The identity of a child in an interracial relationship, irrespective of the ethnicity of the parents or partners, creates complexities for the child that is based around confusion and racism.
The stress of the confusion creates a sense of perplexity from an early stage, from understanding two ethnic cultures, the way of life, eating habits to name a few.
The child in an interracial relationship is heavily burdened with expectation from a very early stage that creates unnecessary pressure on them to belong to two sets of norms and cultures, since the most stress comes early on from a potential racist family member.
The critique for a child from someone within the family impacts a lot on their behavior in view of the fact that having encountered racism and intolerance in the family makes the person sensitive and it creates trust issues starting from school and onwards.
The most proactive way to deal with the children identity crisis is that the support system led by the parents helps them by having open conversations on the issue from an early age and expose them to the cultural events of both the races and let them mingle with children from other ethnicities as play mates to lessen the identity crisis
The cultural difference is a major issue that the interracial couple faces, and it affects every interracial couple one way or the other, for example the cultural norms of a black person differs totally from a white person and similarly an Asian traditions are totally different from a Arabic culture (Dana J. Stone, Phd, and Megan L. Dolbin-macnab, Phd, 2013).
The differences usually crops up at the time of a festive event or religious event more often than not creates a tense environment for the couple and more so the influence of the family members escalates the issues of cultural differences amid interracial couples.
Feelings of a black women with a white boyfriend or vice versa, may be affected if they watch a movie regarding segregation and slavery together, thus, understanding each other culture is an ongoing mechanism.
One of the biggest challenges in an interracial relationship is the being judged by both family members and the general public, thus, creating a challenge both on the home front and when out in general or with friends.
Even in these times of racial diversity, the acceptance of a racially diverse couple is still an issue that needs to be dealt with, however, since the issue of general public acceptance is not in ones hand, interracial couples should be able to ignore and avoid situations and comments to get to them.
The influence of the family also create obstacles, however, the impact of a family can be neutralized by the couple themselves by making them understand their life choice and if they are told at the start regarding the status it gets easy for both the couple to assimilate in the culture easily.
There may be situations when the members of the extended family may create situations that create stress on the relationship, however, it is imperative for the couple to stand by each other in awkward situations relating to race by family members or even general public that will solidify the relationship.
Standing by each other in difficult situations only creates trust and breaks the relationship barriers that are always there in spite of being together as a couple.
In the US mixed raced relationship has reached an all time high; however in a poll conducted 29% said that interracial marriages should be illegal that basically illustrates the general public view (Michaels, 2013).
Works Cited
Dana J. Stone, PhD, and Megan L. Dolbin-MacNab, PhD, “Parent and child influences on the development of a Black-White biracial identity,” American Psychological Association. Last Modified August, 2013. http://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/newsletter/2013/08/black-white-identity.aspx
Michaels, M., “Interracial Relationships Still Subject To Discrimination,” Mint Press News. Last Modified September 6, 2013. http://www.mintpressnews.com/interracial- relationships-still-subject-to- discrimination/168463/
