Gin Young Pang "Differences in Parental Influence Among Interethnic and Interracial Relationships." By: Christopher Aba

Growing up my parents always told me, “You don’t have to marry an Armenian Girl, but make sure you marry a respectable woman.” I think maybe this is the reason why I don’t normally consider race or ethnicity when I get into a relationship. It’s strange though because my sister is the exact opposite, her ideal man is Armenian. So what makes us think differently? When “Image” magazine published, “Asian Women, Caucasian Men: The New Demographics of Love.” Many people, who were in this particular relationship got outraged that there was more to interracial relationships – especially Asian Women/White Men – than “Love.”

I agree with the outrage that this article caused because, I believe that ethnicity or race does not matter. However, this may be because of what my parents instilled in me. Gin Young Pang’s article is stating that, what we call “Love” is not free from influence or race, gender, class inequality in our society. All of these factors contribute to the “Social Construction” of love and the meaning of interracial and interethnic relationships. Researchers Berger and Luckman define social construction as the process by which individuals come to describe, explain, or otherwise account for the world in which they live. Gin also includes the impact that cultural beliefs, morals, values, social institutions, and authority have on the meaning. My interpretation of social construction is what people perceive as their own reality in respect to relationships and marital choices. Gin states that perceptions of race, gender, and class inequality are internalized and reflected in the attitudes and interpretations that Asian Americans have about interracial and interethnic relationships, and how their parents have an influence on this. My viewpoint is that race and ethnicity do not matter, however I do agree that the views, and notions of parents or authority figures do influence people’s decisions when choosing a partner to be in a relationship with.

Gin’s findings are based on the study done of Korean Americans. One of the three areas that influence opinions on interracial and interethnic relationships is the parent’s attitude toward intermarriage. In this study, it showed that fifteen out of the twenty of the interviewees felt their parents would strongly disapprove to somewhat disapprove of intermarriage (Marrying outside the Korean ethnic group.) The other five felt their parents would somewhat approve but only under certain conditions, which is similar to my situation. The partner’s educational achievement, family background, cultural sensitivity, attractiveness, and race or ethnicities were all factors that concern the parents. The majority of Korean Americans who were interviewed perceived similarly to their parents, that interethnic Asian marriages are more acceptable than interracial ones. Today, the Korean American community still perceives interracial relationships – particularly those of Korean/Asian women with White/Black men – as originating from dire economic or social circumstances. An example that Gin gives which shows that parent’s attitudes and influence affect their children when choosing a partner for a relationship is about her father telling her and her sisters that he wants them to marry Korean men, and then goes down a list of other racial options. She asked the Korean Americans during the interview if their parents had any preference for which they should marry – and one twenty one year old Korean American woman stated that her parent’s attitude became her attitude toward other ethnic/racial groups, as potential marital partners. The majority (Seventy five percent) fit the parental pattern of preferring Korean Americans first.

In conclusion though we are free to pick partner’s as we choose, and I believe that race/ethnic background don’t matter. That parent’s or figures of authority do shape the way we think and play a significant role in conditioning our social construction of love, and our views on interracial and interethnic relationships.

I Have a White Boyfriend.

     Why do people feel uncomfortable about such an interracial couple? In the article, "Attitudes toward Interracial and Interethnic Relationships and Intermarriage among Korean Americans: The Intersections of Race, Gender, and Class Inequality" by Gin Yong Pang, Miae Kim says "When I see an Asian girl with a White guy, I have an uneasy feeling, especially when the girl, appearance-wise, fits the stereotype of [being] really quiet, submissive, and so on. I wonder, 'Why is he dating her?' 'What for?' I can't help looking at them. I guess it's her choice. If he looks fine, then, it shouldn't matter; but if he's on to her because of all the stereotypes, and because he could use her, then, something is wrong with it". Moreover, in many cases, Asian women are often victimized, and a white man are seen as a villain in the situation of interracial relationship. In fact, many people are not happy to see a couple of an Asian woman and a white man like Miae Kim. Honestly, I was upset when I read this comments because this comments forcibly convince the difficulty of interracial relationship, especially between Asian women and white men. I notice a lot of uneasy gaze when I am with my boyfriend. Actually, I never feel these eyes when I was dating with Asian men. I'm sure that he also feels the difference and difficulty between dating with same race and others. We should not only blame white men because we both experience hardships of having an interracial partner in this racially complex society, and it is also true that it's impossible to separate social construction and people's choice of relationship.
     I think that if some people have such conceptual ideas about white man's conquest of Asian women, it is also possible to think that Asian women are taking advantages of white men. We all know that white men have privilege in this society. Here is an example of a real life situation. One day, I went to DMV to make an ID. The representative was not so nice to me, but he suddenly became extremely nice when my boyfriend showed up. As a result, the process was smoothly carried out. Things are not so easy for Asian women sometimes. I am not saying that I am taking advantage of being a girl friend with a white man, but it is certainly true that people treat you differently when you are with privileged people because the society construct people's notions. You can't see even a single person without analyzing his/her race and the social value. It is a natural tendency that is influenced by today's media that emphasizes the superiority of whiteness. It it hardly possible to evaluate anything only based on your idea. Your idea is already contaminated with the social norm. Then I imagine "what if my boyfriend is Asian? Would I still date with him?," but I realized that this is such a nonsense thoughts because his race is a part of his personality. In other words, race is one of materials that construct an individual identity. I love the person by who he is. He is a white person. Logically speaking, this two facts are supposed to be vice versa. Regardless of my feeling, I took an advantage of being with a white man.

     The classic example of an Asian and white couple is Suzie and Robert from a movie, "The World of Suzie Wong." In the middle of the movie, Robert hesitates to be with Suzie, even though he knows that he loves her so much. The reason is the social pressure from his white peers. Suzie has nothing to lose due to the relationship with Robert; however, he may damage his social reputation as a white male for the interracial relationship because of the stereotypical images: he is only sexually attracted by Suzie, and he wants to dominates her. He may be called an Asian fetish, but he decided to be with her. People often see only Suzie's devotion and submissiveness as a sinful disadvantage. They often ignore Robert's struggles. I don't think Robert is just a stereotypical white man who is attracted by Suzie's exotic charms. He also sacrifices his social status for the love. On the other hand, the movie clearly shows stereotypical images of Asian women. The Asian women in this movie are mostly prostitutes, hypersexualized, obedient, and available. They could hurt the real Asian women. Because of the stereotypical images, the movie is often criticized by Asian community, but I think the real theme of this movie is how Suzie and Robert share their hardships together, and overcome them.  
     Unfortunately, interracial couples suffer from conceptual and stereotypical images; however, none of them should be blamed on their choice of a partner. A relationship should not be consider as a sinful behavior regardless their race. We should not judge them at all without knowing a story. Besides, we should not forget that our ideas and identities are heavily constructed by the society.

Mao Otajima
    
    

Attitudes Toward Interracial Marriage by Karla Henry

Throughout history marriages have been one of the biggest factors in the building block of societies. It has been known that in the olden ages that interracial marriages have been forbidden also considered to be taboos. During the 1950s and 60s, from my personal observation, it was socially acceptable for a white to be part Indian, as long as the Indian part was not so evident. Is this truly correct? Interracial marriages have also been one of the great issues that have weakened the lines of  racism and have given new and wider perspectives in life which allows us to easily understand and respect other cultures and societies. For many decades interracial marriages have been forbidden and considered taboos by many cultures. As we have entered into the twenty-first century, in aggregate, man’s views have changed. During the years past Interracial marriage have increased. Interracial marriages have been seen to be one of the most controversial issues in the past but have been considered common today. 

Instead of looking at raw data which may not feel that relevant to your life, it's more interesting to examine how often men and women of each race have interracial marriages. When African-Americans and Whites marry, they are more likely to be an African-American husband and a white spouse. The fact is that of all African-American and White marriages have this setup. When Asians and Whites marry, the situation is nearly reversed. In these marriages, usually the husband is White and the spouse is Asian. When we talk about African-American and Asian relationships these marriages are still rare; but when they marry, it's is more likely that the husband will be African-American and the spouse Asian. In the Hispanic community when men and women decide to marry someone of a different race, the difference between men and women is nearly equal. Women usually marry a non-Hispanic man. In marriages involving Hispanics and Whites, is more likely that the spouse is Hispanic and the husband is White.  The U. S. Census in 1990; Race of couple shows that interracial couples represent a total of 2.7% of the total percentage of married couple in the United States. U. S. Census Interracial Data

Interracial marriage is growing steadily since the 1990 Census. It is more common to see interracial couples in our society. The reasons are obvious, the greater integration and the decline of white racism. Interracial marriages are increasingly recognized as epitomizing what our society values most in a marriage but the triumph of true love.The social distance between races is now far smaller and interracial relationships are no longer a key issue in our society. America was founded to be a nation where everyone would have the freedom to do what they believed in. In Contrast the U.S in one the countries that has major problems when it comes to mixing races.  Our society do not understand other cultures and nationalities therefore end up fearing them.