Interracial Relationships in To Kill a Mockingbird Essays

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.

Interracial relationships have become more and more frequent as racial and ethnic groups are now closer and mixed in modern society. Although the number of interracial relationships is increasing, couples are still thought to be different than intra-racial couples. Interracial couples are less stable than intra-racial couples and 1.21 more times the risk of divorce (Zhang and Van Hook, 2009). This is due to a number of factors, strongly associated with societies’ pressure to maintain homogamy within racial and ethnic groups

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

One’s colour, religion and families origin should not interfere with the happiness between the couple. A publication by the University of Toronto Scarborough furthers this notion of love and relationships; yet explains there are many barriers and challenges which many interracial couples strive to overcome.

In the midst of the most progressive era in the history of the United States, people seem to be choosing to compare their current situation with the one in the 1930’s, where most African Americans were dehumanized. Women and Blacks have had a history of patronization which is displayed throughout To Kill A Mockingbird. Even though there are some disagreements in certain subject matter between the races today, relations and ideals of injustice have evolved.

Richard and Mildred Loving, a biracial couple, changed millions of lives in 1976 when they triumphed in the federal case, “Loving vs. Virginia” at the Supreme Court. Their case ended the anti-miscegenation laws created in the 1930s which outlawed interracial marriages. Nearly fifty years later, the U.S Census shows that there were 2.3 million interracial marriages in 2007 which is seven times the number calculated in 1970. This figure, many would say, is a sign of hope for a society has become more accepting and less racist. But how realistic is that idea? Many minorities still face racism and constant oppression every day of their lives. As our culture is constantly forming and changing, there emerge issues with how we understand race and ethnicity. While the concept of race is simply a social construct, with no real science behind it, its societal repercussions are entirely real due to the challenges that comes with it. This system of classification has progressed through centuries and led to the social, economic, and political prejudice against people of color, and further, has institutionalized racism to and systematized the oppression of these people.

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

Today, interracial relationships are basically considered normal, although there are a few exceptions, but for the most part they are a normal occurrence and accepted by everyone. In the 1950s however, it was very frowned upon. The view interracial relationships in the book are a good example of the segregation in the town. The book says interracial relationships were talked about “sometimes humorously, sometimes with fear, sometimes with loathing” (66). This statement is very telling and shows that white males interrelating with black females or vice versa was something the town did not want happening. Interracial sexual

In Today’s society Interracial relationships is still looked down upon. Eau claire states “Before 1967 interracial relationships was illegal, In fact mixed race marriages were illegal in 16 states in 1961”. As advanced as we Americans have come with technology and equality still many people have an opinion on couples who are of the opposite race. In my experiment me and an African American friend of mine went to local restaurants in various locations and noted down the service we experienced from These different restaurants and venues. We expected to get mixed reactions from the two different locations.Some positive along with negative reactions, After all we are testing this theory in a small southern town.

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

     Racism is a national epidemic. Racial equality and civil rights reach across societal boundaries to protect everyones individuality. Although our nation is based on equality, racism persists and creates numerous societal problems. One increasing problem facing America under the guise of racism is the topic of interracial relationships.

18.3% of Blacks favor such a law. By 1994, the collected data showed 14.7% and

It is interesting how many people are not seeing the value of interracial families and the potential that they have in society. While it is true that interracial relationships may not solve the racism factors in America, it is a small start. More integrated culture is a result of interracial families and relationships. The mingling of race is a small sign that our society is evolving toward a higher, more integrated society. The relationship between blacks and whites has gotten better over the years due to the mixing of races. Research has shown that society has relaxed on the issue of race in the last 40 years despite the riotous nature of

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.

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