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Interracial Marriage Issues

Naomi Sarah
There are many couples facing interracial marriage issues once they get hitched. Not addressing key questions before getting married could result in a union's downfall...
An interracial marriage as the name suggests, is when two people from completely different cultures come together with a common interest to bind their relationship in holy matrimony. It is important for couples to discuss what this could do to not only them, but their families/friends as well.
One has to also keep in mind that there are kids involved in the near future, and how you will help them cope with any social discrimination will be your major cause for concern. It may seem all blissful when the two of you meet, without a care in the world except to tie the knot and settle down.
But what about the things that lie ahead in silent waiting? Ignoring the signs and stark truth that the possibility of a rupture in your marriage is advancing, is not going to keep your marriage solidified for long.

Interracial Marriage Challenges

So when it comes to interracial couples who take that step forward to get married, what are the interracial marriage issues they're likely to face? Work these out together and prepare yourselves for the things that may crop up, given the fact that even in today's day and age, people are willing to point fingers, speak in hushed tones and pass judgment.

Adjusting to Foreign Traditions

Some interracial couples do not have any customary followings that they do on a day-to-day basis, but some do have things they need to follow through with, that goes with their culture's deep-set beliefs. It is important to ask each other about these traditional rituals and practices, because one of the two, or both will expect the other to mimic the same.
You have to find out whether you are comfortable doing the same as your partner, and if this goes against your own culture's norms. Once you open up a platform and lay out all your cards on the table and be honest about each other's expectations of the other, then only can you move forward.

Family Ties

Are your parents and your partner's, mutually accepting the fact that you two are getting married? Are you willing to go against them and not really care about what they have to say?
It is wiser to maintain family ties and not sever them on such extreme grounds, because one day neither of you should look back and not have a home to go back to and visit.
Discuss this with your family along with your intentions to marry the person you wish to be with, and explain how it doesn't change anything when it comes to what you believe in unless of course you ponder about converting to your partner's beliefs.
Many couples switch religions when it comes to their partners, if one is dominant enough to make the other comply. This shouldn't come back to haunt you one day with regret and bitter squabbles about the choices you made. Thinking this through and analyzing all angles and how it will affect you, your family and the kids in the future is of utmost need.

Holidays and Special Occasions

How does your partner feel about merriment and celebrating certain holidays that you've been accustomed to since childhood? Are you going to give up certain traditions because they do not believe in it or think it unnecessary now that you are married to them?
Think it through and ask yourself if this is what you want and if you can let go of all the things you once celebrated with such passion and meaning. There are those who will blatantly make it clear that none of the old ways can follow once you marry them. Discussing the things that can and cannot be done anymore would be ideal.

Dressing Style and Social Habits

You may have met someone who doesn't look at things as openly as you do, or who doesn't believe in dressing in a way that mimics a more Western appeal than what is traditional.
Are you willing to give up your entire social life and the way you dress if you were imposed to wear what his/her culture or religion dictates? Ask yourself if making so many compromises is worth it, since at the end of the day it is love and your marriage that matters and not how you function in society.

Societal Ridicule

People will be cruel when it comes to an interracial marriage, since not all of them are openly acceptable to the idea of two diverse cultures coming together.
You'd have to be prepared to be spoken down to and treated like an outcast, if the place where you live has that kind of society that hasn't mentally grown up to a better understanding of how things work today.
How to socially accept one another no matter where the other is from, is sadly an alien concept to a lot of people worldwide. You'll have to explain the same to your kids and ready them to be the subject of hostility in schools or universities.
Interracial marriages are always going to be laden on shaky grounds with a backward society that will always exist, of those who haven't fully adapted to the new ways of the world, and where racism is still very much prevalent. Working out all the kinks in your situation would help if you want to really make things work with the one you love.