Interracial Marriage Smashing Old Traditions (Post 1)
It has been almost fifty years since interracial marriage became legal in the Unites States dating back to 1967. Mixed race peoples are of the fastest growing in the population in the United States and single race families are slowly becoming fewer and fewer. You would think people’s opinions of a black man and a white woman getting married would have changed by now but interracial marriage still seems to be a taboo for many of us. Those especially of the older generations want to keep with old traditions of marrying within their own race. The United States population needs to see the growing interracial marriage population in a new light and realize that marriage for the younger generation is more about love rather than race or tradition.
My Interracial Experience
Only recently has my interracial identity sparked more of my interest as I recalled past instances regarding my race. Never had I deeply thought about until recently what I personally identify as or what other people see me as at first glance. My mother is full Chinese and my father is full Caucasian, making me half of both but depending on the person, they see me as only white or only Chinese. Sometimes I have even been asked if I am Latino. In addition, I grew up in a predominantly Asian community so I always felt a bit different from my peers growing up based on looks and culture. Sometime last year however, I realized I constantly receive the same questions about my racial make-up making it into a game for them to guess what I am.
In multiple instances, people have assumed my parents are not married or even a couple because they are not the same race. My family used to go to Panda Express and this woman assumed that my father and I were paying separately from my mother and sister. My dad would point to my mother and sister saying they were with us, and she looked so shocked and unhappy. It could have been a mistake but every time my family went back there, it was the same woman assuming the same thing about my family. As a child, I did not think much of her “mistake” but now I know why she had always almost insisted my parents are not married. The fact that she made this “mistake” so many times really bugs me now that I am older because I know there is nothing wrong with interracial couples. There will always be eyes on my family because of the racial difference and as a society, we need to not discriminate against mixed race couples and break away from the tradition of the older generation.
The Growing Interracial Population
Multiracial peoples are one of the largest growing populations in the Unites States today. The year 2000 was the first year Americans were allowed to choose more than one racial category in the Census Bureau allowing people who identify as more than one racial group to accurately choose their race. According to the Pew Research Center, “Between 2000 and 2010, the number of white and black biracial Americans more than doubled, while the population of adults with a white and Asian background increased by 87%”. The sheer amount of mixed race peoples is only going to increase as the years go by, proved by the increase in the last decade. The old traditions of same race marriage are becoming more and more a thing of the past and hopefully the fading taboo of mixed race marriages becomes a part of the past. With each generation that comes along, there is more of an open mindedness towards mixed race couples
The Older Generations on Interracial Marriage
The Older Generations tend to not accept interracial relationships as easily because they believe in “tradition” and that being in a relationship with somebody outside of one’s own race is wrong. Many young people face a lot of pressure to marry within their race from parents especially from a young age. The older generation just wants the best and easiest life for their children but this thinking also includes marrying in their own race. A New York Times article called ‘I Have a Black Son in Baltimore’: Anxious New Parents and an Era of Unease written by Rachel L. Swarns follows an interracial couple and their first born. The couple talks about the struggle of having a child in Baltimore and being an interracial couple with parents who do not approve. “[Mr.Janu’s] father, who abhors interracial relationships, stopped speaking to him”. This is just one example of the thinking of the older generation and their opinions of interracial marriage. It is difficult for the younger and older generations to see eye to eye on this subject. Current young people do not need to be discouraged from interracial relationships and should encouraged to marry whoever they want to, regardless of race.
The Future
The amount of mixed race couples and people will only increase as the years pass by. According to Richard Pérez-Peña in Report Says Census Undercounts Mixed Race, “The number of people… [that will identify with more than one race] will triple by 2060”. Basically, with the population always growing and more interracial couples having children, there will be more mixed race people in the United States. Less people will be of one race and more people on the Census Bureau will check off more than one race if they identify as more than one. What this also could lead to is less colorism and overall racism in the world because at some point, everyone will be mixed with a little bit of every race. Being interracial will be more normalized in the future and the taboo of interracial couples will eventually fade. Hopefully, this rise in mixed race individuals will lead to an increasingly open-minded society and less discrimination against mixed race people and their families.