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The concept of interracial romantic relationships is highly taboo and is often criticized even after the 1967 Supreme Court ruling in Loving vs. Virginia, which rendered all remaining anti-miscegenation or race-mixing laws unconstitutional (Gaines, Rios, Granrose, & Bledsoe, 1999). Although studies have shown that interracial couples are becoming more prevalent today (e.g., 4% in 1960, 7% in 1970, 2.6% in 1950, and 2.9% in 1990) [U.S. Census Bureau, 1994], there is still much concern about embracing this type of relationship between African Americans, Whites, and other racial groups. Interracial romantic relations may have an unfair advantage because of societal norms and the long history of racism in the United States. Individuals in romantic relationships have their problems. Individuals who are in interracial relationships experience a significantly higher rate of problems than do those who are not in such relationships, purely because of the color of their skin or ethnic backgrounds. For this reason, I pose the following research question: Can an interracial couple have a stable relationship in today's society?
Gundykunst and Hammer (1998) discuss how individuals' social identities play an important role in interracial communication and ultimately in interracial romantic relationships. The social identity is "that part of an individual's self-concept which derives from his/her knowledge or his/her membership in a social group or groups, together with the value and emotional significance attached to that membership" (Gundykunst & Hammer, 1998, p. 32). The authors concluded that the more an individual interacts with member of a different racial/ethnic group, the more likely he/she will have some type of relationship with that member. Thus, this is the possible beginning of an interracial romantic relationship. Fujino (1997) found that propinquity or the physical distance between ethnic...