Multiracial Couples : Black & White Voices

The problems of mixed race families in a racist society are fully explored in this qualitative, narrative study. Interviews with 21 biracial couples offer deep insights into their relationships and how they perceive society has viewed their marriages. The interviewers, a biracial couple themselves, ask their subjects such questions as how their churches, families, friends and community treat them and their partners. They also examine the interactions between spouses in biracial marriages and relationships between these couples and their parents and children.

In Multiracial Couples, 21 couples in which one partner is black and the other is white talk about their experiences. The book offers a comprehensive and insightful analysis based on extensive quotations. It discusses the fact that these couples see their relationships as ordinary, as well as their encounters with racism. It also provides a pioneering exploration of how they became a couple, their relationships with families of origin and with the community, how partners dafine themselves as individuals and as a couple, the ways they defend against racism, their parenting experiences, what the partners learn from each other, and the blessings of being an interracial couple. The authors of Multiracial Couples provide a first-person account that will be equal value to professionals and scholars in family studies, race and ethnic studies, family psychology, and sociology. "Multiracial Couples is the result of a well-conducted study of 21 black/white couples and their experiences. It focuses strongly on the words of the participants themselves, rather than on a psychological interpretation of their words, and that is its great strength. Chapters cover topics from identity to societal racism, and although there is background material with each topic, the primary voices are the couples′. The authors then provide an interesting, comprehensive analysis with each chapter. These conclusions do not attempt to sum up, but instead offer additional ideas for thought. In essence, the authors provide a very sound framework and guidance for the discussion without being judgmental, and they do achieve the delicate balance necessary to the completeness of this text." --Interracial Voice "Multiracial Couples is a detailed look at a phenomenon that many individuals would like to see disappear. This cogent presentation of the issue is must reading. It is informative, written from a dispassionate but critical viewpoint, and reader-friendly. First addressing, in the authors′ words, ′the most corrosive form of white opposition to interracial couples--racism,′ the authors subsequently guide readers like a diary of an interracial relationship. . . . Family therapists, scholars, and practitioners will find this an invaluable resource. Highly recommended for all levels." --Choice "This is an unusual and unique book. . . . The issues, problems, perceptions and solutions have wide applicability. Therapists dealing with couple problems in multiracial countries will find these pages fascinating and instructive." --Kalyana Rodrigo in Sexual and Marital Therapy