Interracial Dating Around the World: Unconventional Interracial Relationships

These days more so than ever race is something that is becoming ambiguous. Even though in most societies we still have the same general groups for people to fall into, there are also large factors within those groups. This basically comes down to the question, what is race? Is race the color of your skin? Is it the religion you follow? Is it from what geographic area you're from? All of these play into various groups of interracial relationships.

With the ever growing acceptance of interracial relationships the commonality of the stereotypical combinations increase, but so do others. Although some do not consider it along the same lines, in many ways a relationship between two people of different faiths, or different countries is just as much of an interracial dating situation as two people of different skin colors dating in a common country.

There are always versions of these unconventional relationships in media and in movies. For example the relationships within the famous broadway play Westside Story, and the famous Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet all feature relationships which may not necessarily involve two different skin toned love couples, but have just as much of a “race” barrier in regards to difference as such.

The world of online dating makes this kind of occurrence happen even more often. Now people can meet from all over the world and become involved in relationships no matter where they are from, what they look like or what kind of economical or social background they come from. Unconventional relationships swell in frequency as online dating and more impersonal ways of meeting people you otherwise couldn't grow. This is an amazing trend in the world.

The bottom line is that these relationships are just as meaningful and just as important as any other. Settling for someone, or restricting your preferences based on race is not fair to yourself. You can always change yourself to make someone like you, but if you are yourself you will find someone who will love you for you.

The Product of Interracial Relationships are now Old Enough to do the Same

Back in the 60s and 70s interracial relationships were finally starting to happen in a meaningful way. The previously frowned upon combinations of races were still being shown public hatred and disapproval, but in the privacy of the reforming world these relationships were still happening. This created an interesting situation because the couples that were forming back then were having children who are now having children themselves. This means that in the first significant way, the second generation of these interracial children are arriving into the world and in the spotlight.

The title of race is becoming more and more a term of unclear intentions. A person who is considered black in our current day is really most likely at least one or two generations removed from being 100% black by ancestry. Most black people who live in the US have been having children with another race at some point in recent history. So, while we still undeniably have “black” people, the real definition of a black person is in no way a static term. In a few decades all people will be mixed together and carry various traits of every race. As the walls surrounding interracial marriage come down, so do the borders defining race themselves.

As a child of a mixed couple, and in an interracial relationship myself, it is interesting to consider the interplay of race and the children of the next generation. To break this down a little more clearly before it gets confusing let's look at it this way. My mom was the daughter of an Irish man and a Japanese woman. This makes her 50% Japanese and 50% Irish. This is pretty common in today's world to have someone who is two racial backgrounds, one from each parent. Now, my mother who is half Japanese, half Irish married and had children with my father who is 100% Japanese. This makes me 75% Japanese and 25% Irish. Although this is less common than other mixtures, it is still somewhat normal seeing as how it is still only two races that come into play. To illustrate my point about how this can begin to become confusing let's bring my girlfriend into the mix. She is 25% German, 25% Irish, and 50% French. This means if we had children they would be an odd mixture of a multitude of nationalities. This is not going to be uncommon in many generations to come, rather this will be the norm. I'll spare the craziness of figuring out exactly what fractions the kids would be exactly, but they would be French, Irish, Japanese, and German.

As our world progresses and gets more and more accepting of couples of different faiths, nationalities, religions and world areas, this will only get more and more common. The children of each generation hence forth will be such a large mixture of all of the ethnicities that race and the idea of interracial marriage won't be an issue anymore.

Glen and Maggie From Walking Dead: America's Favorite Interracial Couple

For the fans of the AMC television show, The Walking Dead, this last week's episode and season finale was a heart breaker. We saw another main character who has been there since the first season go, but there was an even bigger announcement for those of us who love to love the interracial relationship of Glen and Maggie. They have been an unconventional couple ever since their inception in the second season when the Asian American city dweller met the farm country girl, but they have been inseparable ever since. Last week's episode was especially important for them because Glen decided to take his devotion to Maggie to the next level and ask her father's permission to marry her. Of course, this kind of devotion is praised in a post apocalyptic zombie crazed world, and he agreed.

After receiving the blessing from Maggie's father, he did what any hopeless romantic needing an engagement ring in the world of the living dead would do and found a “walker” with a ring and cut it right off of her hand. Romantic right? Don't worry I'm sure he washed it off, or at least wiped it off first. It was a special day for Glen and Maggie as this Asian and white couple was now solidified officially to hope to one day get married.

I've never been a huge fan of television shows in general, but I must admit this show has me hooked. It is one of the most engaging and entertaining series I have ever watched, and the fact that there is a very unconventional interracial couple at the heart of it makes me love it that much more. It is a manly man's show with killing and action in every episode, but somehow it garners the attention of every man and woman who comes across it on tv. Even though you'd expect them to be more hesitant about featuring such an interracial couple so prominently in such a highly watched show, they don't at all and it makes me incredibly happy to see. All this does is show that the trend we have been discussing for months is still happening. Interracial relationships are still on the rise and the acceptance of them is nothing short of becoming commonplace. This is an amazing trend and makes me, one half of an interracial couple, incredibly happy to see.

Legality and Definition of Marriage, Looking Back in History about Interracial dating

In America only forty years ago interracial marriage was illegal. This means that in many of our lifetimes, and in almost every one of our parent's lifetimes marriage between a man and a woman of two separate races was literally not allowed by law. Although it was made legal in the late 1960s this just goes to show how functional of a society can still be so heavily rooted in discrimination and judgement of certain groups of people. One of the comparisons which I have made before several times is the debate between gay marriage and that of interracial marriage. This is a metaphor that shows hopefully the direction in which the legality and acceptance of both issues will go.

There was a time when there would be no possibility of a gay couple being shown together on television, just in the same way that showing a romantically involved interracial couple would be acceptable. Nowadays not only are both acceptable, but both are widely represented. This makes me personally feel validated and less restricted in terms of my personal life. Being a minority, and in an interracial relationship sometimes it feels like I have too many factors working against me. There are times when I feel like I am being judged and times when there are people who simply do not respect me or look at me in a way that is something other than ordinary. I have come to understand I can't win everyone over or have expectations of people to be completely open minded. There will always be those who oppose other people's basic rights no matter what the rest of the world thinks, or what is societally acceptable.

With the news of gay marriage such a strong issue these days it simply makes me feel like interracial relationships have largely reached a point where they don't need to be advocated for explicitly in America anymore. They have become something that is almost entirely accepted in most areas of the United States, and even if people don't approve willingly they know it is a norm. Gay marriage has in many ways taken the role that interracial relationship struggles once have had. Where once celebrities were nervous to admit they were in a relationship with another race due to societal implications, celebrities now are afraid to voice their sexual identity for the same sex for the same reasons. The bottom line is that this is a line that is further being blurred. The hip hop singer Frank Ocean recently came out as a homosexual which was groundbreaking news. Admitting homosexuality is like opening the floodgates for losing fans these days, but also allows for a multitude of support for those advocating for widespread acceptance of any social issues.

Those who are involved in homosexual relationships have those supporters who speak out for their rights who may or may not be homosexual themselves to thank. The same goes for people who are interested in, or involved in interracial relationships as well. There have always been groundbreaking stages in history that allow for people to break stereotypes and form new standards for normal and “right”. I am a proud supporter of interracial marriage and relationships being accepted for any reason and for any person. I do not think love should have any borders or any style of restriction based on anything. For the same reason I think people who want to be with others of the same sex should be able to do so. No one controls who they love or want to be with, so whose place is it to tell them they can't love that person?

By Mark