The Debate of Interracial Marriages and the Unseen Barriers of Relationships
The Debate of Interracial Marriages and the Unseen Barriers of Relationships
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For decades, interracial relationships have been a deep seated conflict among many people and families in our history. Not only in the United States, but many countries around the world have debated and banned such acts. Although it has now been found to be unconstitutional based on the violation of the fourteenth amendment, societal perceptions, norms, and hate groups have still managed to persist. We as a country have come a long way in the past fifty years by recognizing the injustice in banning and punishing certain marriages, but there is still a definite stigma and an abundance of prejudice, resentment, and negative reactions attached to those who are involved in an interracial relationship. Studies have shown that as recently as 1991, 42% of respondents said that they still disapprove of interracial marriage (About). Further studies done by Bramlett and Mosher in 2002 had found that by the tenth year of marriage, 41% of interracial couples had divorced compared to 31% of same-race couples. In the years of 1985 to 1989, an astonishing 55% had ended (Bratter & King, p.160). One tends to wonder if these rates are higher because of the outside factors and people that are against these couples, or if this could be a reason that so many people are against the concept of interracial marriage. Some have hypothesized that interracial marriage "selects on" those persons that are already likely to divorce because of certain personal characteristics. Yet another explanation states that "these marriages potentially unite persons from differing interpersonal styles, and varying values attached to marriage and family. Therefore, maintaining that relationship may be more difficult" eventually ending them in divorce (Bratter & King, p.161-62). Many other theories have been conceived about what it is that tends to lead these couples toward divorce more than others; we will go over a few of
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For decades, interracial relationships have been a deep seated conflict among many people and families in our history. Not only in the United States, but many countries around the world have debated and banned such acts. Although it has now been found to be unconstitutional based on the violation of the fourteenth amendment, societal perceptions, norms, and hate groups have still managed to persist. We as a country have come a long way in the past fifty years by recognizing the injustice in banning and punishing certain marriages, but there is still a definite stigma and an abundance of prejudice, resentment, and negative reactions attached to those who are involved in an interracial relationship. Studies have shown that as recently as 1991, 42% of respondents said that they still disapprove of interracial marriage (About). Further studies done by Bramlett and Mosher in 2002 had found that by the tenth year of marriage, 41% of interracial couples had divorced compared to 31% of same-race couples. In the years of 1985 to 1989, an astonishing 55% had ended (Bratter & King, p.160). One tends to wonder if these rates are higher because of the outside factors and people that are against these couples, or if this could be a reason that so many people are against the concept of interracial marriage. Some have hypothesized that interracial marriage "selects on" those persons that are already likely to divorce because of certain personal characteristics. Yet another explanation states that "these marriages potentially unite persons from differing interpersonal styles, and varying values attached to marriage and family. Therefore, maintaining that relationship may be more difficult" eventually ending them in divorce (Bratter & King, p.161-62). Many other theories have been conceived about what it is that tends to lead these couples toward divorce more than others; we will go over a few of
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