Social Injustice: the Discrimination of Biracial Couples - Essay Example

Social injustice: the discrimination of biracial couples Discrimination against biracial couples is not something new. It has been there for long, and it continues to lurk around, in the form of either silent or overt racism. According to the 2010 statistics, in the USA there were 390,000 biracial couples consisting of black and white partners, and 488,000 biracial couples who consisted of a white wife and men from other races, other than Asian or black (Buchele, n.p.). The discrimination of biracial couples was acceptable in the early 20th century, because it was a new phenomenon owing to the racial discrimination that existed between the white and the colored people, especially the blacks who came into the west as slaves. However, such apparent discrimination is no longer the feature of the modern society due to the constitutional changes and the human rights laws that have been enacted to realize the equality of all races. Nevertheless, the progressive constitutional provisions and thesubsequent human rights laws have not managed to wipe put racial discrimination out of the mind of those who grew up knowing that people from different races are not equal (Kennedy, 1). Thus, while the legal ground has been prepared to have interracial marriages happen the same way same race marriages happens in the society without any aspect of discrimination, the same ground has not been prepared in the minds and hearts of the society. For example, a Louisiana justice of peace refused to grant a marriage license to a biracial couple, for the reasons that such marriages do not last, and that “black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society” (Foster, n.p.). Further, the Louisiana Justice of peace added that every time a couple calls with the need to be married, he justice asks them whether they are from different races and if they are, he cannot marry them. While this assertion might be interpreted as very racists and discriminative, it is a precaution that is undertaken to protect the couples from the suffering that they will have to endure after they get married, due to the rampant racial discrimination that they will have to deal with (Singer, 76). The Supreme court had ruled in 1967 that the anti-miscegenation laws that were enacted in the State of Virginia preventing the marriage between the blacks and the whites was illegal, since it was found to violate the Equal Protection Clause that is provided under the Fourteenth Amendment of the USA Constitution (Barnes, et al., 1242). Since then, open racial discrimination against biracial couples in America started changing, and in its place, silent discrimination took shape, where racist individuals can discriminate against the biracial couples in more indirect ways that may not attract the wrath of the law. However, there is still an alarming level of open discrimination within the society, despite the legal provisions prohibiting it, and just less is seen to be happening legally, to address the biracial discrimination. In an occurrence completely violating the legal provisions barring racial discrimination, and this time even more disturbing because it came from a church, the Gulnare Free Will Baptist Church placed a resolution to ban the marriage of biracial couples, including banning them from attending the church. The “church members voted 9-6 to bar mixed-race couples from joining the congregation” (Lovan, n.p.). Such a resolution comes as a striking boldness in discrimination against people from other races, from a church that is predominantly white attended. This is an indication that; despite the progressive constitutional provisions barring any individuals from discriminating others on the basis of their race, the racial intolerance mentality is still very much alive within the society, and there seems nothing can be done to completely wipe it out. The “Gulnare church says it does not condone interracial marriage and parties of such marriages will not be received as members…exception being funerals" (Lovan, n.p.). This simply serves to indicate how bad the biracial couple discrimination within the society can go, an indication that it is not by the law or by the rules of morality that the social injustice of discriminating against biracial couples can be addressed. It is therefore much harder to control the discrimination of biracial couples within the society, both within the precepts of the law and within the social moral standards, because the issue is more of an ethical, as opposed to a legal issue (Barnes, et al., 1242). Thus, one of the most discriminative question against biracial couples that is almost always asked to them is; “How does your family feel about your partner's race?” (Buchele, n.p.). Even though such a question may not be termed as openly discriminative, it is one of the reminders that the couples have chosen an unpopular and unusual social path, which in turn makes them feel awkward and discriminated against. Thus, the bold step to undertake a biracial marriage has had to take a lot of courage, considering that where it is not opposed by the family, there are high chances that the couples will need to answer such a question either in the market, in the stores, at church or even the workplace (Kennedy, 1). Further, even the more understanding, tolerant and non-racial discriminative individuals will often ask some questions that have no ill intention, but which will eventually turn out to be racist in the minds of the biracial couples. For example, for those individuals who are friends to a biracial couple and who understands the discrimination and the struggles they go through, it is not unusual to have them ask their friends, “Wouldn't it be easier to just date your own race?” (Buchele, n.p.). While such a question has pure genuine intentions of helping the friend think alternatively and avoid the emotional struggles, it is often interpreted as a racially discriminative sentiment for those who love a couple from a different race. This is because, no one else can understand why the biracial couple opts for a path that will see them struggle and discriminated against, other than themselves (Barnes, et al., 1247). In this respect therefore, it is not unusual for racism sentiments to be heard whenever a couple from two different races is seen. Such racial discrimination might not be overt, but it is still breeding on the inside of the people (Singer, 76). However, racial discrimination was not always present in the history of America, considering that the Native Americans and the whites interrelated and intermarried, while also the same happened for the Native Americans and the blacks, and to a lesser extent, among the whites and the blacks (Barnes, et al., 332). The major reason why racial discrimination against biracial couples became so pronounced is the introduction of institutionalized slavery, where the blacks and most of the colored people were turned into slaves after the colonization of America, where they were to provide labor for the wealthy white farmers (Barnes, et al., 322). Since then, the concept of racial discrimination became so much pronounced, such that even the interracial marriages that were taking place between the different races stopped completely, and each race retreated back to their racial cocoons, which were seen to offer them social security and protection during the age of slavery. Starting then, the concept of discrimination against races has subsided and more interracial interaction, dating and marriages have become normal phenomena in the modern globalized world. Nevertheless, while that could be said about the nations and individuals who are progressive and thus embraces social changes as it comes, there are still individuals who have not accepted the intermarriage of different races, and as such, to them biracial marriages still remains something new, unusual and even unacceptable to some (Singer, 76). Works Cited Barnes, Lisa L., et al. "Perceived Discrimination And Mortality In A Population-Based Study Of Older Adults." American Journal Of Public Health 98.7 (2008): 1241-1247. Barnes, Lisa L., et al. "Racial Differences In Perceived Discrimination In A Community Population Of Older Blacks And Whites." Journal Of Aging & Health 16.3 (2004): 315-337. Buchele, Grace. 8 Questions Interracial Couples Are Tired of Hearing. The Huffington Post, December 16, 2013. Retrieved March 13, 2014 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/grace-buchele/8-questions-interracial-couples-are-tired-of-hearing_b_4415858.html Foster, Mary. Interracial Couple Denied Marriage License By Louisiana Judge. The Huffington Post, May 25, 2011. Retrieved March 13, 2014 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/15/interracial-couple-denied_n_322784.html Lovan, Dylan. Church That Voted To Ban Interracial Couples Revisits Decision after Uproar. The Huffington Post, December 3, 2011. Retrieved March 13, 2014 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/03/gulnare-free-will-baptist-church-revisits-ban_n_1126836.html Kennedy, Dana. "Halle Berry, Bruised and Beautiful, Is on a Mission." New York Times 10 Mar. 2002: 1. Singer, Jane. "Japan's Singular `Doubles'." Japan Quarterly 47.2 (2000): 76. Read More