Multiracial Couples Vol. 1 : Black and White Voices

by Paul C. Rosenblatt

• ISBN13: 9780803972599
• ISBN10: 0803972598
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-06-27
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc

Summary

The problems of mixed race families in a racist society are fully explored in this qualitative, narrative study. Interviews with 21 biracial couples offer deep insights into their relationships and how they perceive society has viewed their marriages. The interviewers, a biracial couple themselves, ask their subjects such questions as how their churches, families, friends and community treat them and their partners. They also examine the interactions between spouses in biracial marriages and relationships between these couples and their parents and children.

Table of Contents

Series Editors' Introduction	xi
Acknowledgments	xiii
Racial Bias and Interracial Relationships	1	(11)
Black-White Interracial Couples in America's Past and Present	5	(1)
The Focus of This Book	6	(1)
Avoiding Biased Writing in a Bias-Filled Society	7	(2)
How People Defined Themselves	9	(3)
How the Research Was Done	12	(12)
What Was Asked	12	(2)
Who Was Interviewed	14	(3)
Ethical Issues	17	(5)
Validity Issues	22	(2)
Feeling Ordinary in a Relationship Others See as Unusual	24	(16)
Most Couples Saw Their Relationship as Ordinary	24	(14)
Summary and Conclusions	38	(2)
In the Beginning	40	(22)
Family and Community Values of Racial Tolerance	41	(4)
Whites Who Grew Up Knowing No African Americans	45	(1)
Mixed-Relationship Precedents in Family and Community	46	(3)
African American Pioneers	49	(1)
Hunger for Diversity	49	(1)
The Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War Protest	50	(1)
Feeling Secure, Confident, and Autonomous	51	(6)
Whites Learning the Consequences of Their Own Prejudice	57	(1)
We Two Are Similar	58	(1)
The Chemistry of Relationships That Cannot Be	59	(1)
Conclusion	60	(2)
The White Partner's Family	62	(38)
White Family Members Who Supported From the Beginning	62	(3)
Opposition in Most White Families	65	(4)
Opposition Even to an Uncommitted Relationship	69	(2)
Opposition From Family Members Who Had Seemed Tolerant	71	(1)
When Family Reactions Are Diverse	71	(1)
The Language of White Opposition	72	(5)
The African American Partner's Reactions to White Family Opposition	77	(3)
Opposition Out of Loyalty to or Fear of Another Family Member	80	(1)
The White Partner's Reactions to Family Opposition	81	(3)
Does Family Opposition work?	84	(2)
Reconciliation	86	(11)
Summary and Conclusions	97	(3)
The African American Partner's Family	100	(20)
Families in Which All Close Relatives Were Supportive	100	(5)
Families Too Distant to Be Accepting or Opposed	105	(2)
Opposition in Black Families	107	(5)
Veiled Opposition	112	(2)
Continuing Reserve About Matters Related to Race	114	(1)
Reconciliation Processes	114	(2)
Children From Previous Relationships	116	(2)
Summary and Conclusions	118	(2)
Societal Racism	120	(39)
Disapproval of Interracial Relationships	120	(5)
Casual Encounters in Public	125	(11)
Racism in the Workplace	136	(2)
Attacks	138	(2)
Institutional Racism	140	(8)
Reactions in the Black Community	148	(8)
Conclusion	156	(3)
Defending Against Racism	159	(19)
Onstage to Society	161	(2)
Going Through Life Feeling Suspicious	163	(1)
Defensive Tactics	164	(12)
Summary and Conclusions	176	(2)
Identity	178	(15)
The African American Partner's Identity	179	(9)
The White Partner's Identity	188	(3)
Summary and Conclusions	191	(2)
Children	193	(22)
Biracial Children and White Grandparents	194	(1)
Advantages to a Child's Being Biracial	195	(1)
Bringing Up a Biracial Child in a Racist Society	196	(14)
When Siblings Differ in Skin Color	210	(3)
Children Forced to Decide Whether They Are Black or White	213	(1)
Summary and Conclusions	213	(2)
Learning From Each Other	215	(14)
White Partners Learn About Racism Through Their Partnership	217	(9)
What White Partners Teach African American Partners	226	(1)
Summary and Conclusions	227	(2)
Race in the Couple Relationship	229	(21)
Words Said in Anger, Conflict, Teasing, or Sarcasm	229	(4)
Responses to Racism Around Them	233	(8)
One's Own Biases of Thought and Feeling	241	(3)
Interpretative Challenges for Interracial Couples	244	(4)
Summary and Conclusions	248	(2)
The Special Blessings	250	(13)
Blessings That Might Be Present in Any Relationship	251	(4)
Blessings Present Because the Relationship Is Interracial	255	(7)
Summary and Conclusions	262	(1)
Finding Support	263	(14)
Separating Supportive People From Those Who Are Not	264	(3)
Supportive Family, Friends, and Institutions	267	(8)
Summary and Conclusions	275	(2)
No More Racism!	277	(19)
What Would the Couples Like to See Happen?	280	(3)
How to End Racism	283	(5)
Not Everyone Wants the Job of Reforming Others	288	(2)
Changed Attitudes Toward Interracial Couples	290	(2)
Summary and Conclusions	292	(4)
References	296	(3)
Index	299	(5)
About the Authors	304