This all changed when a student transferred to our high school from Haiti. He was the first black person I had ever really spoken to and I realized that although he looked different than I did he was still very similar. Having this first eye opening experience to someone that was different than I was meant a great deal to me. If this young man hadn't come to our school I could have very easily gotten to known my very first African American when I came to college.
This lack of knowledge about races that are different from our own can lead to many prejudices and a large divide between races. But where does this divide begin? Was I lucky enough to avoid this pitfall or is simply because of where I was raised?
Looking at today's statistics, race is beginning to not matter to many individuals across the country. According to the New York Times, 1 in 7 new marriages were interracial. As of 2013 87% of the population was okay with interracial marriages as compared to the 4% in 1959. This increase in acceptance for interracial couples can be attributed to the 1967 Loving v. Commonwealth of Virginia which removed the ban on interracial couples.
Interestingly, the top two states for interracial dating and couples are California and Texas. The majority of the other top twenty states are in the Eastern part of the country and in the south. It may also be interesting to mention that these two states are also considered the most conservative.
So is it fair to say that interracial issues in America are beginning to lessen? If we look at only dating and relationships it seems to be that we as a society are beginning to accept mixed race and interracial individuals more readily into our society. However, this doesn't take into account the general acceptance of these individuals into society.
The job market is difficult for anyone, but it may be that your race is beginning to play a role into whether or not you get a job offer. It has been shown that individuals that have ethnic sounding names, or attend schools that are predominately black have a less likely chance of being called for an interview with a company than those individuals that are overall generally white.
The newest thing for graduates has been "whitening their resume" or making it sound like they are more white so they have a higher likelihood of being called in for an interview. If an individual attends a college and gets an esteemed degree, it should not matter what their race is when it comes to getting the job.
Looking back on my own experience in high school I am very grateful that I was able to meet that particular individual and open my eyes to the different kinds of people that this world has to offer. I believe that because of this I am more able to see the world with open eyes and accept everyone for the person that they are, not the color of their skin.
Great view on interracial couples. I grew up around this type of environment. Great read!
ReplyDeleteBrooke,
ReplyDeleteI really like how you bring your personal experiences to this blog. Like you, I grew up in a "white" environment. For example, my high school had no Asians, no Hispanics, and only one black boy, who was my father's dentist's son (which is telling in of itself). It was not until I moved to NYC that diversity was apparent and I experienced culture shock.I do wish you had discussed white identity development which was mentioned in the first article.Most whites are not forced to think much about their race/ethnicity
Your treatment of interracial relationships was great and the map really added to the blog. Your comments were very insightful here. Your USA interracial dating map did leave me with one questions. Would these numbers decrease if we looked at an interracial marriage map? I think yes. Not all who date will necessarily go on to marry.I in fact know two people who dated black men but they ended up marrying white men.
As you say Texas is a conservative state but it does share a border with Mexico which may account for the increased numbers. California on the other hand is considered liberal which might explain those numbers.
It's really great that even thought you weren't exposed to a diversity for the early part of life, that you when you were, you had a positive eye-opening experience with it and that you were very accepting of it. The Census of Maine was a good addition to really show the small amount of ethnic diversity in your environment.
ReplyDeleteYou are very descriptive and give good detail on interracial relationships, but as professor Strano said, you focus a lot on the relationship and dating, but lack information in the marriage section as that would certainly differ.
The article in which you mentioned about the 'Whitening" resumes was unbelievable. I knew that it happened to some women, but I should have known that if it happens with women then it would happen with ethnic differences. Either way it is still wrong and it is good that you mentioned it and brought it to the light.