Interracial Couples and Their Struggles
LaKeisha Straka-Conway
JUAD/SOCI 3320 [pic]

The United States has observed an amount of social and cultural desegregation between races, specifically Blacks and Caucasians. Despite decades of desegregation, cultural and social differences still exists. These differences are present in the institution of marriage. Americans have and are slowly evolving away from segregation. In the past forty years a multitude of changes have transformed schools, jobs, voting booths, neighborhoods, hotels, restaurants and even the wedding altar, facilitating tolerance for racial diversity ( Norman 108 ). Since the 1960's, when the housing discrimination was outlawed, many Blacks moved into mainly Caucasian neighborhoods. The steadily growing areas in the west and south-west are least segregated, because these areas never had the entrenched Black and Caucasian sections of town (Randolph 154). Even more visible signs of desegregation can be seen in the areas of education. A study done by the University of Michigan shows that integration on campuses occurs on a regular basis. The racial lines are crossed routinely; about 50% of Blacks and 15% of Caucasians reportedly study together. Eating patterns also share the same similarities. At a social level there has been a steady convergence of opinion on a variety of racial issues. Since 1972, surveys have asked whether the respondent would favor a law making inter-racial marriages illegal. In 1980 the results showed that 30% of Caucasians and 18.3% of Blacks favor such a law. By 1994, the collected data showed 14.7% and 3.2% respectively. Similar trends have also been observed in busing and even integrated social clubs (Randolph 155). A simple analysis shows that on the surface desegregation is moving in the right direction. Not withstanding these examples of desegregation, a deeper analysis shows that there are still signs of racial discriminations; most apparently seen in the institution of marriage between Blacks and Caucasians. The United States bureau of the Census reported that in 1987 over 827,000 interracial married couples existed in America, of which fewer than 200,000 of them were between Blacks and Caucasians (Herring 29). And in the year 2000, African-American men had white wives 2.65 times more often than black women had white husbands. In other words, in 73 percent of black-white couples, the husband was black and wife was white (Sailer 13). These numbers do not reflect the spread of between Blacks and Caucasians from the past to the present, and then the numbers should reflect a much larger count of interracial marriages between these races. This however, is untrue; therefore there are less apparent barriers Black and Caucasian couples face. One of the major barriers that face these couples does not come from themselves but rather from family disapproval. Parental approval generally will have psychological importance to a couple’s marital relationship, and it can impact the very face in their life cycle. Parental and family response can impact lifecycle rituals and events such as wedding ceremonies or the birth of a child in ways that can be negative or positive. For example, some interracial couples may forgo a wedding ceremony in the light of their family’s disapproval and lack of support for the relationship. Additionally, marital difficulties can be compounded by each spouses’ sense of divided loyalties and unresolved family issues (Thomas 76). Lois, a Caucasian woman, and her husband Chuck Bronz, a Black man, were married in 1960. They have no prejudice about each other and they share the comfortable rhythm of any long married couple. They had no problems with friends because they had a good mix of them from different races; friends who looked at the person not the color. However, they had problems with other people, namely Lois's mother. Her mother had sat her down and asked her why she could not marry her own kind. Lois, of course, stood firm and married Chuck, which unfortunately resulted in the ties between her mother and herself breaking (Kantrowitz 40). Rebun, a Black Jewish man, married Mama, a Caucasian Lutheran woman. None of Mama's relatives attended the wedding, except for her mother. Mama's father was furious that he was expected to accept a Black, and a Jew, into the family (Aunapu 65). It is not the disfavor of strangers that hurts these couples the most, but rather the disfavor of family. Territa, a black woman, had broken up with Todd, her Caucasian husband, several times before getting married because of the initial reaction of Todd's family (Randolph 154). These people nevertheless survived their family disapproval. Fred and Anita Prinzing, both Caucasians, know the troubles of interracial marriage. Both their son and daughter married Blacks. Fred and Anita responded that they thought that they were not prejudiced, and were proud of it; but when it came to their children, they could not explain their prejudice towards their children marrying Blacks. The best explanation to give is that their prejudice is the left over residue of their parents (Thomas 32). Another major barrier that Black and Caucasian couples encounter comes from an unlikely source, religion. In Earnest Porterfield's classic survey of interracial marriages, one fact stands out. The majority of couples actively involved in Christian churches before marriage, discontinue church membership and attendance after marriage. A growing number of couples in America are crossing racial and cultural lines to many. Every couple has their own crisis but, for some, church officials who are against divorce will turn around and recommend a separation simply because the couples are Black and Caucasian. In several books of the Old Testament, intermarriage is strongly opposed by God and his prophets. Ezra and Nehemiah, two of Israel's God-ordained leaders, challenged the people to repent over intermarriage and encouraged divorce en masse. They describe intermarriage with those who do not revere God as one of Israel's most offense crimes. A closer look at the Old Testament, however, reveals misinterpretation. Opposition to intermarriage arises when people of God many those who worship a God other than Yahweh. These couples are searching for churches that feel like home. If national trends are any indication, the American churches need to be prepared to face a growing phenomenon. Until that happens interracial married couples will meet with resistance from religious people who have been reported as saying that if their own children married Blacks, they would kill them (Perkins 30). The church must repent not only for bad theology but also for failing to protest racist laws in the past (Myra 18). The law is equally to blame for causing unnecessary tension. In the early 1950’s, there were still statues of anti-miscegenation in mostly Southern and Midwestern states. In 1958 an interracial couple, Richard Loving a white male and Mildred Jeter a black woman, traveled to Washington D.C. to get married. It was not forbidden to marry interracial couples in the North. Upon returning to their home in Virginia they were both arrested and convicted under Virginia’s anti-miscegenation statute. The law was anywhere from 1-5 years in prison and the Loving’s were sentenced to one year. For nine years after their arrest they waged a legal battle through the courts, and in 1967 the Supreme Court reversed the Loving’s conviction (Grapes 7). “Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State,” wrote Chief Justice Earl Warren in Loving v. Virginia (Grapes 7). A study of thirty nine "fiddle class Black--Caucasian couples in New York found that most of these couples had experienced being pulled over by police who suspected either the Black women to be a prostitute or the Black man to be a rapist (Perldns 30). Edger, a Caucasian Jewish man, and Jean, a Black Baptist women, on more than one occasion have been stopped and arrested by police because they were walking arm in arm (Aunapu 65). Races have mixed, going back to the Colonial days. Over time, other races have blended with Caucasians without question. Black mixing, however, has been accountable for the "one drop" theory which has defined a way to permanently separate Blacks. The "one drop" theory was reinforced in the landmark Plessey vs. Ferguson Supreme Court ruling in 1986. The Plaintiff, Homer Plessey, argued that segregation was wrong and he should not be discriminated against because, after all, he was only one-eighth Black. The justices, however, ruled that he must ride in the "separate but equal" coaches reserved for "coloreds." Almost I 00 years later, in 1986, the Supreme Court, upheld a decision forcing a Louisiana woman who was only one-thirty second Black, to be legally declared as Black (Norinen 108). Troubles do not stop here for interracial married couples. The problems that are faced by interracial parents are mirrored in their children. Polls show that most people who oppose interracial marriages do so because of the effect it will have on children. Yet the number of interracial births is steadily increasing, more than doubling from 21,400 (2.1 percent) in 1978 to 55,900 (3.9 percent) in 1992 (Grapes 13). An approximate number of one million children of interracial couples live in the United States. On one occasion the Bronzes had sent their daughter, Shelly, who looks Black, to a pajama party. The Bronzes had never met the family, who are Black, which put up the pajama party and decided that one of them should go to say hello. So Chuck, Shelly's dad, knocked on the door and was met with disbelief the family was surprised that Shelly's father was a Black (Kantrowitz 40). Older children of interracial marriage parents also face problems. They have to make a choice as to which parent's culture to adopt. Halle Beny stated that it is important that multicultural individuals make a choice about race early in the life because even if they identify themselves as interracial they will still be discriminated against as a person of color in this country (Norman 108). Knowing all these barriers and problems, what brings Black and Caucasian people together? According to a study done by Matthijis Kalniijin, a factor that is consistently associated with intermarriage is social class or status. Black out marriage becomes gradually more common when moving up the occupational scale and more common among higher educated Blacks. Among Caucasians the pattern is reversed. It is believed that Caucasians are more likely to many a Black spouse when it allows them to many a partner of high socioeconomic prestige (Kalniijin 119). The appreciation of a partner's beauty and the common; the ability to communicate, and the main reason for marriage, love is what bring them together (Randolph 154). It can be seen conclusively, that parents, religion and the attitudes of people, in general, are the main causes to the friction in interracial relationships and marriages. It is difficult, if not impossible, to change the attitude of parents, the older generation, to influence the churches to accepting the patterns of new thought and identity. The older generation will not change because their ideas and thoughts have been ingrained in them. The current generation, who are also guilty of causing friction, and the next generation must be educated to understand and accept these patterns of new thought, interracial marriages. Until these attitudes, that support segregation, are suppressed and eventually the only way to make changes involving segregation. Children of interracial married couples learn tolerance within the family, which allows these children to add their experiences to others, in one way or another.

Works Cited

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Grapes, Bryan J., ed. Interracial Relationships. California: Greenhaven, 2000.

Herring. Roger D. " Development Biracial Ethnic Identity: A Review Of The Increasing Dilemma." Journal Of Multicultural Cunseline & Development 23.1 (1995): 29-39.

Jacobsen, Mike. “Interracial Marriage.” Cartoon. World Press 9 Nov 2008: 2.

Kalniijin, Matthijis. " Trends in Black/White Intermarriage." Social Forces. Sep. 1993: 119-147.

Kantrowitz, Barbara. "Colorblind Love." Newsweek Mar 1988: 40-42.

Norman, Lynn. " Am I Black, White Or In Between. " Ebolny. Aug. 1995: 108-110.

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Sailer, Steve. “2000 Census Shows Interracial Marriage Gaps Remain Large.” UPI 14 Mar. 2003. 8 Nov.2008 .

Thomas, Volker, Joseph L. Wetchler, Terri A. Karis. Clinical Issues with Interracial Couples: Theories and Research. New York: Haworth, 2003.