Are We Truly a Melting Pot?: The Acceptance of Interracial Relationships

(Original writing date October 18, 2011. This is a personal essay.)
            Sharon Jayson, a reporter for USA Today, claimed interracial relationships are accepted in today’s society. This is false because these couples still face many difficulties: some of my family members disagree with my interracial relationship, people do not give them the same rights as normal couples, and the children from interracial relationships are treated differently.

            I am currently in an interracial relationship—I am a white male dating an African American. Also, my cousin dates an African American female. With my family, this is a touchy subject. My father approves of it, but my mother and her sister do not approve of it. The latter two do not like that my girlfriend and I are together. My parents grew up in different households which plays a part in their reasoning. My father and some other family members on his side were taught by their parents to treat everyone equally, no matter which color s/he is. On the contrary, my mother and her sister were taught by their parents to stick within the same race when it comes to relationships. When my family has a get-together, such as a cookout, my cousin and I are not allowed to bring our girlfriends. If we do, the cookout is basically cancelled, and my mother and my aunt get upset.

Not only do these couples get treated badly, in some extremes they do not even get the same rights as every other American. My girlfriend and I have experienced this. While we were on a trip to Clemson, South Carolina to watch a football game, we decided to stop at a fast food restaurant to eat dinner. When we walked into the restaurant, we received some weird looks from nearly everyone. We did not mind the looks too much, but when we went to order our meals, we were highly offended; the cashier would not take our order because of who we were—an interracial couple. Another example was in 2009 when a judge in New Orleans, Louisiana denied a marriage license to Beth Humphrey and Terence McKay, an interracial couple (Foster). Many people complained about this decision, with one person saying his license should be revoked (Foster). One of the judge’s reasoning was he did not want their child to get treated badly (Foster).

            Not only do the couples get treated poorly, but their children face similar difficulties. Lap and Julia Sui, a couple in Lubbock, North Carolina have a child named Jonathan of a mixed descent who faces discrimination (Ballinger). One example was when the family was walking through a park and a stranger was baffled how their son, who is half Vietnamese and white, is called white (Ballinger). Jonathan receives multiple criticism and Lap states, “it is kind of strange” (Ballinger). Markson also claims this is true, and her two reasonings are that people were raised in a racist house and people are not used to these types of relationships. For the first, she claims how one is brought up has a significant effect on one’s social life; for the second, she states that since children have not experienced interracial relationships that often they decide to make fun of them (Markson).

Going to a high school in a populated area, I have seen many mixed children throughout my life. Many times I have seen them get treated badly because of either the way they look or even who their parents are. A friend of mine, David, is a mixed child, and he commonly gets made fun of because of his skin color. He also is ridiculed because of who his parents are. One time in the tenth grade, David and I were walking through the hallway, and one other kid started to ridicule David about his parents. “Ha ha, you’re parents look stupid together,” and “African Americans and whites are not supposed to be together” were two things that the bully said to him. David became so ashamed about himself and his family that he did not attend school for one week.

            America is commonly called a “melting pot;” however, if we cannot even accept two races loving each other, then what else is this country lying about? Also, people come to America because they hear how great of a country it is, but in reality there are still many problems that need to be fixed before we can even come close to calling America that.

Works Cited

Ballinger, Caylor. “Interracial Couples Face Discrimination from Others.” Lubbockonline.com. Lubbock-Avalanche Journal. 23 February 2010. Web. 8 October 2011.

Foster, Mary. “Many Angry Man Wouldn’t Marry Interracial Couple.” News.yahoo.com. Yahoo News. 16 February 2009. Web. 12 October 2011.

Jayson, Sharon. “New Generation Doesn’t Blink at Interracial Relationships.” USATODAY.com. USA Today. 8 February 2006. Web. 8 October 2011.

Markson, Gillian. “Interracial Marriage and How it Affects Children.” Marriages.familes.com. Family Marriage. n.d. Web. 9 October 2011.