a great impact on mate selection and family formation (McGoldrick, 1998). Molina et al., (2004) argue that communities serve as proxies for extended families in many societies and are extremely important in bringing intercultural couples together. People who are in intercultural relationship must understand that there will be challenges and obstacles from others that are against interracial or intercultural relationships. If the relationship is valuable to them then they will be able to over come adversity such as prejudice and discrimination and a host of other negative challenges they may occur.

Historically, interracial families’ were a taboo in the United States and many other countries. In the 1960’s, the civil rights movement caused the country to move

It was the interracial marriages which made many states change their legislation, lift bans on interracial marriages and made amendments to the existing laws by showing acceptability and leniency to interracial romance. There have been reported cases where individuals from different racial background got married and lost acceptance from both the social groups which made them suffer a great deal. However, over the period of time, their relationship gained acceptance.

Individuals in the relationship can feel pressure in regards introducing their partner to family members. Bringing someone outside of the family’s origin, religion and traditional values for many can be deemed as stressful. Although the individual involved in the relationship is open and accepting; many find their family members to be rooted with particular views, and are skeptical and unwelcoming to the partner of the relationship. For many, living in a country such as Canada has made the opportunity of an interracial marriage and/or relationships acceptable and achievable for them, yet still hold feelings of guilt knowing the disapproval of family members living in their country of origin. (University of Toronto Scarborough: Infinitom,

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).

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.

Regardless of our social rhetoric of color-blindness, when it comes to choosing a spouse we seem to be remarkably aware of color, at least we were legally for more than 200 years and despite legal permission, society still exacts a social opinion on the matter. Law professor Rachel Moran examines this issue in Interracial Intimacy: The Regulation of Race and Romance and argues that the promise of racial justice is tied to integrating our most personal relationships. It is not that interracial marriages will solve the race problem in the United States. However, Moran argues that the lack of them is an indication of the strength of the problem and that they are

In 1982, Bernice and James met while studying at university in Belgium. Bernice was born in Belgium and raised by white Catholic parents, while James grew up in Nigeria in a traditional black, Christian family. They decided to get married, but both families had their concerns. Three years later, both families learned to embrace and celebrate their cultural differences. They were married in 1985, and enjoyed a Christian ceremony followed by traditional African dancing and festivities. Neither family were ‘racist’, but where making judgements based on their unintentional racial bias. (Interracial Couples Speak Out).

Marriage is the joining together of two people to become a whole to give themselves to each other, a very sacral affair. There are people that do not care about the color of someone’s skin or their cultural background and only focus on the love they feel for the other. While others do want to have a loving bond with another human but do not want to go outside of their race or cultural upbringing. Either way of thinking is perfectly acceptable, because like I stated before we are all entitled to our own beliefs and thoughts. While the generations are becoming younger the thought of a time when interracial marriage was against the law is hard to comprehend. While some of the older generation is having trouble comprehending interracial marriage. It does not mean that they are raciest towards others, they can still love one another, but would rather when it comes to marriage have it between the same race. No one is at fault, each generation grew up in a time when thinking was different. Older generations grew up and were taught that marriage was between a man and a woman each from the same race or cultural background. That marring outside of these boundaries was not even a thought. Now today’s generations were brought up seeing interracial marriage as a normal occurrence, that marriage should not be defined by the color of one’s skin or cultural

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

Since the nineteenth century began, the American family has gone through many changes. Among the many changes that researchers have studied, a few of these changes have been very apparent. The evolution and structure of American households have never seemed to be more diverse than they are now in these modern times. Families have become more racially, religiously, and ethnically diverse (Angier, 2013). Although some still frown upon it, one marrying another person of a different race is much more common and accepted now. Individuals of different religions will marry one another and find ways to make it work. People from different cultures have also come together and formed families. Overall, today’s society seems to be much more accepting than in the beginning of the nineteenth century.