Brittany Owens
Professor Susanna Coleman
English 1020: The South
9 April 2012
Interracial Relationships: The South’s Touchiest Subject
So after a title like that, I know what you are thinking, this girl must be crazy for talking about that. Well my goal after writing this paper is to persuade readers that the way Southern society views this subject is an issue. I conducted a simple survey with the following questions to evaluate the opinion of Southerners on this issue: 1) Do you find girls/guys from different races attractive? 2) Would you date/marry a man/woman from another race while living in the South? 3) Would you have bi-racial children with him/her in the South? 4) Would you keep your interracial relationship private or expose it? 5) Does your family have a problem with interracial relationships? 6) Do your friends have an issue with interracial relationships? 7) If you were interracially married, would you continue living in the South or move to another location? 8) Do people have a problem with interracial couples in your surrounding area? 9) Do you think it's better being in an interracial relationship or a same-race relationship in the South? 10) Do you feel like you are looked at differently due to living in the South when in a relationship with someone from another ethnicity? 11) How would you say society views interracial dating in the South? 12) Would you say that the way society views interracial dating is an issue? and 13) If so, how would you propose we fix this problem? 16 out of the 20 interviewed viewed the way this issue is viewed as an issue. I would like to explain a few reasons why I believe this is an issue; because not only have I seen the destruction society can have on these couples, I am no stranger to the hateful comments, sly remarks, and looks of disgust that comes with interracial relationships. It is no secret that interracial dating is an issue in the South; however, it should not be. I will, however, examine both sides of the argument. We are all God’s children, there are little differences between us, other than skin color, and there are no justifiable reasons to view couples who interracially date differently.
Ok, so let us view the opposition and I will insert my beliefs after we have addressed their concerns. Cara Redford, an advocate for interracial relationships, brought up an interesting thought, saying, “Some people may see [the relationship] as betrayal against their ‘own kind’.” However with us all being God’s children, this should not matter. Southerners live in what is considered “The Bible Belt”, why then do we have such prejudice against those who try to simply love those of another ethnicity? But this is not a new issue; because, “Moses, who is of the Hebrew tribe of Levi” (Exodus 2:1-2) “married a woman names Zipporah” (Exodus 2:21) but “Moses own family was against this union because Zipporah was an Ethiopian from the land of Midian” (Numbers 12:21). Through this union, Moses was not struck down by God nor did he lose the calling of God on his life. Ashley Yates, an advocate against “mixed” relationships, says this, “God created them to mate with their own kind.” However, at the “tower of Babel, all men were one kind, it was after their unification that God struck down man and made them disperse into every corner of the world” (Genesis 11:1-9). If God would have wanted us to all “Mate with our own kind”, there would be only one color race out there. Lynette McEndarfer, an advocate for interracial relationships put it this way, “You’ve never seen something that God didn’t mean to be together come out beautiful; however, you’ve never seen an ugly mixed baby… never. It’s the same with flowers that are integrated; they make the most beautiful flowers.” Kayla Trick, an advocate for a change of views, but one against racial dating, “it is against my morals”. I believe many people have the same objective with morals as that. This comes from the verse in II Corinthians that says, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers." (II Corinthians 6:14); however they often times skip the last word which clearly reads “unbelievers”. This means those who do not have a relationship with God, not those of a different ethnicity. God does not see color when all are covered by His blood as Colossians 3:11 states, “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.”
Tamera O’Brien, a person rejecting interracial relationships said this, “Society [in the South] views it as nasty or dirty.” My question is what is so dirty about two people in love? It is no different than when their parents fell in love. When one examines this world and all its differences, they will notice the people. But, when removed from our skin what are we? We all have hearts, minds, muscles, bones, blood, and similar anatomy. Isaac Carree, a popular black gospel artists, said it like this, “I’m just like you, if you cut me, I’m gonna bleed. I’ve got wants just as well as I’ve got needs. I’ve been hungry and I’ve had no food to eat. I’ve been knocked down as soon as I got on my feet.” We all have the same desires: to be successful, provide for a family, have a little extra money, and we have all felt the pain of losing a loved one. We all need to be loved and feel loved. We are not different. We are all human beings. I am not asking people to go date giraffes, antelope, or monkeys; I am simply asking everyone to see people as they are- people, just like them. So they have a different skin color, back ground, family life, so what? As long as you are not unequally yoked, we all deserve to be happy and have a chance in this world to love someone and have them love us in return; “regardless the race…” (Patricia Ford). Rebekah Butler put it this way when ask if she would marry someone of another race, “If I loved them and they treated me better than someone my race.” Zora Hurston said it like this:
“I feel like a brown bag of miscellany propped against a wall. Against a wall in company with other bags, white, red and yellow. Pour out the contents, and there is discovered a jumble of small things priceless and worthless… On the ground before you is the jumble it held--so much like the jumble in the bags, could they be emptied, that all might be dumped in a single heap and the bags refilled without altering the content of any greatly. A bit of colored glass more or less would not matter…” (Hurston, 920).
Patricia also had this to say about why the Southern states view it as such a problem, “It’s like they are stuck in ‘the olden days’.” This statement is true given the history of the South and the way this issue still remains a touchy spot for those questioned about it, but why? This has been a question I have searched the answer to time and time again. There are no good reasons to give that would be a sufficient answer. When ask a question about why the South looked down upon interracial relationships, not one person surveyed was definitely sure of an answer. This is 21st Century and it is time we started acting as such. There is no race that is beneath another, nor one race that is better than the others.
After completing the survey it seems that people tend to be one way or the other. They are either completely ok with racial dating, or they absolutely disagree with it. I sought out the answers to this simple question, “Why do people in the South have such a huge deal with interracial dating?” and set out to persuade those against it why it should not be an issue. After carefully examining both sides, my opinion on the subject remains unaltered- interracial dating should not be an issue because we are all God’s children, none of us are really that different, and there are not any good reasons why would should not mix together if we so choose to do so. And if we do choose to do so, we should not be penalized or looked down on for making said decision.
No comments:
Post a Comment