Say Yes Tobias Wolff

"Say Yes" by Tobias Wolff tells the story about a couple disputing over the ethicalness of the white Americans and African Americans that were marrying each other. In this portrayal of the white American husband's and wife's views of African American people, it is apparent that the Civil Rights Movement was able to persuaded masses of white Americans to provide more freedoms to African Americans, even though some white people remained unaffected. In "Say Yes," Tobias Wolff's representation of the couple's discussion depicts the attitudes that men and women had towards African Americans, revealing how the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s had affected Americans in the 1980s.

The Civil Rights Movement sought to bring independence and justice

to African Americans. This movement tried to elevate "African Americans up and out of [the] social 'place' that whites had created for them" (Sokol par. 3). The Civil Rights Movement "changed Southerners’ lives and minds" about black Americans (Sokol par. 12). This transformation assisted may African Americans in different aspects of their lives. This movement allowed African Americans to be able to "live with a dignity that the culture ... had denied" (Sokol par. 12). Yet, some people's views stayed unaltered by the Civil Rights Movement. Those few people whose beliefs were unmodified are reflected through the husband in the story when he says, "'[African Americans] don't come from the same culture as we do'" (Wolff par. 8). Still, racial inequality exists and has caused "black Americans [to] remain disproportionately impoverished, imprisoned, and undereducated" (Sokol par. 12). The Civil Rights Movement was capable of adjusting the perspectives that many white American men and white American women had towards African Americans.
African Americans were not considered equal to the white American men and white American women.

A common used justification for segregation was distinguishable when the husband from "Say Yes" explained that "'a person from their culture and a person from our culture could never really know each other'" (Wolff par. 8). White Americans believed that the difference in culture was a reason to segregate against African Americans. Many stereotypes were generated about African Americans giving them an appalling impression. One asserted that African Americans "were unclean and shiftless, unintelligent and oversexed" (Sokol par. 3). A white women's attitude towards African Americans often appeared to be more compassionate and kindhearted than a white American man's aspect. In the story the wife demonstrates this concept when she states, "'I just don't see what's wrong with a white person marrying a black person'" (Wolff par. 7). She does not understand the reasoning as to why interracial marriage is considered indecent and impure. She portrays the typical attitude that a white American woman was thought to have during this moment in history. Yet the truth is that "[women] might seem nicer because they have less power, because they seem to hide their feelings more and are less direct than white men" (Brewer par. 9). Many white Americans had insisted that interracial marriage was unreasonable and

immoral.
Interracial marriage is the union of a husband and wife that come from two distinct races. This was usually unaccepted and detested by many Americans during the 1980s. The husband in the story tells his wife to "'look at the statistics [because] most of those marriages break up" (Wolff par. 12). An actual study during the 1980s presented the probability of divorce for interracial and same race couples after a time period of 10 years. The statistic found that "55% of interracial marriages divorced by their 10th year compared to 35.6% of same-race marriages" (Bratter and King 8). These statistics prove that Tobias Wolff's character had an accurate belief in that interracial marriages are more likely to separate compared to same race marriages. Many people have argued over whether interracial marriage was correct or incorrect. The only complication that interracial marriage carried was the disapproval coming from the majority of society during the 1980s. Interracial couples had to encounter "negative reactions from strangers and diminished support from family and friends" (Bratter and King 11). Since time has progressed, the amount of people that have accept of interracial marriage has increased.
The married couple in "Say Yes" argues over racial differences. They also discuss whether it is moral or not for a person to have an interracial marriage with African Americans. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s influenced the views that many white American had regarding African Americans. Interracial marriage was generally unacceptable although some marriages would still occur. These people who interracially married were considered shameful to their race and to their family. The Civil Rights Movement and interracial marriage allowed many white American women and white American men to modify the mindset they had towards all African Americans.