just something I found positive

[gbear]

Who knows, maybe the racial devide in this country won't last. I guess I can only hope. Anywya, this is from the NYTimes.

Love and Race

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

In a world brimming with bad news, here's one of the happiest trends: Instead of preying on people of different races, young Americans are falling in love with them.

Whites and blacks can be found strolling together as couples even at the University of Mississippi, once the symbol of racial confrontation.

"I will say that they are always given a second glance," acknowledges C. J. Rhodes, a black student at Ole Miss. He adds that there are still misgivings about interracial dating, particularly among black women and a formidable number of "white Southerners who view this race-mixing as abnormal, frozen by fear to see Sara Beth bring home a brotha."

Mixed-race marriages in the U.S. now number 1.5 million and are roughly doubling each decade. About 40 percent of Asian-Americans and 6 percent of blacks have married whites in recent years.

Still more striking, one survey found that 40 percent of Americans had dated someone of another race.

In a country where racial divisions remain deep, all this love is an enormously hopeful sign of progress in bridging barriers. Scientists who study the human genome say that race is mostly a bogus distinction reflecting very little genetic difference, perhaps one-hundredth of 1 percent of our DNA.

Skin color differences are recent, arising over only the last 100,000 years or so, a twinkling of an evolutionary eye. That's too short a period for substantial genetic differences to emerge, and so there is perhaps 10 times more genetic difference within a race than there is between races. Thus we should welcome any trend that makes a superficial issue like color less central to how we categorize each other.

The rise in interracial marriage reflects a revolution in attitudes. As recently as 1958 a white mother in Monroe, N.C., called the police after her little girl kissed a black playmate on the cheek; the boy, Hanover Thompson, 9, was then sentenced to 14 years in prison for attempted rape. (His appeals failed, but he was released later after an outcry.)

In 1963, 59 percent of Americans believed that marriage between blacks and whites should be illegal. At one time or another 42 states banned intermarriage, although the Supreme Court finally invalidated these laws in 1967.

Typically, the miscegenation laws voided any interracial marriages, making the children illegitimate, and some states included penalties such as enslavement, life imprisonment and whippings. My wife is Chinese-American, and our relationship would once have been felonious.

At every juncture from the 19th century on, the segregationists warned that granting rights to blacks would mean the start of a slippery slope, ending up with black men marrying white women. The racists were prophetic.

"They were absolutely right," notes Randall Kennedy, the Harvard Law School professor and author of a dazzling new book, "Interracial Intimacies," to be published next month. "I do think [interracial marriage] is a good thing. It's a welcome sign of thoroughgoing desegregation. We talk about desegregation in the public sphere; here's desegregation in the most intimate sphere."

These days, interracial romance can be seen on the big screen, on TV shows and in the lives of some prominent Americans. Former Defense Secretary William Cohen has a black wife, as does Peter Norton, the software guru. The Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas has a white wife.

I find the surge in intermarriage to be one of the most positive fronts in American race relations today, building bridges and empathy. But it's still in its infancy.

I was excited to track down interracial couples at Ole Miss, thinking they would be perfect to make my point about this hopeful trend. But none were willing to talk about the issue on the record.

"Even if people wanted to marry [interracially], I think they'd keep it kind of quiet," explained a minister on campus.

For centuries, racists warned that racial equality would lead to the "mongrelization" of America. Perhaps they were right in a sense, for we're increasingly going to see a blurring of racial distinctions. But these distinctions acquired enormous social resonance without ever having much basis in biology.

[Riggo-toni]

The funny thing: The term interracial itself is constantly evolving.

In Bosnia, if a Muslim marries a Croat, it's considered interracial, though I doubt anyone would even think of the distinction here. For a WASP to marry an Italian or an Irish was once considered interracial in our society. Who would think that in this country now? (other than maybe Tony Soprano )

True Story:

I used to date a girl from Switzerland. Her father was German and her mother was 1/2 Italian. Her father's family was extremely upset that he married outside his own race!

Now here's the kicker: When her older brother was born, he had light hair and blue eyes. Her father's family was relieved that the son seemed to be predominantly Aryan. They apparently fawned all over him. Then when he was about 8, his hair grew darker and his eyes eventually took on a more maroon color. Her father's family now wants nothing to do with him (or with her, she's always looked very Italian). It amazes me how such incredibly meaningless and superficial differences are somehow deemed to be of such great importance to the prejudiced and ignorant of the race to which we all belong - the human race.

My prediction: 300 years from now, inter-breeding of different ethnicities will be so universal that race will lose any visible distinction. We will all be a mixture; just as most white Americans these days probably trace their roots to half a dozen different European nationalities, in the future people will trace their roots to a half dozen nationalities from several continents. In an irony of ironies, perhaps the only people who will perservere as a single race might be the devout Jewish people as they carry a religious obligation to marry those belonging to the tribes of Israel. I find this ironic in that they're the only race I can think of that for so much of their history the rest of humanity has tried in vain to wipe out.

:fortune:

[Kilmer17]

I think the key is the number of people that dont even think about it. I married a woman of Spanish decent. (Dont say Cuban, Ive learned that lesson) And I never thought of us as a mixed couple until almost 3 years into our marriage. I had to attend a mandatory training class on diversity. They had us trace our family lineage and one of the instructors pointed out my "mixed" marriage. I just looked at him like he was moron. But it was true.

[gbear]

Kilmer, that's exactly my hope for the future, where nobody thinks about it.

We were debating within my office (what do you want, it's a Friday), about how much things have changed and the differences between marrying/dating between the races.

Informally, nobody looks or thinks twice about an Asian and a White union. IN my office, we all notice a white/black union, though only one black lady thought her husband would have a problem with it if their daughter married a white man. Somewhere inbetween were the middle easteners (Yes I know it's not a race, just a grouping) in terms of whether anyone would notice and how much the family would care.

I think/hope that at some point there is a critical mass where something is common enough that nobody thinks to mention it or notice it (Riggo-toni's end product). Afterall, Italian and Irish isn't going to boil much blood these days. Maybe the trend will continue and the critical mass where we cease to notice will be reached in this country. I hope so.

On a side issue, wouldn't that help the other topic of affirmative action? Afterall, weddings provide contact, exposure, and pooling of resources. I know that's probably not the answer for any of our generations, but atleast it gives me hope it's a problem that will work itself out despite any of our bungling.

[fansince62]

kilmer17...exactly......I was going to post but then decided not to, but you have prompted the same thought again........my best friend at work is an African American. We're friends because he's sharp, we share the same interests, enjoy the same jokes, etc. In becoming friends it never occurred to me to think of the qualities at play in racial terms: it is the "benefactors" with a stake in PRSERVING these distinctions for power, economic and class warfare reasons who think (and want us to think) in terms of these categories. they're certainly right....1984 is not long gone by any means!!!!

[PCS]

Agreed Al. there do seem to be benefactors of just such a situation..... of all races. I can remember in my service days back in the 80's where I dated an African American girl. This was not universally accepted in my squadron...or the base for that matter. Many a comment and stare was thrown our way. from what gbear posted, it would appear that should that relationship happen today, things would be different...in a good way. I too share the vision that one day things like that won't be noticed. That nobody will care one way or another. The sooner the better.

[Johnny Punani2]

2 tits a hole and a heartbeat is all I need...

[OrangeSkin]

I'm very pleased to see that the love is increasing, but in all honesty, I don't want just one race. It would destroy much of the diversity that we treasure in this country.

Instead of lumping everybody into one group, we should accept our different colors and embrace the differences that they encompass. Easier said than done, I know, but having one super race would ruin an important part of our country.