“The charisma king of the 2008 presidential field. The world’s best golfer. The captain of the New York Yankees. Besides superstardom, Barack Obama, Tiger Woods and Derek Jeter have another common bond: Each is the child of an interracial marriage.” (Associated Press) It’s just been some 40 years since the US Supreme Court has banned the Virginia statute that did not allow whites to marry non-whites and ever since the number of successful marriages is growing rapidly.

Interracial dating or marriage according to the dictionaries happens when the two individuals of different racial group are in couple or in marriage with a possibility of creating multiracial offspring. Marrying outside of person’s racial group is called exogamy. In the US where various racial and ethnic groups meet, interracial marriage is a common happening and occurs very often. About 2.4 % of the entire population is indeed multiracial Americans.

It’s ironic that interracial marriages were a taboo about 50 years ago because today we see it as a common norm of our society. In the US there is a multitude of interracial couples that goes much further than just white/black relationship. Hispanics, Asians, Caucasians and others are equal citizens. USA is a so-called “melting pot” where anytime one can meet, for instance, a Korean man walking hand in hand with a Caucasian woman and it is normal.

There are no moral or Biblical considerations that prohibit interracial dating or marriage decisions. Every single person no matter the culture and race is equal in the face of God and the society he or she lives in. Therefore, if a person feels that his/her second half is someone from another racial group; it should be a norm of our life. When a woman and a man commit themselves to each other, it is the cause of celebration and joy.

However, there definitely exist pros and cons about interracial dating and marriage. One of the major pros is that the person has an opportunity to choose to be with any other person whom he or she loves. This is one and only consideration that I think people should use when thinking of interracial relationships. We are all equal and we have a freedom of our personal choice.

Nevertheless, sometimes friends or family can be against such decisions and be less supportive. Often the rejection of close relatives happens due to the numerous stereotypes that still exist today. They can start looking for specific reasons or clues that motivated two people to become a couple or to get married.

Generations and age seem to affect the openness towards the interracial relations. Some studies have shown that generational factors and influences are strong. When we are young we seem to be more open in our choices. People are more favorable to mixtures between the races. However, say, parents who are older often express disapproval of their own children daring or marrying representatives of other races. The study conducted by the Cornell University led to the conclusion that “although more young adults are dating and cohabiting with someone of a different race, the study found that interracial relationships are considerably less likely than same-race relationships to lead to marriage, though this trend has weakened in recent years.” (Cornell University Chronicle)

Interracial couples, however, also face some barriers that most other married people do not have because they come from the same race or culture. There are external factors that create disagreements and dissonance in the relationships. Difference in cultures endures diverse ethnical, moral and value foundations that effect the perceptions of family, society and individual lifestyles. When such foundations are operating together with the foundations of different cultural roots, disagreements and problems often occur. Nevertheless, interracial relationships are often not intercultural ones because, for instance, in the US people of various races are sharing the same cultural background.