In the continuing discussion on interracial marriage, commenter Van Wijk, who is white, looks beyond the issue of whether mixed race individuals suffer from identity conflicts and flat-out states that miscegenation is wrong. In his comments, which can be found here, he writes: Let me also state that I find it disturbing that the Christian religion is continuously used to justify miscegenation and interracial adoption. Marcus Aurelius said that if the gods are not just, you would not want to worship them. Any god who seeks the displacement or annihilation of my people is not just.                                                                                           

The discussion continues in the post, The View from One Interracial Marriage. Laura H., a mother of eight children and a white woman married to a black man stationed in the military in Germany, has been accused of not understanding the innate need for cultural and racial connection. She continues to resolutely defend herself, maintaining that her children will not be culturally adrift and are not headed for a racial identity crisis. They have a strong sense of being American, she says, and that provides them with the larger group connection they need. In addition, they have something many people lack: a large, stable family and a Christian foundation.

I want to sincerely thank Laura H. and all who have participated in this conversation for their civility. I appreciate it.

Some may ask: Why are you even discussing this? Intermarriage is no longer a controversial issue. It is not illegal and few people openly condemn it anymore. Here is my answer. It is important to discuss interracial marriage because race is a real facet of existence, a biological and cultural reality. Though intermarriage is not openly controversial, I believe many people harbor private thoughts – both pro and con – on the subject.

(more…)

Last week, a reader wrote to me about my past entries on interracial marriage and adoption. The reader, Laura H., is a white woman married to a black man. Her husband is in the military in Germany and the entire family lives there.  Here is our exchange, as well as some additional comments by me.

Laura H. writes:

I read with interest your blog posts about international and interracial adoption. Many of your thoughts are very similar to my own, based on personal experience. Whilst in Korea for two years I started to slowly realize that the traditional American understanding of international adoption was flawed in many important aspects. 

However, I wanted to broach with you some, I think, important ideas about your understanding of interracial marriage, again based on personal experience (amoungst other things). 

(more…)