Nina Karas
ENWR 1510ta
Britta Rowe
Paper 2
21 March 2011
Interracial Love
“He’s pretty cute, for a black guy”. I wish I could say this comment was made by
an ignorant person that I have no contact with, but that would be incorrect. Comments
like this leave the mouths of my closest friends on a daily basis. How can a person be
cute for a certain race? This concept makes absolutely no sense to me, yet people of all
ages and generations, even today continue to find it necessary to make comments that
bring up the skin tone of a person. As our society continues to grow and mature as a
whole, there are certain things that people refuse to let go of, like the idea that people
should date and marry only within their race. No matter if it is the family of the white girl
or the African American boy, the only thing that they would both agree on is that they
would rather have their son or daughter date someone the same race as them. Even in
today’s advanced and liberal society, interracial couples are looked at as a social taboo.
In the United States, we take pride in the fact that we are so open and excepting of
cultures. If you take a look around our country, there are white, black, Latin American,
Indian and Oriental people that associate with each other on a daily basis. Yet to this day,
something about two different races coming together in a romantic way is still frowned
upon.
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We have come a long way as a country. Since the end of slavery in 1863, people
of African American descent have continued gaining equal rights to the rest of the
country. Although on paper it may seem like we have done a complete turn around when
it comes to intermixing with other races, in reality there continues to be a lot of
discrimination. Only around forty years ago, a very jaw dropping example happened right
here in Virginia. Mildred, a woman of African American race and Richard Loving, a
white male, were forced to go to the District of Columbia to get married due to the fact
that Virginia had a law against a white person and a non-white person getting married.
When they returned to Virginia, they were arrested because of the fact that they went to
another state to get married and were charged under Section 20-58 of the Virginia Code,
that prohibited getting married out of state and returning to Virginia and Section 20-59
that classified “miscegenation” that could result in them spending up to five years in jail.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Loving were sentenced to a year in jail and a twenty -five year
suspension from the state of Virginia. The Lovings moved to District of Columbia and
there is where the battle for equality began (law.cornell).
Starting in 1963, the American Civil Liberties Union tried to take the state of
Virginia to trial saying that their sentence was violating the Loving’s Fourteenth
Amendment. After three years of a long fight, nothing was being accomplished when the
Presbyterian Church took a stand, saying that they did not condemn interracial marriages,
after which the Unitarian Universalist Association declared that they believed all laws
prohibiting interracial marriages should be nullified Even the Roman Catholic joined the
movement as they offered support to struggling interracial couples (Alonso, Karen). This
case is a landmark Supreme Court decision and helped pave the path of revoking the law
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against interracial marriages all around the country. After the death of Richard Loving in
1975, Mildred Loving makes a statement about her husband and the famous case. “I am
still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case
that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so
many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the
freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about” (Beth, Linda).
Although the news that interracial marriages were illegal in Virginia in the
1960s was alarming to hear, what comes as even a larger surprise there were over
ten states in the United States starting in the 1600s that prohibited marriages of
whites and non-whites. The fight for equality finally ended with the state of
Alabama in the year 2000. This information is not very known to our generation,
but the fact that only eleven years ago there was a place in this country that did not
allow two people of a different race to get married is sickening.
Throughout the history, it has been clear to see that many people disapprove of
interracial marriages. One big reason that both African Americans and conservative
whites oppose interracial marriage and dating is due to cultural betrayal. Many African
American families view interracial dating as a betrayal of their family and abandoning of
their culture. They view this dating as a sign of weakness of the African American
society. Lawrence Otis Graham, an African American attorney and best selling author
stated “interracial marriage undermines African American ability to introduce our
children to black role models who accept their racial identity with pride.” He is also a
strong believer of the fact that mixed raced children will discover that it is easier to live
as a white person, and turn their backs on their black culture (Seabrook, Harry).
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Conservative whites also have reasons for why they do not want their sons or daughters
marrying someone of a different race. Although they do believe in cultural betrayal just
like African Americans, it is not the main reason for which they disapprove of these
unions. They suffer from a fear that the white race will eventually become extinct. The
increase in immigration and the birth of mixed children will make whites minority by the
middle of the twenty-first century.
Is interracial marriage biblical? This question is a question Christians ask over
and over again. Many people believe that the Scriptures discouraged against marrying
someone of a different race, when in reality they discouraged the marriage of a believer
and a non-believer (cf. Deuteronomy 7:3) Though there are certain parts of the Bible that
people continue to maul over trying to see between the cracks the disapproval of
interracial marriages, in reality there is nothing in either the Old Testament or the New
Testament that discourage people from marrying into a different race. In Acts 10:34 it
speaks of God’s equal view of all people and how we should follow in his example and
not judge people based on their skin tone. Since we were all made from one man, Adam,
we are not as different as people put us out to be.
Evidence shows that it is not a sin to marry someone outside of your race or
culture. Obviously there are outcomes to marrying someone of a different race that a
person must be prepared to deal with. Discrimination coming from our society is
inevitable. Not all people are open-minded, making the life of an interracial couple
harder. Another problem that may arise is how to raise a child, both ethically and
religiously. People of two different races do not automatically have to have different
religious faiths, but it is very likely. People that oppose interracial marriages bring up the
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fact that a “mixed” child might be discriminated against by his peers. Since most people
they are either “black” or “white” where does a mixed child considered to fit? Their
feeling of identity and belonging might be jeopardized.
No matter how many years continue to pass, people still continue to frown upon
interracial couples. I grew up in a family where marrying outside of the Serbian Orthodox
community was just unheard of. Both my father and mother were brought up going to
church every Sunday along with participating in choir, church school, dance groups and
athletic teams through the church. Having said that, both my father and mother are one
hundred percent Serbian Orthodox, with very traditional Serbian parents. My
grandparents are alarmed if one of the cousins has a black friend god forbids date one.
My grandmother refused to come take pictures with my cousin for her senior prom
because her date was a 6’5” black football player. In their eyes all of the girl cousins
should be marrying a nice Serbian doctor or lawyer, keeping the Serbian bloodline
strong. We should get married young, have kids and stay at home raising a big, Serbian
family. While many have heard the line “it’s just as easy to fall in love with a rich man”
my grandmother preaches a different philosophy, “it’s just as easy to fall in love with a
Serbian man”. Yet not all of us have the same idea of love.
Throughout my entire life I have paid zero attention to the color of a person’s
skin. My entire life I have always been drawn by people who most would consider
“different”. I found it intriguing to learn about a new culture, a different way of
upbringing than mine. The first time I liked an African American boy was in sixth grade.
I was young and it was merely a crush for a day that went away as fast as it came. Yet as
I continued to grow up, my attraction to that culture grew. My locker was always
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decorated with pictures of rappers such as Nelly, 50 Cent, and Mario. My mother would
constantly ask me “Nina, do you not like white singers?” I saw nothing wrong with the
people I was drawn to, but everyone else thought they had an opinion they should share
with me.
I went to boarding school for high school and my friends were from all around the
world. My past boyfriends have been from Mexico, Ecuador and Spain. Along with
dating people of Latin culture, I was still attracted to black boys. As high school
progressed, my friends would “make fun” of my taste in men. They would call me racist
names, joking around about the skin color of my friends and the fact that I would have
“an oreo baby” when I grow up. No matter the things that were said to me, I never even
considered not liking someone just because my friends thought it was wrong.
When I came to UVA I started dating a boy that was black, and I could feel the
judgment all around us, even coming from my friends. For me it has always been hard to
understand why people would ever care if a couple was all white, all black or a
combination of the two races, yet people did. Whenever we would go out to dinner, I
could feel the staring gaze of the seventy year-old grandmother sitting three tables away
from me. Every time he dropped me off at my dorm, people would walk by and stare as
he was giving me a hug. All of the staring and talking behind my back does not bother
me and I would never not be with a person because of it.
Along with me, there are many people in this country that are trying to rise above
the stereotypes, including many celebrities. Heidi Klum and Seal are a perfect example of
a polar opposite couple. There are many people who do not understand their relationship
and question how a woman as beautiful as her be with Seal. Yet there is obviously
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something that is more than skin deep about him that made Heidi fall in love with Seal.
Other famous couples include Kim Kardashian and Reggie Bush, Khloe Kardashian and
Lamar Odom, Eva Longoria and Tony Parker, Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren, Kobe
Bryant and his wife Vanessa. How about our president Barrack Obama’s parents are a
mixed raced couple, who managed to raise the man that is now in charge of our country.
Although there is a great amount of people who have accepted all races as their
equal and have no problem intermixing with them, as a society we still have a long way
to go. As Martin Luther King Jr. said in his “I Have a Dream” Speech “I have a dream
that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the
color of their skin but by the content of their character”, I also dream of a day when
people do not focus on the color of a person’s skin. As the older generations exit the
picture and newer generations start taking over, the possibility of and equal world will
become more possible. Yet no matter how advanced and open minded our society
progresses to become, I believe that there will always be ignorant people who will judge
and continue to make it difficult for interracial couples everywhere.
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Works Cited
Alonso, Karen. Loving v. Virginia: Interracial Marriage. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow,
2000. Print.
Beth, Linda. "Loving, of Loving v. Virginia, Dies." The Reaction. 05 May 2008. Web. 14
Apr. 2011. <http://the-reaction.blogspot.com/2008/05/loving-of-loving-v-virginiadies.html>
"Loving v. Virginia." LII | Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School. 10 Apr.
1967. Web. 10 Apr. 2011.
<http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0388_0001_ZO.html>.
Maxey, Al. "Unequally Yoked: Does 2 Corinthians 6:14 Apply to Marriage?" Free Grace
Centered Magazine Focuses on Amazing Grace. Free Grace, Christianity and the
Bible. Grace Centered Magazine. Web. 01 May 2011.
<http://www.gracecentered.com/unequally_yoked.htm>.
Seabrook, Harry. "John Piper Is a Lying Traitor." Who Is Mrs. Binoculars? Web. 01 May
2011. <http://mrsbinoculars.com/lgmirror/piper.html>.
The New English Bible; New Testament. [New York]: Oxford UP, 1961. Print.
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