DHC FRS 01: Dating and Mating Across Cultural Lines (blog #8)

Instructor: Dr. Lalia Hekima Kiburi

Winter Quarter  2014

Blog Question # 8

In conducting a textual analysis of Smith and Hattery’s book: Interracial Relationships in the 21^st Century, many social issues come under investigation as they influence interracial and inter-faith couples.   Examples of relevant issues are attraction, family, religion, lesbian and gay male couples creating a different marriage and family paradigm, mixed-race children, domestic violence, etc.  After viewing a YouTube presentation on the value of qualitative research in sociology below:

 Choose a significant issue in studying inter-faith and interracial dating and mating patterns.  Create a guiding research question informing the field of straight and gay interracial and inter-faith relationships.

#itooamharvard and the Black Bruins

Sometimes when we see people of color at top institutions, such as Harvard or even our own UC Davis, we think "they made it," that they are the exception, and are somehow immune to the pervasive racism and structural discrimination which affects so many in our nation.



We couldn't be more wrong. Check out these two videos, the blog, http://itooamharvard.tumblr.com/ and this article http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/11/students-video-leads-discussion-race-ucla. Even for those of us who are aware of these problems, it's still mind blowing. When only 48 of the 2,418 entering male students at UCLA are black (total campus representation of 3.3% compared to 13.1% of the national population) - and people don't see the problem with that,  we need more wake-up calls like this.

DHC FRS 01: Dating and Mating Across Cultural Lines (blog #7)

Instructor: Dr. Lalia Hekima Kiburi

Winter Quarter  2014

Blog Question # 7

Dating across religious lines

By Bob Strauss

Don’t assume religion always has to be a source of conflict… “The word ‘nontraditional’ is a matter of perspective,” Dr. Wayne says. “A Moslem dating a Jew might, or might not, be as problematic as a Wiccan dating a Southern Baptist. The issue really comes down to the respect people have for each other, regardless of their beliefs. Two people of the same religion can be more disrespectful of each other than a man and a woman who come from very different belief systems.”

…but don’t assume religion won’t cause any conflict, either. Explains Dr. Wayne: “If you can’t live with a person of radically different beliefs without making huge accommodations on his or her behalf, be careful. This may be more an issue of power and control than beliefs. If your evangelical boyfriend can’t enjoy a quiet evening without discussing his religion, that is a problem.” 

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In analyzing the issues that both challenge and benefit individuals who date and mate across interfaith lines, Bob Strauss, the author of the excerpts from his article above (full text on our SmartSite Resource page), discusses realistic and healthy expectations   After reading Chapter 7: Unequally Yoked: How Willing Are Christians to Engage in Interracial and Interfaith Dating and reflecting on Strauss’ thoughts---what advice would you give to couples creating a relationship across interfaith lines?

Sources: match.com--Bob Strauss is a freelance writer and children’s book author who lives in New York City. He’s also written the Dinosaur guide on About.com, the online information network owned by the New York Times.