Marriage Between Different Races - Essay Example

MARRIAGE between DIFFERENT RACES Department MARRIAGE between DIFFERENT RACES In his work, David Mura explains the challenges that his daughter faces in the word during his time. David and his wife were of deferent races which was the main reason for her challenged. David Mura was Japanese origin while his wife was a white (American) woman. Mura was a self-identified Japanese-American who expressed his feeling about his relationship with the daughter who is of a mixed race and his wife in the poem. In the poem, David questions his reasons for marrying his wife from a different race. He wonders whether his decision to marry from a different race had a reason which meant the ability to escape from factor that he was not clear of. These factors could include cultures, him-self or values. The poem written by David brings out an immense debate about the colours of individuals and the marriage between races and the influences that this has on their identities. This paper analyzes the subject of identity and self-hate. More so, it discusses the popular and the cultural traditional beliefs as to why people tend to get involved in interracial relationships. Marriages between races have been affected by attractiveness, acculturation and propinquity. Several researches have come up with the conclusion that propinquity tent to be the strongest predator in determining whether or not people can engage in interracial marriages. Assimilation and acculturation have been shown to be related to several incidents of interracial relationships in a positive way. It is believed that when it is removed from the demands of the intra-ethnic relationships that are opposed by most communities and families, there is the possibility for the exploration of the interracial relationships with different ethnic and racial backgrounds. These are the main factors for most ethnic and racial groups. In this paper, it discusses the relationships or rather the beliefs that exists behind the interracial marriages/relationships between the “Black community” and the “White” community in the United State since independence (Hearn, 1998). When talking of interracial relationships, there exist two beliefs that are associated that decision. The beliefs are traditional and popular cultural beliefs. There is a belief that when men from a different colour to that of the women will only marry from a different race if they are in need of escaping from their value, culture and/or themselves. This regards to the traditional beliefs. These beliefs explain that men who marry from a different race or a different ethnic community are moved by their intention and/or the need to escape from their values and belief or the intentions to lose their culture. However, this belief that black men have to marry white women to escape their culture is believed to stop working if the genes of the black and their hormones will still exist in the next generation. It is evident that as long as there will be white aspects in the children that are born by the white women and the black men relationships, it will determine how they are treated. In this black and white relationship, it is evident that the society will choose to view the white generation to be less than the black generation. Thus, there are no occasions that the situation of the black suffering will end. Isolation of people is where the inter-marriage between different ethnic or racial communities leaves them (Chung, 2000). It is believed that the couples who got married from different races feels out of place since in most cases, areas that are familiar will not be there for them. For instance, families of the white and the black people can relocate to the U.S where it is not the home for the men. The men will feel isolated and out of place at the end, because of the difference in the traditions and the culture among the white population. This makes it difficult for the families to adapt the surrounding which has different cultural practices and the different traditional beliefs that exists in the new environment. This proves that the beliefs that black men marry white women in order to escape their cultural beliefs to have not concrete (Hearn, 1998). According to Hearn, Popular cultural beliefs are other factors that influence the interracial relationships. The beliefs bases its notions basing on the facts that many black men that marry women from other racial background have no intensions on escaping their values, culture and/or themselves but they are driven by love. Clear indication of love that exists between the two couples is shown through the inter-marriage between the black men and the white women. This also proves that the issue of identities do not contribute to their union. However, the main argument that has been of discussion behind the popular cultural beliefs of some communities is that there is no culture or identity of the blacks. There has been the notion of the ideology of the black population which aims on boosting the self-esteem of few the people who still consider themselves as being the minority group in the world. This is because of the several black communities which exist among the black population that makes it difficult for the population to associate some of the tradition or culture with a given group of the black community. Proving this, there are several Back-American communities that exists apart from the United States. It is believed that these components have their own different values, beliefs and cultures, and therefore, there is no way one can pin the tradition beliefs to the black community Peoples’ culture has several aspects of life which are; history, values, dialects, arts and traditions. With the view and including the facts that the black culture has no such thing, it proves that the black men only marry the white women with affections and love reasons but not the view that they only marry the white women with the interest of abandoning their own original identity. Mostly, many of the cultural beliefs insist on marriages being the unions of two individuals irrespective of their origin or colour bound together by love. However, the marriages between the black men and the white men are faced with many challenges that might end up breaking their relationship/marriages. The difference in the individuals’ origin and culture are the most notable reasons for the failure in relationships between the black men and the black women. Due to this, the picture for the reason of these marriages between the black men and the black women to be viewed as escapes from their black culture and identity is brought about. It is believed that the things which have led to the notion which assumes that the reason for the black men to marry white women is away to escape their culture and identity are the differences in the ways in which the blacks and the white people do their things (Hofstra, Sjoerd, and Italo, 2002). The black community has been categorised among the minority communities. The blacks have been known to fight or rather struggle with the race issues since ancient times. This has affected interracial relationships in a negative way. Having the blacks as the minority community gave the white community an upper hand seining themselves as a much more superior than the black community. This made the white community to access better resources than the black community. It is believed through colonialism and slave trade, the black community were negatively influenced which made most of the black people to hate their colour and even made them curse being born black. More so, in areas that are highly populated with the white people, there is a lot of racial discrimination. In these areas, the white people have good access to better social status, areas of jobs and education. As a result, the black men tend to marry the white American women in order to evade the issue of discrimination with the hope that their upcoming generation will never face the same conditions that faced since they will gain good ethnicity or good identity (Hearn, 1998). However, these issues have not been unique to those individuals in the black-white relationship. Sadly, those who are involved in these interracial relationships have been known as “sell outs” by the minority communities. Even if it does not make any sense, many of the minority community members still hold on to this. In summary, if someone decides to date another person from another community with different ethnic beliefs does not mean that the person hates himself or he hates other people from his own community. According to David Mura, relationship between the black men and the white women is not as simple as it looks. He also argues that these relationships are not the solution to the question of identity. David proves his arguments by showing his fear about his daughter thinking that his daughter might be faced by the same challenges of racism that he faced when he was growing up since her parents are of different race. He named his daughter “Samantha” which is an Asian name preparing her to face her future life. This shows that the society treats a person depending on how it sees him/her but not how it thinks about the person. Through this argument by David Mura, it is true to say the marriage between the different ethnics or racial community should not be based on race. Individuals are free to inter marry from different communities and they shouldn’t be judged by their actions and whatever reasons that made them to marry from a different race. With the ability to find ways of relating and defining people with their identities by the society, be there a reason or not, the traditional beliefs counters its’ reasoning having the idea which means that the person’s cultural and racial identity will somehow be paramount. The main reason why interracial relationship takes place is because of four important issues: socioeconomic, shared similar entertainment interest, partners alternatives and shared common interests (Hearn, 1998). Bibliography Bus Lines: Poetry in Motion from the Charlottesville Community. Charlottesville, Va.: Charlottesville Area Transit, 2013 Top of Form Bottom of Form Hearn, Claudine C. Half and Half: Writers on Growing up Biracial and Bicultural. New York: Pantheon Books, 1998. Top of Form Bottom of Form Hofstra, Sjoerd, and Italo Calvino. Half-city. Amsterdam [etc.: ZET, 2002 Hearn, Claudine C. “Half and Half: Writers on Growing up Biracial and Bicultural.” (New York: Pantheon Books, 1998), P. 9 Hearn, Claudine C. Half and Half: Writers on Growing up Biracial and Bicultural. New York: Pantheon Books, 1998), P. 7 Hofstra, Sjoerd, and Italo Calvino. “Half-city.” (Amsterdam etc.: ZET, 2002), p.5. Read More