Mixed-Race Couples 7

Question 1

How do Alba and Nee (2003) define blurring?

Answer 1

Blurring results from increases in a mixed- race/ethnicity population; racial/ethnic categories can no longer easily separate themselves.

Question 2

How do Alba and Nee (2003) define shifts?

Answer 2

Shifts in boundaries occur when former outsiders are transformed into insiders or accepted as such (e.g., Irish who have been redefined as “white” over the twentieth century).

Question 3

What are some of the reasons that intermarriage between minority immigrants and whites is less frequent?

Answer 3

For new immigrants, the lack of opportunities for socioeconomic mobility, coupled with limited social contacts with mainstream society, magnifies their social distance from whites compared with their native-born counterparts. (Qian and Lichter 2007)

Question 4

What effect did restrictive immigration laws in the 1920s directed to stem the tide of immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe have on intermarriage?

Answer 4

This legislation also effectively cut off the influx of potential marital partners with similar ethnic backgrounds, a situation that undoubtedly hastened intermarriage with other white ethnics over successive generations.

Question 5

How could interracial cohabitation both reflect and reinforce social distance between racial groups?

Answer 5

1) if couples choose to cohabit because they lack strong support from families and friends; their relationship is stigmatized or viewed unfavorably. 2) if this living arrangement is short-lived and unstable 3) involves less commingling of family and friendship networks 4) does not lead to mixed-race offspring. (Qian and Lichter 2007)