Interracial Relationships
Interracial relationships between white and black Americans have been a topic of controversy in the United States since the time of slavery, when slave owners had relations with young, black female slaves. As the years went on, many whites felt themselves to be superior to Africans and African Americans. Whites hated blacks immensely because of their race, color of skin and their culture and treated them as though they were lower in class. Segregation and laws were created to separate blacks from whites. This separation was a social aspect as well as mental. Interracial relationships were frowned upon by others and thought of as a sin. Those who were not interracially mixed believed that the couples that were racially or culturally mixed were a disgrace. Interracial relationships have been criticized for many years, however times are changing and thoughts about miscegenation are now becoming less critical and more reasonable. In the years that slavery occurred, many laws and rules were set to keep interracial relationships from occurring. As historian Albert Gordon says, "In the United States restrictive legislation against miscegenation originated during the period of slavery... designed to
Today beliefs towards interracial relations are different because they have proven most false accusations wrong, while others have come to their senses about how they were wrong in judging interracial couples. As sociologist Gordon says, "Intermarriage is not always an act of rebellion against parents or their values... rather product of urbanization, mobility, propinquity and other factors that play in our society." (Page 54) Many are seeing that through the freedom of choice and will, people are becoming more open with their choices in relationships and everyday life. They are basing their partners on who they surround themselves with, and the situations they find themselves involved in. Interracial relationships are no longer looked as rebellious because there are so many diverse people in the world today, it is no longer radical to know and be with someone of many or different races. Many people are thinking more positively towards the subject of interracial relations. Times, and beliefs are changing in the millennium and views and opinions are becoming less critical. People react to how the world is evolving; life today is high paced and less opinionative to interracial relationships. These relationships are becoming more common and accepted in everyday life. " In 1960, 25,00 couples were married interracially with black husbands and white wives. In 1993, 182,000 couples were married interracially with black husbands and white wives. The times are changing and marriages with mixed cultures and races are more common then marriages who are single raced." (John Francis, Common Link). This drastic increase just proves that life with interracial relations is becoming less critical and more reasonable. Many whites felt that they needed to demonstrate their superiority and many areas created laws to segregate public places, and this caused those in interracial relationships to not feel allowed and that they belonged. Historian Gary Nash demonstrates this segregation when he says "Segregation in hotels, restaurants, parks and every facility open to the public... Atlanta even required separate Bibles for African Americans and whites to swear upon in court." (American Odyssey, page 282) This segregation caused interracial relationships to be critized because they were now different and causing problems because the races were not thought of as equal. Laws were created to keep the different races se
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Approximate Word count = 1634
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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