Heather Anderson Tesen

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Miner
English 1010
12/1/2015
Issue Summary
Should we encourage or discourage the rise of interracial
marriages?
There is no doubt that interracial marriages are on the rise. As we go
throughout our daily lives you cant help but notice it in media, the different
races/ethnicities that you see together. Even getting ready for the 2016
presidential election you can see this, Trumps wife is from Slovenia and
Bushes wife is Mexican along with a few more candidates. Through a study
done by the Pew Research Center it states that 15% of all new marriages in
the United States in 2010 were between spouses of a different race or
ethnicity from one another, more than double the share in 1980. Thats a
huge feat considering that just a little over 55 years ago many states had
laws banning or restricting interracial marriages. This topic has been studied
by numerous different groups such as sociologist, religious leaders and
human rights activist.
So why is this something that we find so interesting? People have
always been fascinated by how we look, what makes someone the way they
are. Why one person is considered one race, while the other a different one.
It is important for us to study how society works and how we can help keep it

moving forward in a positive way. With the rise of interracial marriages the
rate of acceptance has also gone up. Ashley Hayes an award winning
journalist and writer for CNN shows us the data that about 43% of
Americans said they believe more intermarriages is a change for the better
within society, while only about one in

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10 said it was a change for the worse however in contrast the Pew Research
Center found that overall divorce rates are higher for couples who married
out than for those who married in. So should we really encourage something
that could be detrimental to families concerning more single parents, or
should we let love take its course and see how it runs? Here are a few
different perspectives on the matter.
Sociologist
By first looking at the perspective of the sociologist we can see how
this topic really affects our society as a whole. Sociologist are a good source
to turn to because they arent bothered by political correctness or by their
own biases, because their studies and research are based on facts and
statistics. The study of what social aspects that make up the US are very
important to sociologist. Their whole job is to see how society functions and
how people react to different changes in the social norm. As the numbers of

interracial marriages increase, this topic becomes increasingly more

important to study.
Although interracial marriages are more commonly accepted there are
still different issues that stand in its way. Through their findings you can see
that although the acceptance of interracial marriages has grown, they still
have a higher divorce rate than the average non-interracial marriage. Wendy
Wang with the pew research center states that overall divorce rates are
higher for couples who married out than for those who married in but here,
too, the patterns vary by the racial and gender characteristics of the
couples. Their findings are that it really depends on the people involved to
wither the marriage will work or not.

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Those in an interracial marriage
This brings me to my next perspective on interracial marriage. That is
the perspective of those directly involved in the marriage. They believe in
their right to be able to love who they want and that interracial marriage
should be allowed and not discriminated against. On the other hand
surprisingly not all believe that interracial marriages were as healthy as noninterracial marriages. In the article Five Common Myths About Interracial
Couples Nadra Kareem Nittle an expert in race relations comments that
Despite the rising rate of interracial marriage, mixed-race couples not only

continue to face scrutiny and disapproval but sweeping generalizations from

outsiders Those in an interracial marriage understand their situation better
than anyone else and know that there are some hardships in their
relationship that dont affect those who are in a non-interracial one.
This position matters because those in this position are directly
impacted by it. They are the ones who have to battle against social norms
and different forms of racism that are very much alive today. Heller a writer
for a multilingual site and married to foreigner states in her article that
International marriage isnt always filled with rolling Rs, melt-in-your-mouth
chocolate, blossoming roses and until death do us part. It also comes with
heart-wrenching and, at times, heart-breaking realities that make us
question our choices. By looking at their point of view we are better able to
see how to approach interracial marriages and how not to approach them.
Just like any other marriage it takes a lot of work, and even more work for
those in interracial marriages. These results are true when you look at the
higher rate of

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divorces of interracial couples. Personal values and qualities play a huge role
on the two people involved and how they are going to approach and behave
in the marriage. So maybe it should be encouraged, but maybe with
restrictions and looked at with open minds.

Media and Religion

For this last section I would like to combine media with religious views.
From the media perspective we see that more and more movies and TV
series where the stars marry someone of a different race/ethnicity. However
the majority of couples still seen are white/white and black/black couples. So
while media shows that it is okay to marry someone of a different race, it is
still showing that it is not the social norm of people. This position matters so
much because it influences everyone on how they look at interracial
marriages. What we see on social media and other forms of media influences
how we think and how we view ourselves and society. So while they do
encourage interracial marriage in some aspects they tend to stay with the
traditional marriage stereotype.
Concerning religious views they overall tend to have the same view on
interracial marriages. They believe that while it is okay to marry someone of
a different race, it is important that you have the same religious standards.
Bywater says this clearly in his article Some people believe that interracial
marriages are prohibited in the Scriptures Actually, the prohibitions were not

strictly against Jewish-Gentile marriages as racial mixture, but against

believer-unbeliever marriages. This explains that the scriptures were not
banning those of different races (the Jews

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and Gentiles) from getting married. Rather stating that those who were of
different religions should not get married because of their moral beliefs. So
while it is not important that the color of their skin matches it is important
that they have the same morals and views to have a healthy marriage and
relationship.
Overall the positions are mostly unified, believing that the majority
does believe that interracial marriage is good and has its benefits. Cultures
can come together this way and increase the richness of the communities
involved. On the other hand we are also looking at the other not so pleasant
sides that accomplice all relationships. Interracial marriages are not for all
and precautions need to be made before entering into one. There are many
extremely important issues to discuss in an interracial marriage such as,
customs, how the children will be raised, and how to treat the elderly when
they become old. These are all important to address in marriages in general.
However they are more necessary and critical in an interracial marriage. As
with all marriages however through good communication skills and hard
work, an interracial marriage can work and be successful.

Works Cited

Bywater, Kevin James. "Is Interracial Marriage Biblical?" RACIAL ISSUESChristianAnswers.Net. Summit Ministries, 2000. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.

Hayes, Ashley. Interracial Marriage, Acceptance Growing- CNN.com.

CNN. Cable News Network, 16 Feb. 2 012. Web 11 Nov. 2015.

Heller, Corey. "10 Reasons Why You Should NOT Marry a Foreigner (Like
I Did) | Multilingual Living." Multilingual Living RSS. Multilingualliving, n.d.
Web. 02 Dec. 2015.

Nittle, Nadra Kareem. "Five Common Myths About Interracial

Couples."About.com News & Issues. About News, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.

Wang, Wendy. "The Rise of Intermarriage." Pew Research Centers

Social Demographic Trends Project RSS. Pew Research Center, 15 Feb. 2012.
Web. 01 Dec. 2015.