Is Society Against Interracial Dating?

Interracial relationships have long been a key issue in societies since the beginning of time. Many people find the mixing of races disgusting and immoral. The question is, should they? In my opinion the answer is no, however, this paper is not about my opinions, but about how others, who are supposed Christians view this very same topic. America was founded to be a nation where everyone would have the freedom to do what he or she believed was right. However, it has notably been one of the countries in the world that has the biggest problems with race mixing. Fortunately, today this controversy over interracial relationships in general has seemed to die down. Unfortunately, these seemingly racists beliefs have not disappeared from our society altogether. It would be my opinion that the majority of people who have problems with multicultural people, as well as the mixing of the races, are opposed because of ignorance. They do not understand other cultures and nationalities and therefore, in part, fear them. Either way, the goal of this paper is to find out how a small sample of today's Christian society will view interracial relationships, dating, as well as marriage.

Literature Review

"As Americans struggle with racially charged issues from affirmative action to record-breaking immigration, high school students have started a quiet revolution that could signal a shift in the way the nation will come to look at race." According to a new USA Today/Gallup poll of teen-agers across the country, fifty-seven percent of teens who go out on dates say they've been out with someone of another race or ethnic group. Not just interracial dating has seen a rise, but also interracial marriages. There were nearly 1.3 million married interracial couples in 1994, the Census Bureau reported, four times the numbers in 1970. In most cases, many of the teens polled in this survey said that their parents were not a major obstacle in this issue. Sixty-four percent of teens say their parents don't mind that they date interracially, or wouldn't mind if they did. Almost three/fourths of black, white or Hispanic students polled agreed that interracial dating was not a big issue at their schools (Peterson). Unfortunately, the majority of society still has problems with interracial dating. People who date and socialize with people of different racial groups frequently experience negative reactions. Many students cope with it by learning to accept the challenges of interracial dating. Some students say interracial dating requires more work than other relationships because society still considers it straying from traditional values. It is sad to think that for many, interracial dating is still considered taboo (Findley).

The next article discussed puts some emphasis on how the psychologist should react when working with interracial couples. To be successful in working with the interracial couple population, psychologists must recognize their own feelings about racism in order to make sure that they do not project their prejudices onto the couple. Couples come for therapy with the hopes of resolving issues in their relationship, not because they are racially mixed. Psychologists lacking cultural sensitivity do a disservice to their clients. They must be aware of their own preconceived notions about interracial couples. In order to counsel mixed-race couples, one needs a broader cultural orientation, outside of their own class and cultural group. It is important that the practitioner understand the couples' differing communication styles so that the counselor can use that understanding to help the couple communicate better (Burnette).

While analyzing the following article, it became apparent that there is a correlation between monetary successfulness and level of education in interracial marriages. It would seem that the statistical data shows that those in interracial marriages are marginally more successful than couples that are both black. "At lower income levels, the ratio of both-black marriages to mixed race marriages is heavily skewed towards both-black couples, each notch up on the income ladder brings the two figures into closer alignment, until at the highest income level they are nearly even." A similar phenomenon is apparent for educational attainment. At the "non high school graduate" level, there are more than four times as many both-black couples as mixed race couples. However, with each step up the educational ladder, the figures get closer (Bender). After examining these articles focusing on the differing aspects of interracial relationships, only one conclusion is clear. That is to

...