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INTERETHNIC MARRIAGES:
A Look at Panama and Implications for the United States

Fredrika J. Flakes
Florida State University   
U. S. A.

References   

My trip to Panama during the summer of 2000 was a revelation in more ways than I could have imagined.  A group from my university traveled to a village in Filipinas, Panama, to help build a neighborhood school.  The men in the village were quite capable of building the school by themselves but our trip was supposed to be a service opportunity and a cultural experience for participants.  It proved to be a lot more.   [paragraph 1]

One of the things I noticed and admired about the villagers was their emphasis on family.  A typical day involved the family getting up early to see the children off to the school that was located in the village.  Afterwards we would begin the work on the school with the village men, and the village women would start cooking the meals for the day.  At first we, especially female participants, found ourselves standing around watching the village men work.  This was a matter of respect for their guests on the part of the men.  It seemed inappropriate to have us work on their behalf, even though that was what we were there for.  We saw this same consideration given to the village women.  For example, if one of the men saw a woman carrying a large container, he would immediately stop working and would go to help her.  The men would also always volunteer to do the most dangerous parts of our work.  Every meal was eaten together, which meant that the children would take a break from school and we would take a break from work to sit around talking and eating.  This served an important purpose; it reconnected the entire village as one family.  The children were always served first, then us, then the village men and women.  The theme of unity penetrated through every aspect of the villagers’ lives, especially their families.  [paragraph 2]

Coming from the United States where so much emphasis is placed on race, I was intrigued by how well the interethnic families were accepted.  In fact, no one in the village considered them "interethnic."  If there was any classification at all, it was described as “being from a different village.”  Difference was seen as just  “being different,” not being less than.  It was wonderful to see dark-skinned Indian or African Panamanians with light-skinned White Panamanians.  Their children were a beautiful blend of both of their ancestries.  I began to wonder why multiethnic heritage is not celebrated in the United States.   [paragraph 3]

I believe that a part of the problem in the United States is the way that interethnic marriages or relationships have been viewed.  First, let us take a look at the current facts.  According to the 2000 Census data, 6.8 million people in the United States identified themselves as multiethnic (Kasindorf & Nasser, 2001).  The 2000 Census was the first time in the 210-year history of the U.S. Census, when people could choose more than one race to describe themselves; 2.4% of the United States' 281.4 million people chose this option.  USA Today, the Gallup Poll, and CNN polled 1, 015 adults Friday through Saturday during the 2000 Census week.  Sixty-four percent of these adults said that it would be “good for the country” if more Americans thought of themselves as multiethnic.  Twenty-four percent said it would be bad.  The margin of error was three percentage points (Kasindorf & Nasser).   [paragraph 4]

Most societies promote marriage.  Marriage is often viewed as a stabilizing, positive influence on a person’s mental well-being and societies’ moral foundation (Christensen & Johnson, 1989).  Unfortunately, this same respect is not often given to interethnic relationships.  Some researchers have implied that those in interethnic relationships are psychologically defective or that interethnic relationships corrupt society (Spickard, 1989).  In fact, some researchers have suggested that interethnic relationships develop out of lust and are devoid of love (Spickard, 1989) even though most interethnic couples refer to love as their main reason for marrying (Porterfield, 1978).  These “educated” opinions are no more than prejudices that perpetuate societal taboos against interethnic relationships (Gaines & Reed, 1995).  This brings me back to my question, “Why is multiethnic heritage not celebrated in the United States?”  [paragraph 5]

There are a variety of reasons.  Some groups are wary of the U.S. Census’ new option to choose more than one ethnicity.  In the United States, ethnicity is often thought of in terms of “Black and White.”  In fact, many of the laws outlawing interethnic relationships have historically targeted such pairings (Staples, 1994).  The ramifications of these laws are still in effect.  Some European-Americans fear a loss of power as a result of a decline in the number of people identifying themselves as White (National Research Council, 1989).  Some African-Americans have similar fears but for slightly different reasons.  Some Blacks are concerned that race issues regarding Blacks and Whites will not disappear as quickly as race issues concerning Whites and other ethnicities (French, 1985; Kasindorf & Nasser, 2001).  If true, this could negatively impact political clout and anti-discrimination efforts.  Many federal programs are based on data from the U.S. Census.  The amount of federal aid for college and other programs is based on the percentage of people within each ethnicity.  This fosters an atmosphere of competition between multiple ethnicities for limited dollars.  Many minority Americans have felt the recent pinch from affirmative action programs being taken away and fear that if many who would normally classify themselves as "Black" checked another box, their representation would be diluted ( Kasindorf & Nasser, p. 37).   [paragraph 6]

What then is the solution?  Some may suggest that the more multiethnic we become as a society the less we will focus on ethnicity.  However, I believe those inclined towards bigotry would substitute race with another construct.  I guess the real answer to this question remains to be articulated.  We can, however, take some cues from Filipinas.   [paragraph 7]

The main focus of the village seemed to be ensuring the closeness of the family.  The “family” included everyone in the village regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or gender.  It was really awesome to see so many blends of ethnicities (Indian, Asian, White, Hispanic, and African) loving each other.  At the end of a day, everyone would come together to play games.  Parents would often play with their children; in fact, many fathers used this time to give individual attention to each child.  Sometimes, we did not know which children belonged to which parents because all of the villagers saw it as their role to love all of the children.  It was also normal to see children of various hues belonging to the same set of parents.   [paragraph 8]

References

Christensen, H. T., & Johnson, K. P. (1989). The family as a changing institution. In J. M. Henslin (Ed.), Marriage and family in a changing society (3^rd ed.) (pp. 15-26). New York: Free Press.

French, M. (1985). Beyond power: On women, men, and morals. New York: Ballantine.

Gaines, S. O., Jr., & Reed, E. S. (1995). Prejudice: From Allport to DuBois. American Psychologist, 50, 96-103.

Kasindorf, Martin & Nasser, Haya. (2001, March 13). Impact of Census’ race data debated. USA Today [Online]. http://www.usatoday.com/news/census/2001-03-13-census-impact.htm

National Research Council. (1989). A common destiny: Blacks and American society. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Porterfield, E. (1978). Black and White mixed marriages. Chicago. IL: Nelson-Hall.

Spickard, P.R. (1989). Mixed blood: Intermarriage and ethnic identity in twentieth-century America. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.

Staples, R. (1994). Interracial relationships: A convergence of desire and opportunity. In R. Staples (Ed.), The Black family: Essays and studies (pp. 142-149). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Fredricka J. Flakes,  is a research and training consultant at Florida State University where she pursues a doctoral degree in Instructional Systems Design.  She has a long-term interest in tolerance initiatives.  (She can be reached at fjf4178@garnet.acns.fsu.edu).