Mixed-racial couples

Love in All Colors 

There was once a town where there were all kinds of bunnies that lived together and right across from them was the town of turtles. Each town enjoyed life and prospered in their own homes but both towns had one rule which was to stay away from each other no matter what for they both believed they were too different to be together. This would all change very soon.




Then one day as Bobby the bunny was hopping through the woods trying to find berries and other food for her family. As she was doing this she heard a noise rustling through the woods and became scared because it is very dangerous for any animals to through the woods between the too towns due to rogue wolves that would go out and hurt any animals caught in the woods. So she began to tiptoe through the woods just so she doesn't get hunted down by them but sadly she accidentally steps on a very loud lead and attracts a wolf that walking through. She becomes very scared because since he now sees her. Then out of nowhere a huge tree branch comes flying down which scares the wolf away and saving Bobby. She then finds out that the one who saved her was a turtle which than causes her to be more scared and tries to hide away from him. Timothy the turtle was very sad by this because he wanted to talk to her not hurt her. He walks over to where she is half hiding and grabs her paw to hold it and make sure she is okay. They then begin to talk about everything that makes them very similar which causes them to talk for hours and eventually become extremely close to each other.


Even though they love each other through they come from two different worlds they seem to have so much in common more than different. Even though they feel this way the people around them don't like the idea of this kind of pairing happening and some will do anything to stop it from happening. Bobby and Timothy became great friends but will struggle with being a mixed pair.


This is a small example of what mixed-racial couples go though. Mixed-racial couples are "Those who do not fit into this nation's racial typology are social anomalies, and are unwelcome reminders to society that race is fluid" 1*.  Some people except these types of couples while others are not so happy about them existing. Even with all of this hate "Nearly four-in-ten adults (39%) say the growing number of people marrying someone of a different race is good for society, up from 24% in 2010" 2*.  A lot of people believe that having mixed racial people is good for diversity and allow for a more diverse and inclusive group of people. "The most common racial or ethnic pairing among newlywed intermarried couples is one Hispanic and one white spouse (42%)" 2*.

Even though many people believe that having mixed-racial couples is a good and helpful thing does not mean that everyone is okay with it. "At the same time, a majority (55%) say they have been subjected to racial slurs or jokes" 3*. These kinds of couples suffer through a lot of discrimination and have to deal with racial slurs and horrible jokes that really no one should have to go through. Not only do they have to go through the discrimination from society they also have to deal with it when it comes to their family due to tradition and culture. "Culture is defined here as the social heritage, including values (beliefs, aspirations, common understandings), norms (rules of conduct), and practices (what people do and say), assumed to be shared by a group with which individuals identify" 4*. A lot of these families are against these types of relationships, especially from the older generations who want to keep these certain beliefs and traditions and these types of relationships only get in the way of that. Many of these types of couples have to go through this type of hateful discrimination just because of who they want to love and be with.

References

1. Being and being mixed race (2001) Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=14&sid=8a2cdebd-ddb3-4272-8fb3-556b4f471698%40sdc-v-sessmgr01&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=asn&AN=4760091
2.  Key facts about race and marriage, 50 years after loving v. Virginia. (2017, June). Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/06/12/key-facts-about-race-and-marriage-50-years-after-loving-v-virginia/
3. - Multiracial in America: proud, diverse, and growing in numbers. (2015, June). Retrieved from https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/06/11/multiracial-in-america/  
4. - Intercultural couples: Crossing boundaries negotiating difference. (2011).