Relationships Among the Races

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Malcom X, revealing his acuity, once spoke, “I believe in recognizing every human being as a human being--neither white, black, brown, or red; and when you are dealing with humanity as a family there's no question of integration or intermarriage. It's just one human being marrying another human being or one human being living around and with another human being” (“Quote”). Recognizing that intermarriage is just to people marrying is an important step in America’s evolution as a country. America did not start out accepting intermarriage, though. Near the Civil War time period it was illegal to marry a spouse of another ethnicity. Over time, though, this law was abolished and with it the American viewpoint steadily grew more accepting and widely positive. Interracial relationships have become more and more widely accepted through America since its old state, as evident in Sue Monk Kidd’s Secret Life of Bees, of being socially repugnant.
Throughout history, interracial dating and marriage have been very controversial conflicts An example of this is the Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which had been passed in several southern states. Bill Wanlund, who holds a journalism degree and writes for CQ Researcher, wrote about the case which repealed this act. He recalled that in 1965, “The Supreme Court, in Loving v. Virginia, unanimously ruled that restrictions on interracial marriage are unconstitutional.” (Wanlund). In Loving v. Virginia, Richard and Mildred Loving had moved down to Virginia, but Richard was sentenced to jail for a few months because their union violated the state law. His wife, Mildred (who was an African American), brought the case to the Supreme court to be tried. Eventually, the Supreme Court ruled in her favor (“Loving...

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...s small wall is hardly a barrier at all, all we as humans must do to get over it is elevate ourselves a tiny amount. We must educate ourselves, and jump over the old barrier built by our fathers fathers, only then can the racial prejudice that separated and forbade interracial marriage and dating be obliviated.

Works Cited

"A Quote by Malcolm X." Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014.
Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees. New York, NY: Penguin, 2003. Print.
Landau, Elaine. Interracial Dating and Marriage. New York, NY: J. Messner, 1993. Print.
"Loving v. Virginia." LII / Legal Information Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2014.
Wang, Wendy. "The Rise of Intermarriage." Pew Research Centers Social Demographic Trends
Project RSS. N.p., 16 Feb. 2012. Web. 08 May 2014.
Wanlund, Bill. "Changing Demographics." CQ Researcher 16 Nov. 2012: 989-1012. Web. 08 May
2014.

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