The Debate of Interracial Marriages and the Unseen Barriers of Relationships Essays

The Debate of Interracial Marriages and the Unseen Barriers of Relationships Essays The Debate of Interracial Marriages and the Unseen Barriers of Relationships Essay The Debate of Interracial Marriages and the Unseen Barriers of Relationships Essay The Debate of Interracial Marriages and the Unseen Barriers of Relationships 1 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 2 them. Up until 1967 with the case of Loving versus Virginia, sixteen states in the United States had laws prohibiting interracial marriage between a white and olored person. Just as it is made known through these previous laws addressing only black and white marriages, those relationships that consist of an African American and a white are still seen as the most controversial in America (About). A Ford poll from 2003 surveyed 1,314 Americans which resulted in three in ten participants expressing disagreement with black and white intermarriage. Howeve r, they were more willing to accept white-Hispanic or white-Asian marriages(About). The hypotheses for these attitudes were related to economic prosperity, skin color, and history of economic hardship. It is hard to determine exactly why these feelings are so strong. Many saw interracial couples as violating the goodness of fit belief, that these people were less likely to be compatible (Lewandowski, p. 289) and also loss of racial caste privilege†, mostly for whites (Bratter Eschbach, p. 1029). So what do these statistics and attitudes imply for interracial couples of today? Research shows that interracial marriages have an amplified risk of marital disillusionment. Many of the previously mentioned attitudes have been shown to increase this high divorce rate, but many more theories will be explored further throughout this paper. Because of so many varying attitudes about the topic of interracial marriage, many people that are in these relationships find themselves knowing a friend or family member that disagrees with their beliefs and way of life with an interracial partner. Bratter and King say that the negative reactions to interracial couples from strangers and 3 the diminished social support from family and friends generally characterize the experience of Black/White couples (p. 62). These couples will many times avoid community activities because of feared racism and also have a harder time integrating into larger family/social networks. One example would be a white female partner dating a black man. She may be less equipped for dealing with the negative reactions toward her black partner and also may be disliked by black females because sh e is seen as a threat to their own marriage prospects and also said to be unfit to raise and nurture her punitively non-white offspring. These types of experiences and attitudes lead many Black/white couples to isolate from their communities to rotect themselves (Bratter King, p. 170). As one can see, when social support is lacking it can lead to couples isolation. Isolation in turn can lead to other psychological issues and problems between the couple making arguments and distress much easier to come by. One could almost say that at least outside of the direct home of the couple, negativity seems to be lurking on all sides of them. It would be easy to see how divorce may sometimes seem like the most logical or conceivable solution to these stresses. It is clear that negative reactions from family as well as from society and also outsider beliefs are aspects that can contribute to stress and negative marital dynamics, yet there are still other variables like background/values, age, and psychological distress that was just touched on briefly. In the past, interracial relationships were seen by many as a psychological flaw or disorder in the person involved; someone who had low self esteem, self-loathing, deep psychological sicknesses, and inferiority issues. These attitudes put even more of a 4 negative impression on interracial couplings and the people that participated in them. However, after many new studies, we have seen that these views have been backward. People involved in interracial relationships have a very unique bag of issues compared to same race couples. Many can be or feel abandoned and rejected by their own community because they are viewed as selling out- abandoning their race rather than embracing their race as a valued characteristic in themselves and others(Lewandowski, p. 01). Instead of seeing them as finding someone they love regardless of color it seems that a racial spin always has to be put into the picture. There is also an underlying resentment in many African American females when their men marry outside of their race because they see this as a threat to their own personal marital opportunities and is also felt as a negative reflection of their personal self worth (Childs, p. 558). Also, as mentioned earlier, isolation is a common trait for interracial couples. Whether because of family disapproval, society prejudice, or just irrational beliefs, social isolation can be very damaging to individuals as well as a couple with no outlets. Both recent and classical scholarship predict that among all married persons, those in interracial relationships are more likely to experience conditions that create psychological distress relative to their same race counterparts with a same race partner (Brater Eschbach, p. 1028). Now that new research has been given a chance, society can see that rather than assuming that there is some underlying psychological issue in those that partake in interracial relationships, but that lack in support, isolation, negativity, and attitudes from outsiders can lead to psychological distress. Therefore, the previously thought cause is now a possible effect. Stress in relationships without the proper support and outlets can easily lead to tense 5 marital situations and lead to what may seem like the only logical escape; divorce. When looking at a general risk of divorce for any couple, age has seemed to play an important role. This is also relevant for interracial marriages, if not more so, as you will see. Marriage at a younger age has shown to be a large characteristic of many divorced couples. Of all predictors of divorce, age at marriage is the most well established and most consistently predictive, regardless of time period when the marriage began (Bratter King, p. 161-62). Studies done by Bramlett and Mosher have estimated that there is a dramatic increase in divorce rates, over 20%, between those who marry before the wife turns 18 years of age and those who marry after the age of 25 years. This is worth mentioning when researching the explanation behind such high divorce rates among interracial couples because historically, specifically those African Americans that marry outside of their race have tended to marry at a younger age than if they were to marry someone inside of their race (Bratter King, p. 62). African American/White relationships are mentioned specifically because these tend to be the most controversial marriage because of such social distance and also the least likely to succeed (Childs, p. 544). Although this cannot be named the sole reason for such high divorce rates among these couples, it can possibly be a starting point to explain some of the different dynamics that go on inside of these relationships. Stress from outside sources have definitely decreased over the last decades for interracial couples, but from news and studies we can tell that it is not completely abolished like the previous marital bans have been. Just look at Bob Jones University in South Carolina. Even up into the twenty first century, this school was blatantly 6 prohibiting interracial relationships on their campus by way of threats of expulsion (About). Unfortunately these types of scenarios will most likely continue on through the years and may continue to carry on the discrepancy of divorce rates between couples of same and different race marriages. Although divorce rates for interracial marriages are significantly higher than their same race counterparts, there are many differing and unique qualities and dynamics that need to be factored in when examining the reasons behind it. There is no single cause and it most likely cannot be chalked up to different skin color. The perceptions, attitudes, treatment, support (and lack of), values, and backgrounds of individuals in the relationship and of those interacting with the couple, all contribute to the environment that they are in and surrounded by on a daily basis. The way that these things impact the interracial couple will also play out into their own marital relationship once they are at home. Seeing as though many times these outside forces are very negative, one would guess that the relationship would also take a turn in that direction. Many of these mentioned theories and dynamics contribute to the high divorce rate among interracial couples in America, although many more aspects most likely add to this problem.