by Robin Landry

Created on: April 01, 2009   Last Updated: May 01, 2011

Although the numbers of interracial marriages in the United States have increased steadily since the Supreme Court struck down bans against them in 1967, they are still far from commonplace. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, Black-White marriages have increased from 65,000 in 1970 to 422,000 in 2005. When considering all racial combinations, less than 10% of all marriages in the United States today could be considered interracial.

As an African-American woman who has been twice married, first to a fellow African-American and currently to a Caucasian man, I found the question as to whether there are pros and cons to interracial marriage an interesting one. Having experienced both a same race and an interracial marriage I would guess that my perspective may be somewhat more balanced than many.

When I compare my first marriage to my African-American college sweetheart, which failed after just five years to my current four year old marriage to a Caucasian man, it is most interesting to me that the ups and downs within both of those relationships have had very little to do with race.

Disagreements about money, lack of communication and ultimately, my former husband's infidelity led to the break-up of our marriage. Therefore, in the process of choosing Husband #2, factors such as his willingness to stick to a budget, openly share his thoughts and feelings on a regular basis and a firm commitment to marital fidelity were much more important to me than the color of his skin.

I was single for twelve years between my first and second marriages and in that time dated men from a wide variety of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, including an African-American computer programmer, a Caucasian correctional officer, a Japanese doctor, a Hispanic graduate student, and an East Indian college professor just to name a few. What I ultimately found was that similarities in intelligence level, personal values, and goals and interests were far better predictors of compatibility than race could ever hope to be.

However, as I examine my current relationship I believe that there may, in fact be some definite advantages and disadvantages to interracial pairing.

Pros

Personal Growth
Marriage in general often requires the individuals involved to do quite a bit of "growing up" in order for the relationship to be successful. Developing an awareness of and an appreciation for the challenges your spouse may face as the result of racial and cultural differences simply accelerates that

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