Summary: The Increase In Interracial Relationships

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

Childs exposes how frequently the same individuals who are indicated in surveys as racially tolerant, open-minded and approving of interracial dating will than turn around and provide reasons as to why they and their families wouldn’t, couldn’t and shouldn’t partake in interracial relations

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).

Prejudice and Discrimination are an all to common part of our cognitive social being, but many social psychologists believe that it can be stopped, but only with the help of social conditioning.

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

Society’s perceptions place greater stress on interracial couples. Americans have a strong need to categorize and segregate. Even modern American society is obsessed with whiteness and the exclusion of anyone who is not of Anglo descent. This creation of a caste system sustains the high status of the White majority and oppresses minorities. Social norms declare that one must be American and White in order to be considered normal; non-Whites are abnormal, un-American, and physically and mentally inferior to Whites (Grapes). Moreover, skin color stratification gives those with lighter skin privilege and preferential treatment. This social norm of discrimination based on skin color further pits races against each other and introduces racial

Interracial dating in the United States compared to previous history is more popular than ever before. It is more present because minorities are getting higher education, people are becoming more tolerant, there is more exposure to other cultures, there are no bans on interracial dating now, and young people are more self-expressive and believe more in individualism (Firmin & Firebaugh, 2008). Though interracial dating is more accepted by people currently, there is still pressure from the ingroup, parents, and family members to date within one’s race. Some people still prefer intraracial dating rather than interracial dating. There are certain pros and cons to interracial dating according to research studies. In addition, the percentage of one race dating another varies and the gender statistics differs as well. Who is more open to interracial dating is different among the races. Lastly, there are certain characteristics that may determine how receptive a person is to the idea of interracial dating and his or her attitude of the topic.

Even as a national consensus has developed that explicit racial hostility is abhorrent, people may still hold prejudicial attitudes, stemming in part from past U.S. history of overt prejudice. Although prejudicial attitudes do not necessarily result in discriminatory behaviour with adverse effects, the persistence of such attitudes can result in unconscious and subtle forms of racial discrimination in place of more explicit, direct hostility. Such subtle prejudice is often abetted by differential media portrayals of nonwhites versus whites, as well as de facto segregation in

Relationships formed by two ethnicities can create a union between different cultures such as Asian, Hispanic, African American, American, and many others. One factor that comes from these relationships is children. Adolescents, whether they are involved in or are the product of mixed race couples, are negatively affected by interracial relationships. In result of these relationships, those adolescents face social, emotional, and cultural issues. Those issues include receiving social backlash from those around them, experiencing an identity crisis, and receiving neglect from their families.

Racial prejudice is a common part of our cognitive social being. Some social psychologists trust that it can be immobile with the support of social conditioning. Racism and racial prejudice are intricate attributes and indicators of mainly differentiated organized class societies. Racial prejudice is an attitude, typically something negative toward any group or ethnicity that is not of one’s own class. With regard to human dignity, in contrast to forming stereotypes and discriminating amongst one another, will abolish the virus that racism spreads. African Americans are occasionally portrayed as having violent, quick tempers, and overtly lethargic. Caucasians are occasionally portrayed as psychopaths, drug users and rednecks, and barely educated. These prejudice assessments are forms of joint representation. Individuals form views of specific social groups by analyzing individual traits of one group member, establishing an opinion for the entire group. Modern day, called it discrimination when an

Unconcious bias often happens without those holding the discriminatory views being aware that their behavior has such characteristics (pg.128-129, Pynes). Since its inception, the U.S. has had a racial makeup has placed whites as a majority. It has also had a long, normalized history of racial tension and violence. These factor combined results in unconscious discriminatory acts seeming insignificant in comparison, which makes it easy for white Americans to completely disregard them. An individual's race is a highly visible trait and has significant cultural implications. As a result, this easily accessible information can quickly be analyzed and used as a base for automatic categorization which, in turn, structures a societies' social hierarchies. It is important to note that this function is not intentional, nor entirely, malicious. The purpose of instinctive classifying is data-reduction, helping an individual’s mind manage the massive volumes of stimuli constantly being processed. (pg.364, 375, Fiske) However, this process does intrinsically lead to false perceptions, stereotyping, and a biased evaluation of others, a preference for in-group members and a disfavor for out-group members. The group preference from these biases construct the segments of a population to whom

A dominant theory in modern psychology is the idea of two modes of thinking, conscious and unconscious. Conscious processes are explicit and controlled, whereas unconscious processes are automatic and implicit. What most people think of prejudice is usually the conscious process of taking action to dehumanize and outright keep them separate from the rest of society. However, these days prejudice and bigotry have taken on a more subtle form to fit to today’s standards of behavior. Current discussion on racism in the United States delves into implicit thought to understand prejudice as it exists today and how to lessen prejudicial attitudes in our society. This is a step in the right direction, but we need to keep in mind not to mistake prejudice

Understanding how to act with regards to certain circumstances and topics in today’s society is an immense moral dilemma. The moral dilemma that comes with action is often subconscious, though. Everyone has an idea of what is right and wrong, and everyone has an opinion on a particular subject due to past experiences and one’s core beliefs, and thus, people often react subconsciously to certain events in society. Essentially, people will act with respect to what they already know. This concept is prominent when dealing with the issue of racism in society. Everyone has their own take and perspective on racism due to their past encounters with it, and because everyone has a different perspective, the topic of racism is a very sensitive subject. Before racism can be dealt with, though, one must understand who they are and what they know, before acting upon it.

With an emerging generation of individuals more versed in racial acceptance and tolerance, the rate of interracial marriages has increased over the years. Reading the article about the church banning interracial marriage reminds me of the struggle Richard and Mildred Loving had to go through. Richard and Mildred were given an option to either serve one year in jail or to be exiled from the state of Virginia for 25 years. The Loving v Virginia (1967) case declared that laws banning interracial marriages were unconstitutional (Loving v. Virginia ). In the article, it is mentioned that the church banned interracial marriages; however, Melvin Thompson, a member at this church, claims that this ban is not a result of racism. This member claims this and denies any form of prejudice, but never gives a concrete explanation. If we have implemented laws to prevent racial injustice, why do some people still have issues with it today? In my opinion, we are all equal, should be able to love who we choose, and there should be no laws telling us otherwise. If every individual has a membership and belongs to a group, interracial couples challenge the very foundation and workings of society. Children of multiple races do not fit a standard role and must develop their own script to fit into society. It is very possible that the members of this small church in Kentucky and the people of the state of Virginia felt threatened by this changing form of membership and, therefore, responded with