Do mixed race/cultures marriages work?

Certainly there are many mixed marriages that work well. But it can put additional challenges or strain on a couple, especially when starting out. There may be pressure from family and community against the relationship, and these differences in cultural background often mean differences in expectations and ways of seeing the world which have to be worked out.

But love is a pretty powerful thing, and many couples have resolved those issues and developed strong and long lasting relationships despite them.

I like that you asked this as race *and* cultures.

Yes, mixed marriages do work however they have additional strains due to stereotypes and prejudices.
When they work I think we all benefit because when two races/cultures come together they increase exposure to each other. We can better see ourselves as human beings, not just by our race and creed.

of course they do , or you and most of the population of the world would not be here.

I have travelled around the world 5 times, so far, visited 54 countries and lived in 17 different countries. The thing I have noticed, from personal experience and observation, is that you find the same kind of people everywhere, in every country and culture. There are idiots, good people, greedy people, ignorant people, and so on...

I Have spent so much of my life travelling and have been influenced by so many different cultures and way of seeing things that whenever I have to fill in one of those "ethnic background" forms I always tick "other - Human" as I believe that seperating yourself by colour, ethnicity, culture or other way is just a means of saying "I'm different and better than you are" instead of us all forgetting the labels and just admitting that we are human, no matter what language we speak, where we were born, or how we were brought up. It is only when we wish to seperate ourselves from others do we make the point that we are different from them in some small, insignificant way.

In any marriage / relationship, both parties come from seperate ways of thinking and experiences (whether from different races or cultures or from the same, they always seem to find things that make them different from each other) and the key to a good relationship is to accept those differences, work towards the common middle ground and then move on your lives together to wherever it takes you. It is when one or both members of the relationship deviate from this common line and decide to move off on their own and leave their partner either behind or to follow a different line, that the relationship will break down.

To be honest, in all my travels, in so many different countries and cultures, it was only when I returned to the west (especially the UK and the USA) that people became more conscious of the differences, whereas everywhere else just accepted you as another human being, little different from anyone else, but in the US and the UK then people had to make a point of their ethnic, cultural and racial differences and try to keep themselves seperate and segregated in many ways.

When you are living in another culture or country, you are an obvious outsider, no matter where you are from (whether from a diffent country, or from 10 miles down the road) and so you have to make the effort to fit into that society and the people in that society tend to accept your differences and help you to feel more at home (once again, this is true in every country around the world apart from the US and the UK).

All cultural, racial or ethnic "differences" tend to be false and contrived. People are really the same everywhere you go if you really get to know them.

mixed races no problem... mixed cultures might generate problems in childrearing and dicipline

why not, its just like any other marriage. as long as you love them

My brother has been married to his Indian wife for over 20 years and have 2 lovely kids,and they ran off to get married without her parents knowledge....aargh young love.

Just as much as any other marriages. Doesn't have anything to do with race.

Some do , some do not.

Pretty much the same as any other marriage.

they work if you want them to and you can get past people's closed minded opinions even though they might be your own family. if they love you they will eventually accept and love who you love as long as the spouse or partner treats you with the respect you deserve

but the most important thing is to keep other people out of your relationship

of course! -- i'm the outcome of an interracial marriage && i love it.. sure, my parents had to deal with people lookin and makin them feel uncomfortable, but that's just part of society! some people just aren't as understanding as the rest of us.. but that never stopped them from loving each other and being together .. 20 years later, they're still together and they have a beautiful daughter :) [me].. also, i'm in a bi-racial relationship && i love it!.. it's always good to throw a lil flava in your life ;]!

I judge by whats inside so I don't think your race matters

there is a certain respect that will just never be there for you because you are not the same as them.... not so much in americans but for example i am american my partner was dominican. with his family and even himself they'd often end the conversation with "well you wouldnt understand" or when dominican women would criticize him for being with me hed make excuses for them.... it will never work with people born and raised in other cultures...

I'm not one to judge, really, my parents are from 2 completely separate continents, and i get a whole lot of questions about my ethnicity... i don't believe in the race factor, really. if a couple breaks up, i believe that it usually has something to do with personal issues or differences, not the color of their skin or their heritage/backround :).

Eight years and counting. So far, so good.

Yes, my mom's Taiwanese and my dad's Caucasian, and they've been together for 17 years now.

Only as much as you want them to work. We all carry within us our own, personal culture, and when two people get together personal culture becomes the prime determinant. Broader notions of ethnicity and culture are disregarded almost entirely when two people fall in love.

yes sure, what does pigment of skin have to do with anything? if the two in love have a lot in common and love each other and have good communication and treat one like they wanted to be treated, we would hardly hear of break-ups. Put God first. this goes for any relationship

Yes if your partner married you with real feelings and not just for potential money as in my case

I have had a few sucessful relationships with normal humans, whereas I am a pug-ugly sub-human. Does this count as inter-racial or inter-cultural? ;)

Yes; this Q can be tricky to answer.
There are certainly many mixed-race couples who make quite a happy relationship; yet there are a great number that just don't work.
Personally, I am Caucasian married to a Tongan girl.
I have felt extraordinary difficulty in making this relationship work well. It has been one Huge task!
I was previously married to a Maori girl from New Zealand; that just didn't work. Many of the race are very aggressive.

Then again, it also seems to depend a great deal on where you were each born and raised.
For instance, if you are both of different parental nationality, but come from the same society, it can be almost as if you are both the same blood heritage. The actual practices, spirit and expectations of that society are common to both.
Language is another very great factor.
There can be a lot of misunderstanding by the different terms used, and one can inwardly feel inferior to the other if the language of the society isvery much, a 2nd language: a lot of confusions and disagreements can aries on 'speaking-to-children' issues, for instance. It is often all the other factors that are brought into play in a lifetime relationship that can mount up as the Huge challenge of differing background and language.

You also have to consider age difference.
For instance, the jokes and catch phrases and intimates that you can have if from the same country and time can make for a great deal more closeness and general humour and understanding between you than when the cultural background, inclusive of time setting and, therefore, too, schooling system and background and music, are quite different.

Then you have to consider the 'family history' of each partner:

EG I you both come from broken homes very early in life, neither of you is going to have that male-female-bonding building block tendency in your background.
So, unless you just happen to have a natural gift for that type of thing, if you add that consideration to the fact of different upbringings and different languages and cultures and perhaps, even religions, you could end up with nothing but a certain recipe for "Disaster"!!!
THEN IT WOULD TAKE NOTHING SHORT OF A MIRACLE FROM HEAVEN TO MAKE THE MARRIAGE BRILLIANT!!
AND THERE'S ONLY ONE FELLOW WHO CAN HELP YOU WITH THAT!!

I hope so. 3 yrs and counting

If you love eachothers you will make it work. Tell you the truth language is important but if you love him enough you will speak his/her language or learn it. Food and music it is important somehow , me and my man getting a long because he is trying to learn some of my language expressions and he loves our food and music and I love american food and music and I am almost fluent in English language .I have sometimes some minor problems when I want to express my self or explain somthing and he understand it wrong because when you think in another language you try to translate the same way you think and this way fails sometimes , but still we can get over it because I explain to him and tell him that he misunderstood and explain a gain and again in many way to let him understand what do I mean.
Again remember that if you love someone you give and take and try to understand the differences .

Sure they do. In the olden days they were not accepted so it was rare that they worked, but that was the fault of the bigots that were judging them.

i have been with my fiancee who is black, for 9 years now...we are engaged and plan to be married in the very near future...and it is going great!

hope not

I do not see a differenece I am cajun and married to an Indian man well Greek and indian mixed. His sisters only like american men as well. He was shocked that I acted like an indian girl. He was the one who acted more american even his accent. We are an odd couple to others but we have the truest love. That is all that matters we only know our love for one another. I just wish I could find his two sisters a good american guy. You can not help who you love you just do. When you do you only see their beauty not a color.

Yes.25 years and still running.

Yes. Have faith and respect for each other

HAS WORKED FOR 14 YEARS SO FAR. I AM A WHITE WOMAN MARRIED TO A HISPANIC MAN. WE MARRIED VERY YOUNG AND HAVE 2 BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN. YOU HAVE YOUR UPS AND DOWNS LIKE EVERYONE. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE. MARRIAGE IS MARRIAGE. LOVE IS LOVE AND LOVE SEES NO COLOR. NO IN MY BOOK ANYWAY.

I think they have the same chance as same race cultures. It all depends on how understanding the couple is of eachother's background. If one isn't understanding, than you are probably not going to last long.

One partner's religion or culture will always dominate the situation.

If you are willing to go along with it all then go ahead.

The same as any marriage....I think.....50/50 chance...

Sure, you have to work at marriage anyway, but remember when you add different race and culture then you have to work twice as hard.

There will always be someone who doesn't approve or someone who makes rude/inappropriate comments on a mixed marriage

But i have 13 years of it and still going, with 2 of the most beautiful children every created (i can say that cause they are mine, lol)

Sure they do. Only close-minded people say they don't or won't.

Why shouldn't they. It's only small minded bigots outside of the relationship that put pressures on them.

The ones I know have been working fine, so far (20 years or so).

If both parties have good personality/ characteristic it will works. if not.... good luck.

Hopefully.

asiam/ white - good
black/white bad
black/ asian- bad

10 years and counting

I beleive they are like any other marriage, They work if both in the relationship works at the marriage.

For 12 year now.

It's hard at first because people will comment and stare. I'm a black woman and my boyfriend is asian. Some people make real mean comments about him and I being together but we love each very much and that's all that matter. Love isn't about race, color, or skin color. It's about knowing that the one person you love is there for you and would be there no matter what occurs.

Any relationship has the potential for greatness. Unfortunately mixing cultures and races face more obstacles than not. What's important is that you have a good support system.

I dont see why not. Its what is in your heart that count. When you fall in love you fall in love with the person. Sometimes different religions can be a conflict. But for race why not. The skin is different colors but the heart is the same.

They certainly can. Just like any other marriage, both parties need to go into the union with their eyes wide open, accepting that there will be differences, and just work together to make their differences compliment one another. I know some great interracial couples that make our church family that much richer in diversity for being among us.

Yes some and some NO.
Just like non mixed marriages.

Sometimes, but I think it may be in the best interest of the offspring to remain in the culture.

probably the man does...