Recent research conducted in 2010 show that 15 percent of United States (U.S.) newlyweds are in marriages to people of a different race or ethnic group. The research also reveals that 8 percent of all married people are in cross-cultural marriages compared to a 4 percent in the 1980s. This significant growth in cross-cultural marriages has been attributed to increase racial tolerance in the U.S. Worth noting is that, cross-cultural marriages strengthen racial tolerance for reasons that could to be related to age, family, and mass media and social platforms. Americans should therefore encourage cross-cultural marriages as the resulting mixed race will free them from the clutches of vestigial racism due to tolerance.
I will concern myself with cross-cultural marriages which through family ties and bonds are notable for contributing to racial tolerance. I will argue with statistics that, a third of the Americans report that someone in their family married outside their race or ethnic group and are comfortable with it. I will emphasize that, by accepting those from the other races or ethnic groups the people tolerate each other hence eroding the demeaning, and offensive racism.
While I acknowledge the opposing viewpoint of cross-cultural marriages that it erodes cultures, and traditions, I will rebut this by noting that harmony, and good relationships reign supreme. I will show that even those who previously had a hard-hearted attitude about cross-cultural marriage soften their views when they realize acceptance is the only way to maintain a good relationship with their child, sibling, relative or friend who has entered into the cross-cultural marriages. With a backing of numerous scholarly, and journal articles as my sources, I will convince my audience that cross-cultural marriages contribute to racial tolerance.
Annotated Works Consulted
Bochner, Stephen. “The social psychology of cross-cultural relations.” Cultures in contact: Studies in cross-cultural interaction 1 (1982): 5-44.
Stephen Bochner an internationally recognized applied cross-cultural psychologist with a lot of interest in culturally diversity both in the workplace, and family relationships, has extensively written on how individuals can coexist despite coming from diverse cultural backgrounds. I will cite Bochner to show how cross-cultural marriages can boost interpersonal relations among people from different races thus leading to not only racial tolerance but also elimination of racism.
Bochner, Stephen, ed. Cultures in contact: Studies in cross-cultural interaction. Vol. 1. Elsevier, 2013.
I will also cite Bochner in my argument to show how cross-cultural marriages lead to cross-cultural contact that enhance cross-cultural relations among culturally disparate individuals who find themselves holding negative attitudes about the other racially or culturally different individuals. This will help me elaborate my argument on cross-cultural marriages as the means to achieve cross-cultural contact consequently improving the quality of the relationships existing between racially different individuals, and tolerance.
Breger, Rosemary, and Rosanna Hill, eds. Cross-cultural marriage: Identity and choice. Bloomsbury Academic, 1998.
Both Rosemary Breger, and Rosanna Hill provide great insights into cross-cultural marriage as a driver to eliminating the negative racial stereotypes of ‘otherness’. I will cite them to argue my point how cross-cultural marriages eliminate the notions held by people about identity, racial difference and emotive stereotypes. The source will solidify my point how cross-cultural marriages help people live together, cope, and tolerate each other.
Cottrell, Ann Baker. “Cross-national marriages: A review of the literature.” Journal of comparative family studies (1990): 151-169.
Ann Baker Cottrell being a Professor Emerita of Sociology in San Diego State University provides a deep insight of the past literature on the issue of cross-cultural marriages as an aspect that will tone down racial animosity in the U.S. I will use her source to support my claim that cross-cultural marriages as a modern phenomenon will ultimately decimate the entrenched vestigial racism in the U.S as it will encourage tolerance.
Johnson, Walton R., and Dennis Michael Ed Warren. Inside the mixed marriage: Accounts of changing attitudes, patterns, and perceptions of cross-cultural and interracial marriages. University Press of America, 1994.
Both Professors Johnson and Warren examine closely the issue of cross-cultural marriages in in the context of mixed marriage. They note that through cross-cultural marriages, people are changing attitudes, and perceptions previously harbored in stereotypes about others who are different from them. I will cite them to show how through cross-cultural marriages people can overcome the artificially created social construct of racism leading to tolerance among racially different people.
Rosenblatt, Paul C., and Ciloue Cheng Stewart. “Challenges in cross-cultural marriage: When she is Chinese and he Euro-American.” Sociological Focus 37.1 (2004): 43-58.
Professor Paul Rosenblatt and Dr. Ciloue Cheng Stewart as psychologists delve into unearthing the challenges that are pertinent to cross-cultural marriages due to the cultural differences between couples. I will use their source to encapsulate my opponents’ viewpoint that cross-cultural marriages erode cultures, and traditions consequently leaving everything in disarray, and this could fuel animosity between cultures leading to racial intolerance rather than the desired tolerance.
Qian, Zhenchao, and Daniel T. Lichter. “Changing patterns of interracial marriage in a multiracial society.” Journal of Marriage and Family 73.5 (2011): 1065-1084.
Zhenchao Qian and Daniel Lichter highlight the recent trends in interracial marriage witnessed in the U.S. I will cite them to validate the data showing the increasing number of cross-cultural marriages. I will use the source to show how not too many Americans are willing to cut off a good relationship with their family members or friends because they entered into cross-cultural marriages hence racial tolerance.
