Attitudes Toward Interracial Marriage An African American And Caucasian Female Perspective

According to the most recent U.S. census, twice as many black men are involved in interracial relationships as black women. Do black women consciously resist such involvement? What motivates the relatively few women who are in these types of relationships? And how do they navigate the unfamiliar terrain in intimacy? One of the most popular explanations for black women's involvement in interracial intimacy is the unavailability of eligible black men. This explanation focuses on the dismal statistics popularly discussed in reports that forecast lonely futures for African American females. Craig-Henderson explores another, more provocative explanation. She argues that some black women may disassociate from larger social stereotypes by consciously and strategically making choices that distance them from what is considered characteristic of the "typical" African American woman. Scant serious attention has focused upon intimate interracial relationships, perhaps because of a general reluctance to deal with two extremely provocative issues: race and sex. As rates of interracial relationships continue to increase, discussions about interracial intimacy are relevant and timely. Craig-Henderson considers the continuing taboo of interracial relationships involving African Americans, the way this taboo is changing, and the way that contemporary race relations perpetuate longstanding stereotypes about race and sex. The book includes in-depth, unstructured interviews with a wide range of black women currently involved in interracial intimate relationships. Each individual discusses their relationships with family members, beliefs about the influence of race in America, unique problems associated with interracial intimacy, as well as sexual attraction, racial identity, and children. Of particular interest to specialists in race, gender, family, and sexual issues, this work is also accessible and appealing to general readers.

Interracial marriages between African Americans and Caucasian Americans in the United States are the least common of all interracial marriages, with marriages between black women and white men being the less frequent of the two combinations. Since the 1990s, however, increasing numbers of black women have been marrying white men. This book examines the dynamics of race, social class and marriage in contemporary American society specifically with respect to marriages between African Americans and Caucasian Americans, comparing and contrasting the experiences of couples in both intermarriage patterns. Despite being the focus of extensive sociological and psychological research during the latter half of the twentieth century, most research on black-white intermarriage focused on African American men who married white women. Sociological research focused on the deviant nature of these marriages while psychological research focused on various pathologies attributed to couples who crossed the color line to marry. Little research was directed towards marriages between African American women and white men with even less attention given to delineating differences in the two black-white marital pairings. As marriages between African American women and white men have become more common, it is important to understand why this trend has emerged and how this marriage type differs from the more prevalent African American man, white woman marriage combination. This book is one of the first published on interracial marriages which focuses specifically on marriages between African American women and Caucasian American men in contemporary America. The author examines the historical, social, and legal contexts from which these marriages emerged while demonstrating how the race and sex of each partner is important to understanding how the marriage is socially experienced. Interracial Marriages Between Black women and White Men is an important book for collections in African American studies, sociology, and racial studies.

The legal institutions of overt racism in the United States have been eliminated, but social surveys and investigations of social institutions confirm the continuing significance of race and the enduring presence of negative racial attitudes. This shift from codified and explicit racism to more subtle forms comes at a time when the very boundaries of race and ethnicity are being reshaped by immigration and a rising recognition that old systems of racial classification inadequately capture a diverse America. In The Changing Terrain of Race and Ethnicity, editors Maria Krysan and Amanda Lewis bring together leading scholars of racial dynamics to study the evolution of America's racial problem and its consequences for race relations in the future. The Changing Terrain of Race and Ethnicity opens by attempting to answer a puzzling question: how is it that so many whites think racism is no longer a problem but so many nonwhites disagree? Sociologist Lawrence Bobo contends that whites exhibit what he calls "laissez faire racism," which ignores historical and structural contributions to racial inequality and does nothing to remedy the injustices of the status quo. Tyrone Forman makes a similar case in his chapter, contending that an emphasis on "color blindness" allows whites to be comforted by the idea that all races are on a level playing field, while not recognizing the advantages they themselves have reaped from years of inequality. The book then moves to a discussion of the new ways that Americans view race. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva and Karen Glover argue that the United States is moving from a black-white divide to a tripartite system, where certain light-skinned, non-threatening minority groups are considered "honorary whites." The book's final section reexamines the theoretical underpinnings of scholarship on race and ethnicity. Joe Feagin argues that research on racism focuses too heavily on how racial boundaries are formed and needs to concentrate more on how those boundaries are used to maintain privileges for certain groups at the expense of others. Manning Marable contends that racism should be addressed at an institutional level to see the prevalence of "structural racism"—deeply entrenched patterns of inequality that are coded by race and justified by stereotypes. The Changing Terrain of Race and Ethnicity provides an in-depth view of racism in modern America, which may be less conspicuous but not necessarily less destructive than its predecessor, Jim Crow. The book's rich analysis and theoretical insight shed light on how, despite many efforts to end America's historic racial problem, it has evolved and persisted into the 21st century.

Interracial marriages between African Americans and Caucasian Americans in the United States are the least common of all interracial marriages, with marriages between black women and white men being the less frequent of the two combinations. Since the 1990s, however, increasing numbers of black women have been marrying white men. This book examines the dynamics of race, social class and marriage in contemporary American society specifically with respect to marriages between African Americans and Caucasian Americans, comparing and contrasting the experiences of couples in both intermarriage patterns. Despite being the focus of extensive sociological and psychological research during the latter half of the twentieth century, most research on black-white intermarriage focused on African American men who married white women. Sociological research focused on the deviant nature of these marriages while psychological research focused on various pathologies attributed to couples who crossed the color line to marry. Little research was directed towards marriages between African American women and white men with even less attention given to delineating differences in the two black-white marital pairings. As marriages between African American women and white men have become more common, it is important to understand why this trend has emerged and how this marriage type differs from the more prevalent African American man, white woman marriage combination. This book is one of the first published on interracial marriages which focuses specifically on marriages between African American women and Caucasian American men in contemporary America. The author examines the historical, social, and legalcontexts from which these marriages emerged while demonstrating how the race and sex of each partner is important to understanding how the marriage is socially experienced. Interracial Marriages Between Black women and White Men is an important book for collections in African American studies, sociology, and racial studies.

The rising visibility of interracial couples calls for increased attention to the overlapping of culture and race, in safe spaces centered on small-group dynamics, or in public spaces where peoples of African descent are under the public gaze. This comparative study seeks to de-center the U.S-centered viewpoint common to much of the literature on black/white relations. Based on nine years of fieldwork in the American South and in France, Coquet shows many unexpected parallels between the two societies. Gendered perceptions of cultural authenticity and sexual ethics are a guiding thread, being inseparable from the historical and political contingencies (re-)defining acceptable forms of dating, marrying, and parenting among cis-heterosexual couples in both societies. Her account emphasizes resilience and agency as couples seek to protect themselves and their children, while their extended or symbolic kinship networks help white partners acknowledge the existence of racial privilege.

Although interracial marriages are growing more common in the U.S. today, some people still do not approve of interracial marriage, and approval rates likely vary by race and gender. Few studies have examined attitudes toward interracial marriage in recent decades, with the lone exception focusing exclusively on women (Baars 2009). The current research utilized data from the General Social Survey to examine racial (black versus white) and gender-based differences in attitudes towards interracial marriages over a thirty-year period, 1972-2002. Using logistic regression, the current study tested the effects of respondent race and gender--and the combination thereof--on approval toward versus disapproval of interracial marriages, controlling for demographic factors such as region, education level, age, church attendance and political affiliation. Findings show that blacks are significantly more likely to express approval than whites, and men are more likely to express approval than women, controlling for demographics. Also, in terms of race/gender interactions, black men, white men, and black women are all significantly more likely to approve of interracial marriage than white women, net of other factors. Independent of the effects of race and gender, there has been a significant increase in approval over the thirty-year period.

Marriage between blacks and whites is a longstanding and deeply ingrained taboo in American culture. On the eve of World War II, mixed-race marriage was illegal in most states. Yet, sixty years later, black-white marriage is no longer illegal or a divisive political issue, and the number of such couples and their mixed-race children has risen dramatically. Renee Romano explains how and why such marriages have gained acceptance, and what this tells us about race relations in contemporary America. The history of interracial marriage helps us understand the extent to which America has overcome its racist past, and how much further we must go to achieve meaningful racial equality.