Interracial Relationships

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“It is betrayal. Do they think they are too good for their own mothers and sisters?” My mother and grandmother always delivered this less-than-congratulatory retort at the sight of the recently married men in my family. All three of the men, between thirty and forty years of age, tied the knot to white women, a taboo practice in my “traditional” black household. This response encapsulates the general opinion of interracial marriage by many other black families across America. My opinion of interracial relationships, however, developed from isolated surroundings. As a black girl growing up in predominately white Stafford, Virginia, my love interests’ racial variety reached mediocre at best. I shared very few classes with boys of color, but the few ethnic males I knew hailed from all parts of the globe. My background both served and hindered my outlook on love. On the positive, I have no racial preference and truly value ethnic diversity. On the downside, I never realistically grasped society’s views of social-cultural and gender groups. I constantly questioned my elders. “What’s wrong with our cousins marrying white people? As long as they love each other and are happy, there should not be a problem.” They always shook their heads in disapproval, explaining that the problem never centered on love. My light bulb finally sparked when my mother clarified. “It is just hard to accept that not even the men of our own race want us.” Further research validated her claim. Black women are the least desirable group in America (Curry, 2010). Fact-based articles with unsettling titles such as “Blacks Struggle with 72 Percent Unwed Mothers Rate” and disheartening blogs written by single blacks looking for love, revealed the dire scope of my naï...

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Ispa-Landa, S. (2010). Black Boys Considered ‘Cool’ and ‘Tough’ While Black Girls Stereotyped as ‘Loud’and ‘Rough’ in Suburban Schools. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/22/black-boys-in-school-black-girls_n_4151328.html
Luscombe, B. (2013, November 4). What Keeps Online Dating Segregated. Time. Retrieved from http://healthland.time.com/2013/11/04/hope-for-online-dating-study-shows-its-less- segregated/
Washington, J. (2010, November 7). Blacks Struggle with 72 Percent Unwed Mothers Rate. Msnbc.com. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/id/39993685/ns/health-womens_health/t/blacks-struggle-percent-unwed-mothers-rate/
Webster. (2010). Caucasoid. Definition of by Webster's Online Dictionary. Webster Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.webster-dictionary.org/definition/caucasoid

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