Interracial+Marriages

**__ Interracial Marriages __** What is interracial marriage? Interracial marriage is when two people of different racial backgrounds get married which can often result in interracial children. The mixing of the two racial groups is known as miscegenation. The occurrence of these interracial marriages has progressively increased over the past few decades in America according to the most recent U.S. census statistics. Although interracial marriages are often looked past in America today, there are many stigmatisms assumed to apply to the union of people from different cultural or racial backgrounds. People of both backgrounds have been known to disapprove and frown upon such decisions and at times there are serious measures taken to ensure no interracial relationships occur in some cultures. In regards to some cultures they will purposely move into neighborhoods that are less diverse and less integrated in order to ensure there is no interracial interaction. With the increasing diversity in the United States there are projected estimates of how many interracial marriages there are and how those numbers will more than likely increase in the next few decades. In the 2000 census there was a recorded 570,919 interracial marriages with twenty percent of them being between White men and African American women. The other portions of the statistic include people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds all with considerable differences in self-identification.
 * Megan Holmes**
 * [[image:mildred_jeter_and_richard_loving.jpg]] ||

Interracial marriage and racism Children of interracial marriages are believed to have the benefit of being exposed to multiple cultures and experiencing different ways of life from both sides of their family. While being exposed to multiple cultures these children are at times discriminated against by people of both races and often deemed outsiders. They are often targets for racial slurs, taunting, and ridicule from their peers as well as members of their own families. Their discrimination can be just as detrimental as any other especially the ridicule they may face from their own relatives. Most would attribute the success and increase to interracial marriages to the success of the Civil Rights Movement and its’ impact on America’s view of interracial interaction. After the progressive movements throughout the Civil Rights Movement many people changed their opinion of Whites and African Americans dating and engaging in extramarital courting as well as Whites and other races. 16 states within the U.S. maintained laws that prohibited interracial marriages until 1967 when the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional based on the equal protection clause in the Fourteenth Amendment. The abolishment of these laws served as a gateway to the acceptance and exploration of different cultures in the aspect of marriage and procreation. Even today in a poll constructed in Mississippi 46% of republicans surveyed to believe that interracial marriage should be illegal.

Interracial Love Most interracial couples will not attribute their love to the color of their skin, but they will admit that it has contributed to their interest and continued intrigue in their partner. Unlike past decades where most people were very bothered by the idea of interracial relationships, let alone marriage statistics show that approximately 77 percent of Americans approve of interracial marriages whereas only 17 percent disapprove. Theorists believed that interracial marriages would have to be less successful because of the lack of commonality or shared characteristics, but it is found to be untrue. Interracial marriages have similar dissolution rates to endogamous marriages despite their uncommon backgrounds and their differences in cultural tradition or beliefs. This theory was developed on the idea of members of the marriage living with the fear of “crossing the line” and allowing their differences to drive a wedge in their compatibility. Couples involved in interracial marriages or relationships believe that there are boundaries but that their boundaries are no different from those involved in endogamous relationships. As stated this is a disproven fact but yet still debated by many theorists to be true. African American families are just as likely as White families to be disapproving when encountered with the idea of an interracial marriage with the fear of their child wanting to disown their heritage and deny their racial background instead of viewing it as them being open enough to try and learn to accept another. Along with parental hesitancy there are many cultural stigmas that are attributed to women of a certain culture as well as men of a certain culture. African American women often feel let down when they find that an African American man wants to marry or date a White woman, while most White women are not as concerned.

Interracial Marriages and Sex It seems that some people involved in interracial relationships and marriages see their relationships as being unfair in regards to their social role. Involving the social role or relationship role of the man and the woman an African American woman is most likely to see her role in the relationship as being unfair when in a relationship with a White man. Theorists account this to be a common misconception of believed gender roles in any relationship. Most African American families associate the characteristics of femininity and masculinity with both male and females whereas Whites were more likely to designate chores and household duties based on gender rather than accounting for their child’s maturity or perceived abilities. Based on the confusion of gender based roles in a relationship there was no direct correlation found to discredit the actual satisfaction of the sex lives of these interracial couples but it definitely accounts for some intercultural differences.

References:

Carroll, J. (2007). Most Americans Approve of Interracial Marriages: Blacks more likely than whites to approve of black-white unions. // Gallup Poll Briefing //, 7-10. Retrieved from EBSCO// host //.

Davidson, J. R. (1992). Theories About Black-White Interracial Marriages: A Clinical Perspective. // Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development //, 20(4), 150-157.

Frayer, Lauren. (2011). 46 Percent of Mississippi Republicans Want Interracial Marriage Banned. [Electronic Version]. AOL News. Forry, N. D., Leslie, L. A., & Letiecq, B. L. (2007). Marital Quality in Interracial Relationships. // Journal of Family Issues //, 28(12), 1538-1552.

Henderson, S. (2007). Is LOVE Becoming COLOR BLIND?. // Ebony //, 62(5), 147-152.

Khloe and Lamar Odom. [Image]. Retrieved from []

 Lewis, R., & Ford-Robertson, J. (2010). Understanding the Occurrence of Interracial Marriage in the United States Through Differential Assimilation. // Journal of Black Studies //, 41(2), 405-420. doi: [|10.1177/0021934709355120]

Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving. [Image]. Retrieved from []

Norment, L. (1985). A PROBING LOOK A CHILDREN OF INTERRACIAL MARRIAGES. // Ebony //, 40(11), 156-162.

Pooch Hall and Wife Lauren. [Image]. Retrieved from []