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| Intercultural Paper |
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|Jennifer Minnerup |
|September 15, 2011 |

Jennifer Minnerup

Bernadette Lewis
Ivy 101
March 7, 2008
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I choose this subject to write about because I think that it is still a big issue in the world today. This subject is a very touchy one in my family because my aunt is dating an African American man and my grandfather would have a heart attack if he ever found out. I think that this is an important issue still in the new age as it was in the old and I would like everyone to know it doesn’t really matter about your skin color it is about what you have to offer from inside. Interracial romance had been an issue in the United States since the first English settlers established the seventeenth century. Over the years, views toward interracial relationship in America have changed greatly. However, there are still many biases facing people who choose to date someone of another race. A look at the history of interracial romance in the United States will shed light on today’s attitudes. In the 1600’s Maryland banned interracial relationships between whites and slaves due to the questions over whether the offspring would be considered black and property, or white and free. Many others states followed Maryland, instituting anti-miscegenation laws that banned interracial marriages and relationships. In 1961, Virginia outlawed interracial couples and labeled their children as “that abominable mixture and spurious issues (Grape 1988).” When slavery was abolished with the thirteenth amendment in 1865, southern states issues Black Codes that continued to prohibit relationships between white and blacks (Landau 1993). Many whites believed that

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Africans and Native American were inferior races and interbreeding would contaminate the white gene pool. Even where interracial relationship weren’t outlawed, mined couples could faces serious consequences within their community. In 1800’s, a visitor from England to Buffalo, New York, described the plight of an interracial couple he met. “The wife (a white woman) was despised by the wives if white citizens, and both (the husband and wife) were shunned,” he reported. “While etiquette would not let him attend her at the theater box; they never ventures out together.” If they did go out, it was usually after dark (Landau 1993). Even decades later, white society seemed determined to prevent interracial romances in most instances. A variety of obstacles were used to prohibit these relationships. Many social scientists in the past focused on the supposed pathological aspects of the interracial relationship, and they assumed that anyone involved in such a relationship must be “disturbed” in some ways. In 1967, Loving v. Virginia cleared all legal barriers to interracial marriages and relationships. This legislation made it legal to marry interracial, but many people weren’t willing to accept these relationships. After 1967 interracial marriages grew dramatically. But in today’s world interracial marriages can lead to peace and harmony. Interracial marriages promote acceptance, decrease the racial divide and create unity.

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First of all interracial marriages can help promote all types of acceptance. Becoming involved in an interracial relationship can help a person face the realities if racism. Many people have come to accept to idea of an interracial marriage but still don’t approve. Interracial relationships have changed drastically through the decades. People have become aware of the uniqueness and differences of people of other races. Attitudes toward interracial relationships have improved over the years and today’s youth is growing and becoming very diverse, which is bringing about better relations between races than ever before. Studies prove that barriers are indeed coming down (Knox journal 34). Interracial marriages force people to take an honest look at their feelings about race and confront their racial biases. Interracial marriages are a step toward a more integrated and egalitarian society. The future of Americans belongs to the person who is the product of many different cultures. Through interracial marriages, different cultures will develop their unique identities and come together as one in harmony. Some couples embrace interracial love for rebellious, escapist, or other negative reasons. With so many cultures present today, everyone needs to be excited that others are sharing their way of life with each other. When there are people from two different races it will be a vast amount of differences from many different angles. With the increase of interracial marriages maybe they will become more accepted and not looked at as something is not right.

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Second, interracial marriages can decrease the racial divide. We can help to abolish racism by not being taken in with arguments that bypass the facts and concentrate on name calling. The struggle against racism resulted in the Civil Rights act of 1964, which provided the much need legislation to tear down barriers to racial equality in The United States, and held the promise that by the end of the twentieth century, racism would be a thing of the past. But this has not happened. There are many racial differences that are not specific with marriages or relationships. They occur across the board regardless of relationship, which happen because of prejudice and ignorance. Each person in an interracial relationship has taken a chance. They have entered into a relationship that might not be acceptable by the prejudices of their own family and friends. ”
The American dilemma is still with us, and it imposes upon us a moral obligation to ensure that race is neither a handicap nor an advantage. Interracial couples have to deal with questions, stares, discrimination, inappropriate comments, and sometimes rejection. Although love, happiness, and acceptance outweigh the negative reactions and experiences, interracial couples say that the emotional connections that they share with their partner and their families make it all worth doing.

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Interracial marriages face higher levels of martial happiness. Interracial couples must work harder to make the marriage work. For society as a whole promiscuous charges of racism are dangerous because they undetermined the credibility of the charge of the charge and make it more difficult to identify actual racists. If more people get involved in an interracial relationship people will see that it’s not about the skin color. They will see that it’s about how you feel about that person and how they treat you. Once people see that, they will start coming together as one and not letting something as a race hold them back from their true love. This will eventually decrease the color line and America will come together as one stop all that hatred towards one another. Another way to eliminate racism is to make every effort to recognize and appreciate all cultures. Finally, interracial marriages can bring everyone together in unity. Some families may be hesitant of an interracial relationship at first, but will come to accept it when they see how serious their loved one is about the relationship. Also, families may be afraid of losing someone they love over differences in opinions on dating. Many people today wish to help bridge the cap between the races in our society, so they learn to love and accept the differences of others. Interracial relationships as a measure of the state of race relations in our society are not a new concept. Psychologists have discussed the significance of interracial relationships as factor in improving race relations in society (Thomas 1996). The quickest shortcut to bring the unity of the races is interracial marriage. A man and a woman selected from the two totally different cultural and environmental backgrounds are to

Minnerup 6 become one with the love of God. This is complete harmony and unification’s. We are to realize such an idea. In order to accomplish a great work, we should find the utmost power of love. That is not the love played fast and loose with societal and environmental changes. Only the utmost love can transcend the boundaries of nationally, race, culture and knowledge.
In human history, myriads of races and nations have fought each other as enemies and divided. Let’s restore this. Let us pioneer a new heuristic connection. The Unification to break down the national barriers through the international mass wedding ceremonies and to raise rapidly the heuristic indemnity. Let us take a jump and make this kind of marriage a steppingstone. In conclusion, interracial relationships have been in the United States since the earliest years. The views of dating interracially have changed. The interracial dating trend among today’s Americans is increasing at a steady rate (Grapes 1988) and will continue to do so as people become aware of the uniqueness and differences people of other races. Today, as Americans continue to struggle with racially charged issues from affirmative actions to immigration, high school students have a quiet revolution that could signal a big shift in the way the nation will come to look at race. This will bring better relations between races than ever before.

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An interracial couple, Willie and Debbie, said it best:
[Willie said] “I really gone through a lot of problems being in a interracial relationship but I wouldn’t give up my wife for the world Debbie agreed, “We have been called a lot of things and went through so many problems, but the love we share has kept us together for 22 long years.