BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture African-American Culture Interracial Marriage - Only Since 1948????

This was a married couple. The woman is from NH and the man is from Kenya.

Even my dad has a bit of a problem with me dating black men. You'd think he'd be used to it by now especially since his oldest grandchild is bi-racial. LOL He loves his granddaughter, but would prefer to see me with a white guy...

I think these attitudes are pervasive in our society. It doesn't matter the base race, you will find similar attitudes in that community.

my family is full of inter-racial family members. I am white and PR, my brother is white and mexican, my sisters kids are all white and black, and my brothers are a mix bag as well ;0)

Jeanne - but is your dad "pure blood" - or is his background a mix of cultures? For example you could say I am "caucasian" but I am half Ukrainian, a part English, part German, part Native American, all sorts of parts

It is a shame to see that in the world today that people can not get past the color of skin. I was raised that every one is equal no matter what your skin color. I had been in an interracial marriage until my husband's death three years ago. We never really had any problems when we went out in public or else it was not a big deal to us so we did not pay any attention.
We went on to have two beautiful biracial children. They have gone to several different schools, all black, all white, and private schools. They have never really had any problem with the color of their skin or that their father was African American and their mother was white. I think that kids that are in interracial families are more rounded in the world than kids that come from one race families. I think they have an easier time over coming hurdles that come upon them in life. Every relationship is going to have its ups and downs no matter what the skin color. It should be all about the love you have for each other and not what the world thinks.

I've travelled all over the U.S. and find, even today, that racism (in a myriad of forms) is still rather rampant. Some areas of the country are worse than others; and it appears to have less to do with education/affluence/exposure than it does with pervasive societal perceptions of difference. We still have major issues all across the country with wealthy, predominantly white neighborhoods doing everything they can to keep out non-whites. We also continue to have issues with school segregation (seeBellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!

It is discouraging to see white people prejudging people of color, and judging other white people for marrying inter-racially. However there is a crucial flip side to it all as well, which is equally important to face.

An enormous number of African Americans do not like to see interracial marriages within their culture either. Prejudice unfortunately spirals out in all directions, affecting all races. If it is to end, each individual needs to take responsibility for their personal pain and the manner in which it manifests.

(On a related note, I had an online college psychology course classmate who was of African descent but with roots in the south. She and her family were offended by the term "African American." They prefered to be referred to as "black" or "colored." I found this to be of great interest as a white woman! When I started asking her more questions about a topic almost all whites are in the dark about, my white instructor stopped me and told me I was coming from "white democratic guilt." I was stunned! How is desiring to understand something that totally goes against what one has learned about another race an act of "guilt?" As a member of white society, I feel that we are in precarious place when it comes to racial issues.)

Shay

Read something by Jim Scheurich ("Toward a White Discourse on White Racism"). He discusses the "guilt" issues in depth.

Ah, if I only had time to read anything that isn't specified research! Think you could run off a quickie cap off for me if you have a moment?

I don't subject myself to the self-abuse of "guilt." Having an open heart and mind is a far more gentle and productive approach to life. Don't you think?

Shay

Sorry. He's one of those existential type researchers. No way to boil his stuff down to a nutshell. It's hard enough just sittiing through one of his classes.

Unfortunately, his research theories on white racism are running rampant through academia.

Although I do not live in Las Vegas any more and don't want to, this is one great thing that we grew up with. There was one of everyone and since I did grow up in a working class neighborhood, we also had neighbors of one of everyone. We ate together, played together, friends, family etc. Yes there were some people that would make an issue out of it but I am overly thankful that we did not understand why. Of course it is NOT that way now but they still do have a huge mix of people there.