Once all races are thoroughly blended, there won’t be anyone left to complain. No racial discrimination. No racial stereotyping. No racial affirmative action necessary. Do you think inter-racial marriage is a solution or a problem? Are the traditions and cultures of the past more important than ending discrimination?
I think that any program specifically tailored to create a predominant “race” (used in the sociological sense) is wrong. All you’re saying is that “X race is best” and while your inentions are good, the fact is you’re trying to create a race that you claim will bring harmony.
I shudder to think of the unintended consequences of a program geared to “blending” races. How do you encourage it? Money? Tax break? In these scenarios I could easily see a market in arranged marriages or pressures on certain classes or races of people to marry for dubious reasons. These problems are just off the top of my head. The impact of a policy that primarily aims to encourage breeding would be large and less pleasant than you would want, I’d wager.
There was a story, a few years ago, in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, in which a couple of kids from the 'hood were trying desparately to find a way around the bureaucratic rules that prohibited their marriage–with the destruction of the ozone layer, melanin “enriched” people were obligated to marry melanin “challenged” people so that the next generation (of pale folks) would not all succumb to skin cancer right away.
I think that massive intermarrriage would eliminate certain discriminatory actions, but I’m sure we humans could find a new way to single out some group for disdain.
And do you really want to be told who you will marry?
I’d also add that any policy would probably be doomed to failure which would cause the problems you seek to avoid.
Assuming that the policy will ultimately succeed at creating a single race you have the problem of the intermediate offspring who will be ostracized by racists and probably by some who simply oppose the policy.
But the reality is the program wouldn’t lead to a single race. Governments change and policies and policy priorities change. The initial setup of the program would inevitably be changed both because the new government didn’t like the old policy and because they’d be trying to solve the problems created by the unintended consequences. And that’s assuming the public is dedicated to the policy for the long run. After the initial problems even those who liked the idea in theory might well decide it’s not working and their opposition would be added to those who didn’t like it because they are opposed to government-induced breeding programs for any variety of reasons. If the project is scuttled you have the offspring of the “first round” who will still be subject to racism.
It’s a bad idea all around, I’d say.
I don’t think interracial marriage should be encouraged, but it shouldn’t be discouraged either. It should simply be tolerated and accepted. In my ideal world, it wouldn’t even be noticed.
Paul (1/2 of an interracial marriage)
You mean about race. Most of the complaints in society have nothing to do with race.
This OP is sort of related to the one posted a couple of days ago that advocated getting rid of race labels. The poster felt that without the words to denote race, then there wouldn’t be racism, as if it’s the words themselves that are the problem. In this OP, Zoe seems to think that physical differences are the problem. IMHO, both concepts are wrong.
Just look at what happens in any homogenous group. Is there always unity there? Or are people made to feel bad because of their weight, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, place of origin, level of education, occupation, criminal background, handicaps, teeth color, hair length, body odor, razor bumps, knock-knees, bow-legs, facial wrinkles, hair color, strangeness of name, ETC. Interracial unions won’t alleviate any of these things, nor will they dessiminate them equally throughout the population.
As long as we continue to have differences in the human race, people will make “races”. Back in the day, race was based on nationality. Another time it was probably based on the language you spoke. And now–in American society–it’s based on skin color and hair type. A thousand years from now it will be based on something else. The solution isn’t to wipe out difference. It’s to get us to accept that differences are OK.
I think interracial unions will increase, and that the lines between the “black”, “white”, and “everybody else” categories that we have now will fall apart. But folks will still be complaining and discriminating.
Even if you could, say, flick a switch right now and turn everybody into a homogenous ‘race’, people would just pick something else to squabble and kill over, like whose football team is the best, whose god has the biggest stick, which end of the egg should be opened first…
(some)People are ignorant and obtuse; racism is a manifestation of that, not the other way around.
BINGO! I’d say more, but I don’t want to dilute the beautiful simplicity of that statement.
inter-racial marriage would also destroy racial diversity. No more race - just one gray homogenous blend.
Excellent idea, and of course we shouldn’t restrict ourselves to just skin colour. We should strive to have just one standardised eye colour as well, one hair colour, one hair texture, one face structure, one body plan. And come to think of it, what about height – shouldn’t we all be the same height – it isn’t right somebody should be taller that others, and weight it’s just not fair somebody can be slim when others are fat. How about we genetically engineer ourselves to just one sex, then there’ll be no sexual discrimination – or better yet no sex at all. We should also all wear the same clothes, drive the same cars, live in the same houses, think the same thoughts – even better don’t think at all.
How utterly boring, what a bland and uninteresting world you seek. Differences are what make us interesting.
> Are the traditions and cultures of the past more important than ending discrimination?
Yes. Discrimination, while bad, is not the evil to end all evils. Not the mother of all problems.
But wait isn’t race a social construct?
As a woman and a Southerner, I am well aware that some discriminations will probably continue and some will change in form. My point was that there would be no one left to complain about “other races,” as we understand the term now.
The subject is “race” – but not as used in the designation of “human race.”
I enjoy the differences and live in a multi-racial neighborhood. But I hate to see what racial discrimination does to a person’s self esteem.
I certainly don’t advocate government intervention! I was thinking of something more along the lines of what the Baha’is do.
Have you exaggerated the premise of my OP in order to make it less palatable? Being of one race certainly wouldn’t mean that we would all be alike.
As the world grows smaller, aren’t we eventually headed in this direction anyway?
In countries such as Brazil or other Latin American and Caribbean countries where people are rather thoroughly blended and there is little overt racism of the segregationalist variety, there are abysmal gaps between the richer classes and the poor - as well as plenty of residual racism beneath the surface (lighter skinned people are considered more ‘attractive’ on television for instance).
I don’t think intermarriage is the sole answer, not that I am claiming it will make things worse.
Actually, I believe that the way genetics works we would be as homogenous as mutts are. That is, there would be just as much diversity of appearance or more.
> Have you exaggerated the premise of my OP in order to make it less palatable?
Ehh. yes somewhat….
> Being of one race certainly wouldn’t mean that we would all be alike.
It would mean we would be more alike – that’s the whole point I take it. Still there would be other areas open for discrimination. The OP begs the question: why restrict yourself to just this one?
As the world grows smaller, aren’t we eventually headed in this direction anyway?
Well the world isn’t getting any smaller last I looked. And I certainly don’t hope we’re heading in any direction that makes the world more boring. Instead of encouraging it perhaps we should fight it nail and claw (I actually don’t think that).
Because it is the one that I have seen cause the most pain.
Figuratively, it has become much smaller in my lifetime with the ease of travel and the increased opportunities to mingle with other cultures.
> Because it is the one that I have seen cause the most pain.
Ok. But as I said: I think the cure would kill the patient. And since race is largely synonymous with culture, the end result would be massive cultural loss. When a, hmmm… for instance Dane marries a southern beau – the children will not inherit the sum of both cultures, and when one of those children marries a Chinese their children will not be culturally Danish, American, Chinese. By the way, will you marry me?
> Figuratively, it has become much smaller in my lifetime with the ease of travel and the increased opportunities to mingle with other cultures.
Yeah, I got you first time, just being stupidly obtuse to force my point across. How is it it goes…In Love and StraightDope…
Two Things:
A) There is only ONE race. The Human Race is it. Blacks, asians, whites, latins are all one race. They arent species either.
B) Inter-racial marriages should neither be encouraged or discouraged. Its up to the 2 to decide for themselves. Everyone else should butt out of their personal affairs.
That should be “inter-cultural marririages” NOT inter-racial marriages.
I will boldly volunteer to marry Halle Berry, if only to forward the cause of social equality.