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Interracial marriages are a very tempting solution to racism. Fight hate with love, and all will be good in the world. Let’s change the world one interracial relationship at a time. If only it were that simple…
The idea that increasing interracial marriages and exposure to other cultures will reduce racism is very similar to the notion that increased trade and globalization will reduce war. It holds true to an extent. Over time, we can say that we keep making progress as the world grows more connected, even as the pendulum swings back and forth. But there are certain things that interracial marriages do not solve:
Internalized racism.
Many individuals who belong to historically silenced groups display internalized racism in the form of stereotype threat. Take a look at this fascinating study that looked at what happened to performance on math tests when female Asian students were primed for their Asian identities (stereotyped for being good at math) vs. female identities (stereotyped for being worse at math relative to males). SPOILER ALERT: they internalized the stereotypes and did better when primed with the “Asian stereotype” identity.
Systemic racism.
Systems are sticky and take a long time to change. Interpersonal and blatant racism could definitely reduce with increased intermingling, but systems that have already been in place for generations take much longer to change. This is why increasing diversity in law enforcement does not automatically reduce violent policing practices against communities of color. POC are just as capable of perpetuating systems of power that they are placed into.
So what’s the deal?
Racism is messy and complicated. Interracial marriages and their acceptance by society is definitely an indicator of our progress toward racial justice, but it is by no means a therapeutic solution to the worst kinds of racism. We still have work left to do, and systemic problems require systemic approaches: ensuring that our history books are not white-washed and children grow up critically thinking about systems of power, ensuring that law enforcement and judicial authorities are trained and aware of implicit biases, ensuring that hospitals are aware of health inequities between different demographics accessing care, ensuring that perverse laws and regulations that systematically discriminate against historically silenced groups are overturned, among others. We must continue to fight for policies that are oriented toward reducing inequities and promoting justice, even as we continue to fight hate with love.
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Systemic Racism is an extremely difficult problem to resolve
because it is rooted in evolution. Different minds my look at
basic concepts in diverse ways. Something as simple as
1+1 = 2 may not evoke the exact same response in non
identical minds. One person may view marriage to a different
sex and raising children as a perfectly acceptable way of
life. Another may think of marriage is confining, unacceptable
and to be avoided at all costs.
Pushing leftist dark pagan/heathen race mixing, and cultural marxist racial equality as a twisted form of leftist anti-white christian genocidal social justice…
What about the racism and inter-group distrust that exists in the mixed race countries of Latin America? This isn’t a very well thought out proposition, especially when about 60% of marriages in the US end in divorce.
My mother, who insisted she was a liberal (but really wasn’t) once predicted that, ultimately, ours would be a suntanned society, the result of generations of racial intermarriage. I remember being shocked by her prediction; thus I’ve remembered it, all these years. What my mom didn’t realize was that, intermarriage notwithstanding, the offspring of so-called mixed marriages would ultimately assume the identity of one or the other of their genetic strains, thus contributing to the ongoing racial divide.
Actually, the simple answer is yes. Over time. But interracial relationships would shorten that by quite a bit. Which is why I’m a big believer in mandatory military service for all. Black, white, gay straight, rich poor. Everybody. Throw us all in together and while of course cliques will form. Black guys over there. White guys over there. But in the field I font care if you are wearing lipstick and a tutu. If you have my back were all good here. But the progressives missed that opportunity gor real social change in their hatred of the military and industrial… Read more »