Interracial Friendships

Friendships are crucial to everyone's existence, according to Museus et al. (2015, p. 2), since people depend on their closest friends for inspiration and unwavering support. Racial inequality, for example, poses social challenges and threatens friendships between people of different races in nations like the United States. According to Orbe and Tina (2015, p. 26), it is important to promote interracial friendships because they enhance social skills and ensure that ambitions are realized, especially in school-aged children and adolescents. Johnson (1999, p. 80) acknowledges that adolescence is a trying time for anyone. In U.S. interracial friendships are rare among the Americans, and there exist mixed attitudes towards this issue as some individuals such as Johnson’s two brothers are unwilling to embrace their ancestral origin. Ong (2000, p.116) states that only a small number of whites have experienced racial discrimination compared to the Latinos, Asians, and Africans Americans. This paper focuses on the problems that Asian Americans encounter in their interracial friendships within the U.S. and gives a solution to this problem.

According to Uba (2003, p.16), there exist structural and political factors that actively impact the interracial relations. These structures are more evident in educational institutions where learning programs are not promoting the quality of friendship among children from different races. Therefore, there is need to encourage cooperative learning programs that support small and diverse class settings to increase cross-race friendships among the students. Alderman (2007, p.97) argues that individuals with high numbers of friends across different races have a high stability and interracial friendship and they seem to be more ready to build future interracial interaction. Furthermore, these associations help moderate racial prejudice and improve leadership skills and increase social competence. The U.S. society stands a chance to benefit from interracial friendships and having individuals with multicultural sensitivity and positivity towards the cross-race relations.

Problem

Johnson and his family lived in Azusa an area where there were mixed races of poor and working-class whites and Mexican Americans (Johnson, p.74-75). Their apartments were on a line between the newer white part of the town and the old Mexican. The children interacted with others from different races, and Johnson comments that he never classified the kids as different due to their race. In the U.S., racial and ethnic minorities face an economic and social environment of inequality that involves exposure to discrimination, violence, racism, and poverty. According to Park (2013, p.22), a high proportion of Asian American youth experiences discrimination from their peers from other racial identities. Their bias is stressful as young adults require a positive peer acceptance among their age group. The interracial friendships offer an efficient platform to study the society and culture towards people of different races. Uba (2003, p.74) defines interracial friendship as relationship either intimate or not that exist between two people that self-identify as different races. In the U.S. the main racial groups that have dominated social issues include the Whites, Asian Americans, African Americans, and the Latinos.

Alderman (2007, p.73) states that friends, especially from different races, must make efforts to maintain their relationship and also assure one another that the relationship is mutually satisfying. The friends develop a pattern of communication that is convenient and comfortable for them. Through the continuous interactions, the friends can preserve their relationship. However, in the interracial friendships, several barriers hinder the achievement of the state of friendship. Alderman (2007) and Camargo et al. (2010) support that stereotypes are a dominating barrier that most individuals have for each other before the initiation of interaction. These types of friendships remain relatively uncommon due to contributing factors such as racially segregated workplaces, neighborhoods, and schools. The racial stereotypes and prejudices have managed to color how ethnic groups differ and perceive each other which has resulted in divisions that challenge cross-race friendships

Solution

The United States has made significant progress towards achieving racial justice. However, racism remains a destructive force within the American society. According to Museus et al. (2015, p.17), the persistence of racism in the community has created others issues such as deteriorating educational opportunities, unemployment, violence, crime, and poverty. Therefore, there is need to come up with solutions to reduce all forms of discrimination including racism. Yancy (2003, p.38) comments that to achieve an end to the issue, it is crucial that individuals address racism in their daily lives including personal relationships. Racism must be addressed in every institution of the society including workplaces and schools. According to Park (2013, p.39), educational institutions including colleges, high schools, and even elementary schools have the potential to develop an interracial friendship. Camargo et al. (2010, p.40-41) state that children at these stages develop an identity where they become aware of how critical their relationships with others play in facilitating this understanding and knowledge. During adolescent, Johnson began to gain his sense of belonging and identity as his father instilled fierce pride in him of his Swedish and Mexican ancestry (Johnson, p.80).

The children who are a fundamental part of the society must be offered an opportunity to initiate a cross-race friendship. The environments that are present are determined by structural factors such as classroom size, demographic diversity, reward structures, and teaching orientation (Park, p.65). The elements can be utilized by the institutions to improve the interracial interactions among the children and young adults. Schools should integrate cooperative learning programs, especially with the increasingly diverse classrooms in order to promote cross-race friendships. Museus et al. (2015, p.56) argue that increasing the opportunities to grow the interactions increases the cross-race friendships. Therefore, children should have chances to interact with others from different races. Elementary schools, colleges, and high schools present the opportunity to develop an interracial friendship, and Johnson (1999, p.74) adds that education is essential as an individual is able to address racial issues constructively. Yancy (2003), supports that the members of minority ethnic groups are always surrounded by more racial groups in schools. Therefore, racial compositions and intergroup relations of educational institutions influence interracial friendships. Individuals have the opportunity of interacting with racially different others.

Museus et al. (2015, p.69) state that racial diversity in the educational institutions has become a growing area of interest for social scientists, educators, lawmakers, and communities as they focus on the education programs available to the current future generation. The schools and all the stakeholders are aiming to provide the students from all racial groups with an equal educational opportunity. Museus et al. (2015, p.82) add that this strategy helps eliminate segregated educational environment to help reduce harmful racial stereotypes in people from different ethnic and racial backgrounds. Implementing racially diverse schools helps the students to develop interracial friendships, have a higher civic engagement, maintain a regular interracial contact, and develop positive intergroup attitudes. Therefore, creating a schools environment that is ethnically and racially diverse offers learning possibilities that are not restricted to classroom instructions only. They get interpersonal encounters that help in rethinking prejudices and biases regarding the Asian American racial differences and spread into other areas of lives (Titzmann et al., p.1329).

Interracial friendships can occur in racially diverse contexts, and the composition of students is a significant contributor to determine if these relationships will take place at all. The more diverse an environment the increased likelihood of interracial contact and cross-race friendships. Schools should use randomly constructed teams of students that would be rewarded collectively for their performance. These learning teams would be established as a substitute for the traditional teaching approaches that have always focused on individual achievement. In addition, students were grouped by their academic abilities. However, the new teams are developed by dividing the students randomly into groups. The groups would neither consider grades, strength, nor demographic characteristics. The teams are encouraged to work towards a common goal, and they are rewarded for their collective performance. The students are attached to their teams for one year where they become competent to develop a friendship with their colleagues. Yancy (2003, p.109) agrees that this approach enables team members to interact as equals and increase both the quality and quantity of the interracial friendship between students. The learners are able to grow a team culture that will override individual ethnic identity. Therefore, the proportions of Asian American students’ cross-race friendships increase.



Works Cited

Alderman, Bruce. Interracial Relationships. Detroit: Greenhaven Press/Thomson Gale, 2007. Print.

Camargo, Braz, Ralph Stinebrickner, and Todd R. Stinebrickner. Interracial Friendships in College. Cambridge, Mass: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2010. Print.

Johnson, Kevin R. How Did You Get to Be Mexican?: A White/Brown Man's Search for Identity. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1999. Print.

Museus, Samuel D, María C. Ledesma, and Tara L. Parker. "Racism and Racial Equity in Higher Education." Ashe Higher Education Report. 42.1 (2015): 1-112. Print.

Ong, Paul M. Transforming Race Relations: A Public Policy Report. Los Angeles, CA: LEAP Asian Pacific American Public Policy Institute and UCLA Asian American Studies Center, 2000. Print.

Orbe, Mark P, and Tina M. Harris. Interracial Communication: Theory into Practice. Los Angeles, Calif: Sage, 2015. Print.Top of Form

Park, Julie J. When Diversity Drops: Race, Religion, and Affirmative Action in Higher Education. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2013. Print.

Titzmann, Peter F, Alaina Brenick, and Rainer K. Silbereisen. "Friendships Fighting Prejudice: a Longitudinal Perspective on Adolescents’ Cross-Group Friendships with Immigrants." Journal of Youth and Adolescence: a Multidisciplinary Research Publication. 44.6 (2015): 1318-1331. Print.

Uba, Laura. Asian Americans: Personality Patterns, Identity, and Mental Health. New York: Guilford Press, 2003. Print.

Yancy, George. "Who Interracially Dates: an Examination of the Characteristics of Those Who Have Interracially Dated." Sage Family Studies Abstracts. 25.1 (2003): 3-141. Print.