Navigating Interracial Borders Summary

In the story, “I Never Dated A White Girl,” Lawrence Otis Graham (1996) talks about how racial issues in a society plays a role in interpersonal relationships. He provides a few accounts on why some blacks still oppose to interracial dating. One account claims that when a black leader marries outside the race, he or she demonstrates less commitment to the black community. An example he provided was the popular black U.S. congressman Adam Clayton Powell who married a non-black women. Powell used his light complexion to advantages during his college education and lied about his racial background. A second account claims that intermarrying blacks are making a statement to both communities that black spouses are less desirable partners than whites,

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.

The trends in publicly celebrating and affirming the racial identities of multiracial individual’s shows hope for the “loosening of racial boundaries” (91). But what does that mean for children of mixed-race unions who have their own children? As Lee and Bean stated in this article, the continued shifting of the color line throughout history, with who is considered white and who is not, it is likely that “boundaries may continue to stretch to include newer groups” (88). For children of mixed-race unions who have their own children, especially Asians and Latinos, that means that they could be considered white instead of nonwhite. I believe that with our growing diversity as a nation, due to increasing intermarriage between different groups, that there will be an expansion the definition of who is considered “white” but that it will also create a more rigid boundary for those who are black. This would definitely be the case with the

More subtly, interracial marriages are increasingly recognized as epitomizing what our society values most in a marriage: the tri- umph of true love over convenience and prudence. Nor is it surprising that white-Asian marriages outnumber black-white marriages: the social distance between whites and Asians is now far smaller than the distance between blacks and whites. What's fascinating, however, is that in recent years a startling number of nonwhites -- especially Asian men and black women -- have become bitterly opposed to intermarriage. This is a painful topic to explore honestly, so nobody does. Still, it's important because interracial marriages are a leading indicator of what life will be like in the even more diverse and integrated twenty-first century.

This week’s readings focus on the boundaries drawn among different racial and ethnic groups in the United States that have evolved over time. In her investigation, Mary Waters found that white middle-class Americans, who are descendants of early European immigrants, have achieved normative racial status and symbolic ethnicity through economic mobility and intermarriage. Contemporary multi-racial identity also emerged as a result of intermarriage across racial lines. However, unlike the “multi-ethnic” whites, contemporary multi-racial individuals do not claim symbolic ethnic or racial identity but are struggling to establish their racial identity as a tangible concept. The different experiences of multi-ethnic whites and multi-racial Americans

Interracial families are becoming more and more prevalent in the United States. While parenting a biracial child may have its positives and negatives, a constant is the subject of “race” will be brought up in their family. Biracial children and their parents may face many challenges along the way with self-identity which may impose a factor in the way the function as a family unit. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2010), interracial families grew to over 2.9 million from 1.7 million in 2000. Over a 30 year period this number has tripled. As a result, the number of mixed-race children grew at a rate 26 times faster than any other group in the U.S. (Lee &

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 history of interracial relationships in America is a painfully loaded issue which is still evolving in the consciousness of the 20th century. Because the first instances of sexual integration occurred under the institution of slavery, our understanding of them is necessarily beset with dominance, violence, and rape. Interracial relationships and the children they produced became another manifestation of power relationships between whites and blacks in our contorted social atmosphere. Even to the present day, interracial relationships are often looked upon as being propelled by impure motives and

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

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?”

Interracial marriages also are greatly affected family and whether they accept or reject the union. In the article “Understanding the Occurrence of Interracial Marriage in the United States Through Differential Assimilation” the authors talk about the social acceptance of interracial marriages and how it is “assimilated” within society. They talk about how families are a key factor in acceptance of interracial marriage:

To explains one’s attitudes towards interracial dating, many studies consider race to be the one of the primary factors that explains how people of different races tend to act differently. A way a person acts is not primarily because of their race, but instead of their personal experiences. This illustrates that attitude is greatly influenced by an individual’s personal experiences. Based on race, both African-Americans and Caucasians have different experiences and learned behaviors. This is illustrated in a 1985 study, which showed that African Americans in general, particularly African-American women preferred interracial dating than Caucasian. However, Caucasian men preferred interracial dating more than women. One particular question that arose from this study 1) Is gender more important than race in explaining attitudes toward interracial dating?

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

An article about interracial marriages states, past discrimination and the threat of future discrimination of grandchildren pushes families away from the thought of interracial unions of their own children. When someone has experienced discrimination because of the color of their skin, it makes them less likely to accept interracial marriage for their children (Interracial Marriage, 2014) . These families that feel this way can also change their minds when they see how accepting people are becoming to interracial unions. As new generations are growing up, research has shown an increase in the tolerance for these types of relationships. Young Americans use social media for everything and with the advertisement of positive interracial marriages, they follow and accept. When families find the realization that love comes in all different ways, they have a better understanding and can accept without judging. Just as this article about family intolerance being overcome state's, “Patience and perseverance,

The book Interracial relationship was created by David M. Haugen, it explores interracial relationships from many viewpoints. The writers are journalist and give perspectives from those who have experienced interracial relationships and marriages. It has 12 chapters that goes in depth with how interracial relationships are consider more acceptable, the entertainment industry and interracial relationships, interracial marriages and racism and a black women’s response to interracial dating and marriages. Interracial relationships and marriages are increasing and being consider acceptable but it still has been seen as an indication of racial assimilation in America. Teens and young adults are willing to try interracial relationships but are afraid of being judge. Many believe that the reason