Do you think opposition to interracial marriage is largely restricted to older generations of Oklahomans or do you think such views are still commonplace among teens and twenty-somethings in Oklahoma?
Is there less opposition for some kinds of interracial relationships than there are for other kinds?
Click here for a movie recommendation on the history of this subject.
Is there less opposition for some kinds of interracial relationships than there are for other kinds?
Click here for a movie recommendation on the history of this subject.
I believe that the opposition to interracial marriage is largely restricted to older generations, although there are some younger generations opposed to it, it is mainly the older generations. I feel as though this is because older people grew up in a time whenever it was deeply frowned upon, and to them it is still frowned upon. When it comes to if there is less opposition for some kinds of interracial relationships, I feel as though it depends on who you are. I know in my family my grandparents would frown upon me being in a relationship with an African American more than they would a Native American. Not because they are racist but because in their time of growing up a Caucasian Female with an African American male was never a good relationship. While to someone else's family there is no issue. It goes back to the morals of the people and what they believe is wrong or right.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Kaylee in that opposition to interracial couples is mostly an older generation dispute, but there is some younger people that also might have problems with it. The older generation might just be more vocal and “spirited” about such things then the younger men and women, but I’m not entirely sure that is the case. People my age now have representation of interracial couples, though not as much as some would like, in movies and TV shows, showing them in a positive light, for the most part. I think there is certainly more disdain towards, say, same-sex or polyamorous couples among both older and younger generations, then interracial, as it is a more hot topic, or “taboo”, issue then interracial couples are now.
DeleteI agree with Kaylee and Kassie that the older generation are more likely to frown upon interracial couples than the younger generations, although I know there are some out there that are younger and still have opposition against interracial couples. I agree with Kaylee in the fact that my family too would have more of an issue with me marrying or dating an African American man than a Native American man. Although there might not be an issue with other families in the same generation as my family, it just proves how subjective and open your family or people in general have grown over the years.
Delete-Hannah Rios
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ReplyDeleteI believe that the disapproval of interracial marriage lies deeply within older generations although the taboo of interracial marriage is not obsolete in Oklahoma the percentage of individuals that are marrying interracially continues to rise. In 2012 Oklahoma was ranked second among states with the highest percentage of interracial marriages according the the U.S. Census Bureau. Oklahoma continues to rise exponentially in the way of interracial marriage growth. As a matter of fact, according to census.gov, Oklahoma interracial marriages have grown 4.34 percent or more from 2000 to 2016. Although Oklahoma has shown significant growth in the way of marriage between races roughly twenty percent of the united states still admits to believing that interracial marriage is “morally wrong”, as reported by a poll conducted by newsweek.com.
ReplyDeleteAs for specific types of interracial marriage being accepted, I believe it depends more on the location of where you grew up. Such as in Oklahoma it would be more accepted for someone of European descent to marry someone that is of native american descent than it would be for someone that is of African descent with a person of european descent. This is relatively true for most of the United States. In 2016 there was an African and European descended couple that was knifed by a white man, Daniel Rowe, in Washington. There are many cases such as this throughout the states but the job of the majority is to uphold the supreme court decision of Loving v. Virginia and allow individuals to love over the barrier of race and discrimination.
-Lydia Bomboy
I believe that older generations are definitely more against interracial marriages then younger generations. Although some people in the younger generations are still against it. I think that it is all based on how you were raised and what morals you hold. If you grew up in a family that has never been against it then you also probably will not be, but if you grew up in a family that did not agree with it then you would most likely feel the same way. I also agree with what Kassie said when she talks about the younger generations seeing interracial relationships have a positive ending on tv and social media.
ReplyDeleteI know that if I was to get into a relationship with a Native American my grandparents would most likely be okay with it.
-Raynee Taliaferro
DeleteI completely agree with this. When we grow up, if there is never anyone to say "you can't date outside of your race" you will never see a problem with doing so. We are born with love in our hearts and unless we are taught differently, we will most likely never see a problem with interracial marriage.
DeleteI agree with everyone else that opposition to interracial marriage is mostly apparent in the older generation; however, I do believe that it is fairly common in the younger generations also. Going along with Raynee's point, many people grew up hearing their parents and/or their grandparents saying racist things and picked up on that practice. Most probably came to the conclusion that thinking and saying such things are wrong and realized the error of their ways, viewing such things differently than their elders. But I have heard plenty of racism in my high school, joking and non-joking. Those against interracial marriages are mostly in the older generations, but there are still some in the younger generations. I agree with Lydia's point that where a person lives might depend on what kind of opposition someone might face with interracial marriage. People grow up in different environments and what might be deemed as acceptable in one area might be outcasted in another.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of the comment that are being made here. It does seem that within Oklahoma, the older generations are often the ones who are more racially provoked because that was the type of environment that they were raised in. As the times change the opinions of the younger generations seem to be changing as well and interracial marriage and dating becomes seem as commonplace. I agree with Karmen that as children grow older if there are no racists comments and only love that is held for one another regardless of race then the children will not have that type of hatred. However I also agree that the acceptance levels also depend on where the children are raised. Children raised in cites have more exposure to a diversity of people, whereas small country towns may not be as racially diverse which could cause more of a problem with interracial couples. In my own hometown there are only a couple hundred kids in the whole school system, and the majority are white. Without having been educated on different races by the few African American students we ad and by foreign exchange students, some of the kids in my school would have been uneducated and possibly have developed racists views since there were little to no opportunities to experience racial diversity firsthand.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the opposition to interracial marriage is mostly in the older generation. They grew up in a time that it was not very common, and racism was still very prominent. I believe that racism is a learned belief. Children are born not seeing any difference in skin color, but they are taught to look at them differently. I see no issue with interracial marriage, but my great-grandparents are against it. They didn't push this idea onto their children, so it did not get taught to the family. My parents are not against interracial marriage, which leads to my siblings and I not having a problem with it. I also believe that the opposition is more with the African Americans with Caucasians other than any other races.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Katie. Racism was still apparent and the idea of an interracial marriage was uncommon and frowned upon in that time frame. So while it was the norm back then, viewpoints have changed over the generations, and today most people are accepting of interracial marriages. For example, my family is a combination of caucasian, Choctaw and hispanic, which of course is attributed to interracial marriage. Though some opposition is still apparent, racism is very much a learned behavior. Hostility towards interracial marriage and other similar viewpoints seem to be more common in small-minded people who do not strive to become educated on other cultures and races. But while I’m sure that there is some sort of opposition between almost every race, I think most hostility is between African Americans and caucasians, especially as of lately, due to current events.
DeleteIf I am completely honest, there is prejudice against interracial relationships in both the older and younger generation. I cannot speak for Oklahoma, however in Dallas, Texas there are multiple surrounding citizens with populations avidly against inter racial marriage. I am unsure whether it is primarily the older generation or younger, however I am aware of more prejudice by the older generation.
ReplyDeleteMy best friend is half Latino and half Caucasian. When his parents got together, his grandparents (on his father’s side of the family; They are Latino) were mortified and to this day still exclude my Best friend's Caucasian mother to an extent.
To answer the question, I believe that among different races, there are different feelings on interracial marriage. To this point, the races that seem to have trouble with interracial relationships tend to be Caucasian with Hispanic/Latino and Caucasian with Black. I am sure there are more, however those are the ones I would think of first.
Note: For clarity I do not think all Latino's have issues with interracial relationships, however this is an issue I have personally witnessed and can testify.
I agree with you that opposition to interracial marriage certainly does not follow generational lines. Sure, it is perhaps more likely for an elderly person to be against interracial marriage than it is for a twenty-something, but age is far from the only contributing factor. Everything from a person's level of education to their ethnic background to the size and relative diversity of their hometown plays a role in the development of their political views and prejudices.
DeleteI think that its mainly older generations that are opposed to interracial marriages and relationships. Both of my grandfathers have told me about how their fathers were somewhat racist. But my grandfathers are not themselves racist. So I think it's a generational thing. People are not born to hate we are merely raised to hate. So there are a few exceptions as to younger people being racist. For example I know a few people who have grown up in racist households who in turn have formed racist views. But I have other friends around the same age that have exact opposite viewpoints and don't see color as something of importance.
ReplyDeleteI agree that most opposition to interracial marriage today is certainly from older generations, with very little disapproval from younger people. Within a couple decades, it will most likely be rare to hear anyone speak negatively about interracial relationships, especially since Oklahoma is part of the melting pot of the United States. I haven’t been exposed to a lot of the opposition, but I think that in Oklahoma, there would be more push-back towards marriages involving people of nationalities that aren’t common here, such as from Asian countries or Middle Eastern countries.
ReplyDeleteOpposition to interracial marriage was much more common years ago but even as views have changed, disapproval still lies within all generations.I believe the prejudice is focused mostly in the older generations but, there is some in younger generations as well. For many people how they were raised has a strong impact on their opinions on different societal issues. I agree with Katie Curl that racism is a learned belief. The differences in opposition between different races depends entirely on who you are asking and also where they are geographically. As we have seen in the past, opinions and values change throughout different areas. Though someone will probably always have a negative opinion no matter what the situation, there is a stronger prejudice against some races more than others. Based on widespread hostility I believe opposition would be stronger against African Americans or Middle Easterners than it would be with Native Americans.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you James Norman. People are not necessarily born to hate, they may be raised and taught to hate. Many kids these days may think that it is cool to be racist or think that they are better than someone else. It is not! I think that the younger generations, like the millennial and generation Z, are more sensitive about offending people with inappropriate racial slurs and could be more open to relationships between races.
ReplyDelete-Sam Pratt
While I would like to say that opposition to interracial marriages is restricted mostly to older generations, like our grandparents, it certainly isn't the case that our generation is entirely open to it. We, as young adults, are constantly fed information through various forms of media, and through this constant barrage of Instagram posts, tweets, and more traditional media like movies or TV. We are spoon fed narratives that mostly involve romantically involved couples, most of which are the same race. We don't recognize that most movies, whether it involve white or black people, usually end up with someone of their race. In addition to that, we were raised on cartoons and movies that followed that kind of thinking. although, lately, with new media like Netflix or Youtube, creators are making more conscious efforts to include mixed race couples, and minorities in main roles, like Zendaya in the new Spider Man. My observation/question is, do you notice in your life how many interracial couples actually exist in fiction or nonfictional media, and how does that compare to the 'standard' same-race couple?
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you Emily. Although negative views towards interracial marriage runs thicker in older generations, the younger generation has not let go of this idea. Even when I was little and we had our "boyfriends" a couple of the girls would say they could not date so-and-so because they were not white. These young girls did not just come up with this at six or seven, it was something they were taught at a young age to live by. Kids are not born with racist thoughts, but they are raised up in them, if not by their families, then by the media. I also believe people look more unapprovingly upon interracial reliationships between African Americans and Caucasians than any other couples.
DeleteI believe the older generations oppose interracial marriage more than their descendants. I believe this opposition stems from a sense of national and racial pride that was popular among older generations. They believed that their race and country was better than anyone else and didn't want to "ruin" their bloodline. I think another correlation between the generations and opposition to interracial marriages comes from how the generations were taught. Older generations had smaller public schools and learned more from their parents therefore believing what their parents believed. Younger generations are taught in a more public setting with more teachers than their parents therefore believing a mixture of multiple people's ideals.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that people not liking interracial marriage is mostly older generations. Growing up in Norman Oklahoma, one of the most democratic cities in oklahoma, I have grown up with people that believe it is okay and you can definitely see that more and more people are okay with it. Agreeing with Kaylee it could also be that older generations were living in a time were interracial marriage was seen as wrong. But now however as society has evolved to accept one another more we see it as it is ok. However some people in younger generations still have a problem with it, but it is mainly older generations.-Freddy Grotts
ReplyDeleteI believe that any opposition for interracial marriage is restricted to older generations. The reason being that they grew up during a time where it is frowned upon, however people were doing it anyway. Due to the fact that people were challenging the opposition, newer generations grew comfortable with the couples. I don't believe that there is any interracial marriage that is more frowned upon than any other. This is because one person always goes against the grain, creating a new grain that people will begin to follow. This following grows and the is allowed to be accepted.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the majority that opposition to interracial marriage is largely restricted to older generations. As with almost any other topic, there are exceptions. I personally know some younger people who are still racist. These people are from small communities where racism still lingers. This may be due to limited diversity in these communities. It is a vicious cycle that racism still lives in the communities, so people of different ethnicities do not feel welcome. Opposition to certain races is more prevalent among some interracial couples. One of the determining factors may whether or not a person "looks" a certain way. Native Americans and Hispanics look somewhat similar and therefore may not see the same opposition as an African American or Muslim may encounter when in a relationship with a Caucasian person.
ReplyDeleteThe prejudice against interracial marriage is largely present in older generations; however, some views are shared among young adults. People's prejudice and view points are formed largely during childhood. During the last century interracial relationships have become more acceptable. There is less opposition for interracial couples if their skin color looks close, such as people from a Hispanic ethnicity and people from a Native American ethnicity. This prejudice against interracial marriage is similar to current prejudice against gay people marrying.
ReplyDeleteInterracial marriage is generally restricted within the older generations. I believe a lot of this stems from the history of slavery and the strict separation between different cultures and groups of people. Although it is mainly the older generations that criticize interracial marriage, there are still many people in the fresher generations who feel that this is immoral. Some races create more opposition than others based upon culture and history. For example, China and Japan do not get along because of Japans expansionism in 1937; therefore, I feel that an interracial relationship between these two races may be frowned upon more than say another set of ethnicities that have better cultural relations.
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