When Blacks & Whites Marry, What About the Kids?

We’ve written that adoptive parents?and grandparents? care more. Now it turns out that Biracial parents, compared to their monoracial counterparts, are more likely to go the extra mile in the amount of time and money they spend on their young children.

Forty years ago, the US Supreme Court overturned a state law in Virginia that prohibited whites from marrying non-whites. The ruling in Loving v. Virginia invalidated similar bans in 15 other states. Sociologist Brian Powell has discovered that the number of biracial couples has more than tripled since 1970, despite the fact that they still face challenges, ranging from disapproval or discomfort to outright prejudice. He says, “They face challenges in being a couple. They’re aware of the challenges their children will be facing. In turn, they try to compensate for this.”

Powell studied kindergartners, and asked about their families’ economic, cultural and social resources. He then compared the expenditures of biracial parents to their monoracial counterparts. If the parents were Latino and white, for example, their data were compared to families where both parents were Latino or both parents were white. Economic factors included such things as whether there was a home computer, private v. public schooling, and types of educational possessions, such as books and CDs. Cultural factors included reading activities, participation in dance, music or art classes outside of school, and trips to the zoo, library and other cultural settings. He also asked questions about parental involvement in the children’s school. In most cases, the biracial parents invested at higher levels than their counterparts.

Art credit: freeimages.co.uk

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