Interracial Dating

Why are so many people upset over whom a person dates are marries! Does it really matter, and why is it any of your business! Who gave you the right to judge me or any other person if they decide to date outside our race. Just for general information, how do you know that one is dating outside their race? Just because the person standing next to them is of a different color, does not necessarily mean they are dating outside their race. Last time I looked most people in the world believe in some form of reglion.

As a starting point, let me make it clear that there are no references in scripture that forbid interracial marriages, although some people take scriptures out of context to prove otherwise. Even if you believe in evolution, we still all come from one place. Truly what is your definition of race? Whether you believe in evolution are reglion we all came from one place. So how does the word race even enter the conversation!

It’s kind of hard to believe this today, but as recent as 1967, there were actually state laws that banned interracial marriage. These laws weren’t overturned until the Supreme Court case, Loving vs. Virginia in 1967. In that case, the Supreme Court found that it was unconstitutional for the Commonwealth of Virginia to ban interracial marriage. A poll conducted two years earlier, in 1965 by the Gallup Company revealed that 72 percent of whites in the South wanted a ban on interracial marriage. Whites in the North were 42 percent in favor of the ban. Since then, the number of interracial marriages has grown significantly. In 1970 there were only 65,000 marriages involving African-Americans and whites. In 2005, that number grew to 422,000. Interracial couples represented two percent of marriages in 1970 according to a Stanford University study. In 2005, that number was up to seven percent of the 59 million marriages in the United States..

Although there are no longer any laws banning relationships, interracial dating remains a controversial subject for some people.

There are several different theories as to why many singles these days are dating outside their race. Some of these theories are associated with misguided myths and misconceptions, and the blind hope that maybe someone from the different race will treat us differently and show us more affection, than the partners we would normally date. For others the excitement of 'jungle fever' or 'mixed matching' is what attracts them to enter into a black white dating relationship or other interracial relationship.

Therefore, what does a black white relationship or interracial relationship have that is different to what we can get from dating within our own race? For some it’s the excitement or fantasy of dating outside their race, or the options that are on offer or even simply a general preference to dating outside their race. For most couples in an interracial relationship, the answer to this is simple; skin color had no role in their choice of partner because at the end of the day we are all looking to meet someone who is caring, respectful, honest and most of compatible!

"It's becoming increasingly more acceptable," says Dr. Darlene Powell Hopson, a Connecticut clinical psychologist. "For many people it's a way of not limiting your choices in mate selection. People are more willing to take the risk in having more choices.”

According to the Current Population Survey (CPS) the number of interracial married couples increased from 310,000 in 1970 to 1.3 million in 1994; with 296,000 of the interracial married couples being Black-White.

"The days of thinking ‘jungle fever’ whenever we see an interracial couple are over," says Dr. Darlene Powell Hopson." People have an array of reasons for dating and marrying interracially. More choices can lead to a meaningful relationship.

There is also another reason for the rise in interracial marriages given by Dr. Larry E. Davis, a psychologist and author of ‘Black and Single: Meeting and Choosing a Partner Who’s Right for you, a shortage of black men for black women. He also adds that black men try to find status and beauty in relationships, and some black men think white women hold these qualities more than black women.

"The number of black women to black men is higher. There are more women than men which reduces the available pool of partnership," said Davis. "Men have historically dated for beauty and status. White women were believed to bring both to black males." Of the 296,000 Black-White interracial married couples in 1994, 196,000 were between black men and white women.

Most celebrity athletes and entertainers have been criticized for interracial dating and marriage, people must understand that because they live in a more global society, constraints to marrying across racial borders are less. Bernard S. Cohen, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) attorney who represented Mildred and Richard Loving, the infamous interracial couple from Virginia who married in 1958 in spite of the law which forbade interracial marriages believes the increase is a reflection of a more open and thoughtful society.

And with the ban lifted, more and more people have the freedom to date interracially. There is more chance for people of different races to meet, especially in the corporate world, which explains the increase in interracial marriages. They are in a world that is more racially mixed in terms of association and socializing. So in a few more decades people will ask the question that I asked you, where does race come into the conversation!!!