23.06.10
Mixed race marriages hit a record high in the US
According to a study carried out by the Pew Research Centre, 14.6 per cent of Americans choose to marry someone from a different race or ethnic background.
A recent study showed that mixed race marriages were on an all time high in the US, the AFP has reported. The number has doubled since 1980 and increased six folds since 1960.
The most common marriages are seen between Whites and Hispanics. Next are Whites and Asians and third most common is the pairing of Whites and Blacks.
The shift is due to two reasons, the study says. The fading of cultural taboos and the influx of immigrants from Asia and Latin America.
UK has comparatively lesser inter racial marriages as seen in the 2001 census which showed that out of the 10.3 million married couples in England and Wales, two per cent marriages were between people of different ethnic backgrounds.
The most common pairing that formed 15 per cent of these marriages was between White and mixed race people. Next were White and African Caribbean marriages (12 per cent) and last were White and Indian marriages (11 per cent).
Bournemouth Church Pastor, Andrew Whitman said: “We encourage young people at our church to seek a partner of the same faith, but race or colour has nothing to do with it.
If someone is denied the right to marry a person only because he or she is from a different race, then that is racism and according to the Bible, racism is a sin. And that needs to be shouted out loud and clear.”
16.06.10
Mixed-race football helps African skipper overcome fear of white people
South African captain Aaron Mokoena in a recent interview admitted that mixed race football helped him get over his fear of white people.
32 teams from the world over came together in South Africa last week to participate in the FIFA 2010 world cup. The game attracts people of all colours and backgrounds and is a rage in most countries where it is played.
Mokoena was brought up in a town called Boipatong south of Johannesburg and played football in a mixed race team during apartheid years.
He told a newspaper in a recent interview that football helped him see things in a different way.
He recounted those days when he was scared to stand next to a white person and be called names due to his colour. However, the game has helped him understand people of different colour better.
Local footballer Henry Scriven said: “Sports is a way of bringing people together. When you’re on the field, you’re just a player. The game is bigger than the player. It doesn’t matter what colour you are or where you come from. It is a wonderful way of building ties with the world and getting its people together. I feel every nation should play football. That way it involves more people and makes it more fun.”
9.06.10
UK lacks policies for Trans racial adoption
A decade after the guidelines for adoption were introduced in the country, UK still lacks set policies.
The UK first framed guidelines for adoption in 1998. The guidance stressed that it is unacceptable for a child to be denied adoptive parents on the grounds that the child and adopters do not share the same racial background.
Twelve years later, the country still has no fixed policies. While every adoption agency in the country looks up to BAAF (British Agency for Adoption and Fostering) for its policies, BAAF is currently reviewing them. It is the most prominent agency in the country to deal with adoption and unwilling to speak on the issue.
Author of ‘Mixed up kids?’, Tina Patel said: “ If a racial match can’t be found for the child, then it should be placed in any family because every child would have welfare needs and being raised in a family is better than being raised in an institutionalised care.
However, a racial match should be found as far as possible. Identity issues are prominent in this case because they are visibly different and people pick on them up for it.
Director of ‘Intermix’, a mixed race website, Sharron Hall said: “The most important thing is a loving parent. I don’t care what race they are. But that aside, what tends to happen is that once the child is adopted, the state just washes its hands off it. I don’t know why the state feels that it has the right to give away a child and wash its hand off. Rather, it should make the parent the child’s guardian and keep a check from time to time.”
30.06.10
Footballer hits sister for carrying mixed race man’s baby
Footballer Calum Davenport hit his sister after he found out that she was carrying the baby of a mixed race man, a court heard yesterday.
His sister, Cara, the victim said that the ex-Premier League footballer called her a whore and a form of cancer. He was joined by his father who also hurled abuses at his daughter.
She told the court that her father had always been a racist and could till date not accept the fact that his grandson is mixed race.
At the time of the assault, her four year old son stood there begging his grand father and uncle to stop hitting his mother.
He has however admitted to stabbing Cara in both the legs. The trial continues this week.
