Kristine and I were talking about interracial relationships from a socioeconomic perspective earlier. Yes, sometimes I'm intellectual, and sometimes I talk about boobies. I'm multifaceted. Anyway, during our discussion, we realized that there is a hierarchy of socially-acceptable biracial couplings, and we noted how truly sad that is. But it's very noticeable, to those of us who choose to couple that way. First, I'll define some terms.
White - Any Caucasian person, whether they be American, Canadian, Australian, Israeli, or from a European country, including Russia. This category also includes Jewish people.
Black - any African-American or person of African descent living in the U.S., Bahamas, Virgin Islands, or Haiti. Dominican Republic and Cuba are excluded.
Asian - Any Asian-American, or denizen of Southeast Asia, excluding India, Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran. Inclusive of Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Filipino, Mongolians, Eskimo, Aleutian Islander, etc. Eskimo and Aleutian Islanders, although American, are classified as Asian for the sake of this hierarchy.
Hispanic - Any Latin-American, or Latino living in the U.S., including the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and other Caribbean island nations, excluding Haiti. Including all Central and South Americans. Excluding Spain and Portugal.
Eastern, Non-Asian - Here's the controversial one. This includes traditional Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and others. It also includes Indians, Pakistanis, and other Southwest Asian countries, due to cultural divisions.
Here's how it breaks down:
White male / Asian female (WM/AF): This is probably the most commonly-accepted coupling of all. I know people who don't even consider this to be an interracial coupling. American soldiers bringing home brides from wars contributed to this phenomenon, and to its gentrification in our society.
White female / Asian male (WF/AM): This combination is somewhat rarer, but still very acceptable.
White female / Hispanic male (WF/HM): ranks this highly due to the high rate of incident.
Black male / Asian female (BM/AF): I was surprised to put any black pairing this high, but it's also about the war thing. Guys stationed overseas in the Asia Pacific ring often come home with Asian wives. This is pretty well accepted by society as a whole.
White male / Hispanic female (WM/HF): Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, anyone? Did anyone in America bat an eyelash at this? No.
Black male / Hispanic female (BM/HF): America almost views this as two brown people hooking up, and hence not worthy of too much notice.
Black male / White female (BM/WF): The quintessential interracial coupling, based on numbers. This is likely the most common and most visible interracial coupling, and yet it still fairly taboo. There are states in the Union that still officially outlaw black/white marriages (federal law trumps state law in this matter anyway, but still). And although the most commonly perpetrated, it remains controversial.
Black female / White male (BF/WM): Although a WM is present (this fact would normally elevate the acceptability of any interracial couple), this particular combination is still fairly taboo. The rate of incident is also very low, when directly compared to BM/WF. Many BM/WF couples will openly gawk and stare at a BF/WM couple, despite their similarities.
Hispanic male / Black female (HM/BF): This combo is similar to the BF/WM, in that it has a relatively low incident rate. So low, in fact, that I haven’t personally seen this combination in over a year, and I live in an area with a high Hispanic population.
Asian male / Hispanic female (AM/HF): I have never seen this. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, I’m saying I’ve never witnessed this combination. In fact, many of the remaining couplings are very rare.
Hispanic male / Asian female (HM/AF): See above.
Asian male / Black female (AM/BF): Someone let me know if you’ve ever seen this coupling. I haven’t. I would imagine that the incident rate is quite low.
Eastern, Non-Asian male / White female (EM/WF): A rare coupling, but one I’ve seen, especially in westernized men. The numbers here are heavily skewed toward Indian men. In my experience, it is often the result of a rebellion against the cultural phenomenon of arranged marriage, combined with an integration of Western ideals. The rate of incidence with other members of the ENAM group is low, by comparison.
Eastern, Non-Asian Male / Female of any other group except White: Not so much.
Eastern, Non-Asian Female / Any other ethnic group: The fact is, this is very, very rare in our country, due to extreme cultural pressures. My best friend (black) has dated more than one Indian woman, but it was primarily in a university environment, which acts as a cultural insulator, of sorts. University, rather than being a microcosm of society, is often an escape from society. Under these conditions, taboos are lowered, and more intercultural relations blossom. Once the university experience concludes, mainstream society and cultural pressures often cause any experimentation to cease. This unlikelihood increases if the woman was not born in the U.S.
By no means are these observations even remotely scientific. The data here is drawn from personal and anecdotal evidence gathered informally, and likely while drinking beer. If you have a counterpoint to anything I’ve set forth, please refute me.
