Interracial relationships, multi-ethnic marriage - are attitudes changing?

[txlibdem]

I am in a multi-racial marriage, my wife is Asian and I'm white. Whenever my wife and I were out and about in public places, I used to notice getting a lot of stares and glares 20 years ago. At some point, I can't recall when, either I stopped noticing, stopped paying attention to it, maybe stopped giving a s**t about bigots/idiots, or?

Have attitudes in America softened toward multi-racial relationships? What is your opinion on being in a relationship with someone not of your race? What thoughts come to your mind when you see such a couple?

[NightWatcher]

1. my cousin married a Chinese man and my brother married a S. Korean girl

my grandmother said that neither marriage was interracial because neither of them were marrying "a black"- her words.

My cousin has run into some calls of "half breed" regarding her kids with the Chinese side of the family. I guess it's only interracial when it's seen as "marrying down" (ie to white people when a white marrying a black person, or to the Chinese when they marry a white person)

[txlibdem]

3. Sorry to hear the kids have to deal with that

My daughter was once told by her teacher that she was not a "real American" because she was born overseas, while I served in the military. What a stupid comment... untrue of course.

I'm sorry to hear that about the Chinese relatives. Chinese immigrants to the US did suffer greatly in the last century, one town in California declaring it would drive them out or kill them all (after they were done with the work they were brought in for) but that was a LONG time ago. I'd never heard that the Chinese had such bigotry against whites.

[cemaphonic]

9. I think that attitude is more common with Chinese that are both older and immigrants

and is more about familiarity, and wanting their grandkids to be brought up in their culture than it is outright bigotry. I have lots of friends in Vancouver BC, which has a very large Chinese population that has immigrated within the last 15 years. The older ones would certainly prefer that their kids married within the Chinese community, but at the same time, all of my friends that have actually married white spouses get along just fine with the in-laws.

[XemaSab]

13. Most Chinese people I've known

don't mind if their kid marries a white person, but one of my Chinese friends got screamed at for dating a black guy. :o

[raccoon]

2. IME, yes, but slowly. nt

[La Lioness Priyanka]

4. depends on where you are i would suspect. nt

[txlibdem]

5. Texas

I'm in Dallas. That's kinda why I asked the question: it doesn't seem to matter to anyone.

[suninvited]

7. Even in the rural areas outside of Dallas

way outside, where attitudes are usually pretty close minded, people dont seem to bat an eye anymore.

[TZ]

6. Yes.

In the past twenty years very few political ideologies have actually changed, but two that have are the attitudes towards multi-ethnic relationships and gay rights actually

Here's a landmark study from Pew which shows this very very well...
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1743/static-america-no-shift-political-values-elections

and of course there are still pockets where attitudes haven't changed but they are few and far between. Where I live there are all sorts of ethnic groups and no one looks twice at multiethnic couples or families for that matter.

[NewJeffCT]

8. it has changed

my wife is Chinese and nobody really says or does anything towards us - we got some stares in China when we went there, but my mixed-race daughter probably got more stares than me when we were there.

back in the 90s, people would sometimes look when I was with non-white women, but no direct harrassment 99% of the time. I think I heard something once from some black guys when I was on a date with a black woman, and another time, some white women when I was out with an Asian woman. But, both were over 10 years ago.

[blueknight]

10. i hope so

one of my sons is married to a girl from hong kong. the other son has a half black wife. both beautiful. we are caucasion

[Bucky]

11. I've noticed recently a couple of TV commercials with interracial couples

One was a for a dating service and the other was for a home appliance of some sort. I don't really recall which. Anyway, that's awful close to being the last shoe.

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. And here's an adorable movie short also featuring a mutli-racial family

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FKSLa9Rqyw

[Kat45]

18. A number of TV shows also show interracial couples these days.

I think that's a good sign.

[txlibdem]

20. Did Star Trek begin that trend?

In the episode where Kirk kissed Uhura specifically, but on a more general level just by having all different races (and a Russian guy) working on the bridge of the Enterprise together. The show did break some racial grounds on a number of occasions.

After that, The Jeffersons had neighbors in a multi-racial marriage (white guy married to an African American woman). They were bold to do that at that time I think but now it's a lot more common to see it on tv.

[Bucky]

22. If you think about it, the Kirk Uhura smooch wasn't so big a deal compared to Spock's folks

Spock was the result of an unholy union between different species. It'd be less of a stretch, genetically speaking, if Spock's mama had hooked up with a rhinoceros.

[txlibdem]

24. I forgot all about Spock being a half-Vulcan, half-Human

Hmmm. That is quite a bit more risque for that time I agree. They even had his parents on for a couple of episodes as I recall.

[TreasonousBastard]

21. Yeah! I saw those, too, and if advertising is accepting it, that's as mainstream as it gets.

[Redstone]

12. I sure hope the fuck so, though it hasn't impacted us: I am half

American Indian, and my wife is half African (not African-American), and so far the prejudice we've been shown is zero.

Maybe it's because I'm tall and mean-looking that people leave me alone, and because Mrs R is stunningly gorgeous that people leave her alone; I don't know.

Redstone

[Arugula Latte]

14. I think so, but I live in a liberal area.

Yesterday, I was in the library near the kids' section. I noticed a little caucasian girl who started crying because she'd lost sight whoever she came with. An Asian woman who was her caregiver (and maybe her mother?) scooped her up and comforted her. A second I noticed a white guy carrying his daughter, who was Asian. The whole thing made me smile.

[GreenPartyVoter]

15. My aunt was married to an African-American man, so my cousin is biracial. Back in the 70s here in

Maine when they came to visit it might have concerned some older people, but the kids we played with just thought he was wicked cool. Also around that time I took a train trip to Florida and I distinctly remember playing house with a very cute African-American boy. If anyone took exception to anything it was that he kept chasing me into the ladies room. LOL

Granted that was all seen through the eyes of an innocent child, but I think as an adult I haven't seen too much outrage over multi-racial families even here in rural Maine. If anyone is upset by it they seem to either keep it to themselves or only talk about it with like-minded friends.

[kimi]

17. Yes, I think attitudes have changed

My 4 younger boys went to a fairly large urban school here on the Maryland side of the DC/MD line, and it was a largely black/Hispanic demographic. All of them dated girls who were not Caucasian, and no one ever said a word to them. My mom once made a comment of dismay - she grew up in the South - and to my shock my ex also said something once like "Don't they know any white girls?" Sheesh.

My 2nd boy is dating a girl from Hong Kong now, and I don't believe anyone, even inside the family, has said a thing. Certainly not to me, I think they know how I'd react.

[HipChick]

19. Depends on where you live?...my republican white boss is dating a black woman

He's absolutely smitten..He's no longer so combative with issues around me. She's a raging liberal, and he's coming around slowly..

My neighbor is also dating a black woman
..
around the DC area and suburbs, there is an diverse mix. There also tends to be a lot of military families around who are blended familes...parts of more rural Virginia might bat an eyelid, but no-one really cares. And the generation that does, is dying out slowly..

[Bucky]

23. Probably just getting laid more often will take the Republican edge off of anyone

[txlibdem]

26. If only it were that simple

Remember the hooker scandals the Repukes keep getting themselves caught up in...

:rofl:

[Pacifist Patriot]

25. I think so.

I've officiated approximately 250 weddings and quite a number have been interracial / multi-ethnic.

I also teach marriage education classes and a decent percentage of such couples attend because they have concerns relating to their differences. Two people coming together from different families of origin are always going to have differences to reconcile no matter how similar their backgrounds. I have found that communication styles within the family of origin and degree of family system health have more impact than ethnicity or race. Of course, some cultures generate differing communication styles so that's to be considered. My favorite couple was a Japanese groom and an Italian bride. Talk about reserved meets demonstrative. They were a hoot!

[kwassa]

27. I don't even pay attention anymore.

My wife is black, I am white, no one appears to notice or care. We live in the extremely diverse DC suburbs where every group in the world seems to be represented. I think that immigration has defused historic polarities, as we now have minorities from all over the world all newly here and living in close proximity. There are many multi-ethnic relationships. It is also common to see trans-racial adoptions, as well. The world is changing, quickly.