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source: http://www.secureteen.com/uploads/2013/10/interracial-relationships.jpg |
This time I would to raise a bit delicate and
controversial topic of mixed race marriages/couples. Unfortunately, I had only
data from the US which might not correspond to the situation for instance in Poland
or other European countries.
Firstly, many of you might not know but interracial marriages became fully legal in all states of the US in 1967. Before that it was simply illegal and it was treated as crime. There is actually a known case of Mildred and Richard Loving from 1967 in Virginia.
Firstly, many of you might not know but interracial marriages became fully legal in all states of the US in 1967. Before that it was simply illegal and it was treated as crime. There is actually a known case of Mildred and Richard Loving from 1967 in Virginia.
Research from 2010
According to the Pew Research Center Report the 15.1% of all new marriages in 2010 were interracial ones and most often the Asians (27.7%) and Hispanics (25.7%) who chose a spouse outside of his/her race or ethnicity. However, the most often appearing mixes were White-Hispanic (43.3%) and Other Combinations (30.4%). Other Combinations were defined as mixes of minority groups, multi-racial people, and American Indians.
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Married couples in the United States in
2010
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White Wife
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Black Wife
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Asian Wife
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Other Wife
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White Husband
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50,410,000
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168,000
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529,000
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487,000
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Black Husband
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390,000
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4,072,000
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39,000
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66,000
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Asian Husband
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219,000
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9,000
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2,855,000
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28,000
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Other Husband
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488,000
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18,000
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37,000
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568,000
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Obviously, it is not all the information included in the report but it was simply too big to mention everything here. All in all, we can clearly see that in the US the topic of mixed race marriages is not such a taboo as it was before. Certainly, I think that in the some states it is still not acceptable to marry someone of a different race, but I do believe it is going to change slowly.
Moreover, as most of you have noticed I do not fit into a typical description of the Polish ethnic group, but I have been living here for about 20 years now. People here are still not very accustomed to a foreign looking person speaking fluently in Polish. As for mixed couples I haven't seen many of them in Poland, but they do exist and I personally know a few of them. However, I am afraid that it will take many years until the situation is going to change.
What is your opinion about mixed race couples?
Have you ever met such couples?
Do you think that a mixed couple will ever stop being a taboo?
sources:
http://scienceblogs.com/gnxp/2010/03/06/interracial-divorce-the-matrix/
http://www.pewresearch.org/daily-number/intermarriage-on-the-rise-in-the-u-s/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/16/interracial-marriage-in-us_n_1281229.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interracial_marriage_in_the_United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_v._Virginia
Comments
I know mixed raced couples and actually I have two of them in my family (my aunt from Paris and my cousin from Canada are in relationships with a different race guys) and I don't see any differences between their relationships and those of people who are both white/black/etc. My grandparents had some difficulty accepting those unions but except for them nobody else sees any problem. Racist people are ignorant and I hope that in couple of generations we will learn to treat everybody equally. I hope that mixed couples will stop being a taboo (if as you say they still are) and I also hope that homosexual marriages will one day be legal everywhere and will stop bothering people. Everybody should have equal rights and people should stop making everything about themselves and let others do as they like (I'm talking about actions that don't concern or harm others ;) ).
I agree with everything you wrote but don't you think that all these obstacles you have mentioned may cause people not to even consider being together in the first place?
You mentioned that you have this type of couple in your family, but both of these couples are living in the western country where being in mixed race relationship is usually socially acceptable.
Don't you think?
Also i think there is problem with mixed couples based on religion, especially muslims and christians or orthodox jewish and christians. Every time it is viewed as wrong by both sides. And it is more complicated when, lets say, neither of lovers won't change their religion in favour to other partner.
I knew some couple that have mixed asian families because it's close to Russia and there is a lot of koreans, mongolians and vietnamese. Never in my life i heard any racism or bad remarks.
Answering your question if I met mixed couples. Well, my best friend lives in Bahrain and she has an Arabic boyfriend. So for me mixed couples are nothing special, I encounter it on daily basis.
Moreover, I think the fact you travel a lot had a big influence on your way of thinking. You probably perceive many things differently than ordinary citizen in Poland.
I have met many mixed couples: White&Hispanic, White&Black, White&Asian and what I can say... they are just normal couples :)
My cousin married a Japanese girl and moved to Japan few years ago. Now they are living happily in Tokyo and for me it's the best example of multinational couple - the culture aspects doubled and this only made their life richer!
As for challenges in such relationships, I think that couples can differ on many other grounds and skin colour/culture is not a 'problem' at all - for open-minded people the culture differences are something to explore and build on.
To make it short, the data makes sense and the high amounts presented there for interracial seem to be getting even higher these days, for social reasons - for instance asian husband and white wife is quite uncommon, but happens, while white husband and asian wife is very common and looked forward to by both partners, in general - that's why this data looks not always symmetrical, due to social reasons. I think it's perfectly natural, and even from evolutionary state of things makes sense.
Personally, I was in relationships with girls representing different cultures, including an Asian girlfriend and only the culture differences are sometimes hard to swallow and you can see them after a while basically every day, the most bothersome is an alternative way of thinking compared to ours. But I think it's a very interesting experience and in some cases in the long run someone might find that having a partner of different race is what suits them better.
I see that you have met many mixed race couples. I am curious what type of mix was it specifically. I mean the gender. Whether it was White male with Hispanic female or the opposite etc.
The part where you mentioned about culture differences got me most interested. Let's say that I know both cultures (western and far eastern) very well I am curious what kind of differences you meant and how would I react to them.
I think that as long as they can deal with cultural differences, they are no different from same-race couples.
Have you ever met such couples?
Yes. I know asian-white couple. They seem very close to each other - I dont find anything unusual about them.
Do you think that a mixed couple will ever stop being a taboo?
I think in our country it might take some time, but probably eventually it will.
However, I think topic of mixed race couples can be a taboo, especially in Poland, where people are not very tolerant to other races. It is really sad, that difference in race or religion can be for some people a problem, even cause agression. It will probably take some time till mixed couples will be treated as something normal.
What is my opinion?
My opinion is that I'm happy for the couples which can enjoy each other company, no matter their race. I have nothing against it.
Have you ever met such couples?
Yes.
Do you think that a mixed couple will ever stop being a taboo?
I hope so.
What is your opinion about mixed race couples?
In my opinion the most physically atractive people are mixed race. Mixed race couples can give their children unique and astonishing look. For instance Keanu Reeves(quater Asian) or ex girlfriend of my favourite blogger Kathleen Elliott(half white half Alaskan)
Have you ever met such couples?
No, I didn't.
Do you think that a mixed couple will ever stop being a taboo?
Probably yes, but it's going to be few hundred years. To me it's not a taboo and I have nothing against it unless husband isn't a muslim.
Don't you think it is a bit a long time? I personally had in mind a bit lesser number like 50-60 years.
The other thing are cultural differences which sometimes may be hard to overcome. I've met a muslim man, he was engaged to a Polish girl, they got married and he made her wear a burqa all the time even though he didn't respect muslim requirements himself.
I don't see any problem with that. If people love each other then who am I to judge and meddle in their lives.
Have you ever met such couples?
As far as I can recall no.
Do you think that a mixed couple will ever stop being a taboo?
World is changing constantly and there is also that thing called globalisation. I think that some time might be needed but one day surely people will forget about that being a problem.
Of course. I have met a lot of mixed couples. Never had problem with it.
But some people probably will always have problems with it. They are jealous or just stupid.
For 100% I don't think so. But it's going in good direction unfortunately very slowly.
As research says people will be mixed more and more in future.
I have nothing against mixed race couples/marriages. If two persons want to be together and both accept each other it doesn't matter what color of skin are they, what they believe and even gender doesn't matter.
Have you ever met such couples?
Yes, I have met such couple, but not so mixed one.
Do you think that a mixed couple will ever stop being a taboo?
For me mixed couple are not a taboo. But generally, especial in Poland in smaller cities, it's still being a taboo. I hope it would change in the future.
We live in UE, in quite open World so seeing more mixed couples shouldn't be so shocked.
My friend has a boyfriend, which is an Arab. They are great couple. Oh, my cousin has a husband which is Arab, and they are good marriage as well.
I think that topic about mixed races has never stop being taboo. I think( but I don’t know why) people think that this topic is embarassing. I’m sure that people will always talk about it because it seems to be interesting and fascinating for people.
Now their family is renewing contact but they still haven't met for 25 years. When they met for the first time he was 17 and she was 16.
So I'm not against mixed race relationships and in my opinion no one should. And for me mixed couples nowadays aren't taboo anymore.
I don't see any problem in mixed race couples/marriages. If people love each other skin color, cultural issues and stuff like that is not that important any more...
Have you ever met such couples?
My girlfriend is half-African.
Do you think that a mixed couple will ever stop being a taboo?
Haha... nope. I'm also dark-skinned person so it's kinda funny for me:)
I think that relationships from different races and cultures have many issues to work out but just as many if not more possibilities to enrich one another with the culture and traditions and the way of living. I really don't know why it still should or is a taboo.
I didn't even know that is a subject of taboo.