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First published in Well-being 4.1 December 2009 Toyin Okitkpi (2009) Understanding Interracial Relationships, Lyme Regis, Russell House Publishing, ISBN 978-1-905541-53-9, £18.95
As someone who has long been actively involved with the Race Equality agenda, I was interested to read this book but initially felt disappointed that the study involved just 20 Black men and White women. I am a second generation South Indian woman married for over 45 years to a white British male. We met as students and have three grown-up children. This book is ideal for the student as it places the whole issue in not only an historical perspective of slavery and its mores but also of a survey of the arts, literature, social context and physiology. Part 2 gets down to the interviews and deals with a wide range of why interracial partnerships take place. It explores many reasons why one is attracted to a person from a different race and during my reading, I found myself nodding my head in agreement ... eg. disapproving attitudes of others from ‘my’ race and seeking out people (in Hull) who were in similar relationships. This, incidentally was a real bonus for our children. The author seeks to understand many aspects of these relationships from the sexual attraction to the fears of rejection from nearest family to that of strangers. He also touches on the conflict that children of those relationships might have, over their dual heritage. My only criticism which may be unfounded is that he maybe fails to understand the nature of just loving someone despite that person being of a different race. From a personal point of view, the main issue both our families felt was, that I was not a Roman Catholic. In this study, the issue of Faith has not been explored. Finally the study reveals that many people in interrracial relationships are involved in innovative strategies which allow them to cope with the added demands that such a relationship still imposes in British society today. Susheela Lourie, MBE DL North Wales Race Equality Network
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