Racism can Exist in all Spaces Including the Most Intimates Ones: A Dive Into Intimate Racism in Interracial Romantic Relationships
What is the issue?
In the United States over ten percent of couples are now in interracial relationships and the number continues to rise. While we have made great strides to address the issue around racism it still exists today both in and out of intimate relationships. Racism has been explored in the past however, it is not often explored in private settings like intimate relationships specifically interracial romantic relationships.
What is the purpose of this investigation?
The purpose of Yampolsky et al. study was to identify and explore the different forms of racism that show up within interracial romantic relationships. More precisely, the authors focused on the experiences of the person who the racism was targeted at, usually the person of color. Yampolsky et al. bring to light ways in which intimate racism changes the dynamic of interracial romantic relationships and how partners of color feel about their relationship and their identities in and out of their relationships.
What were the results?
Within this study, participants’ responses fit into five main themes,
different manifestations of intimate racism from their partner
participants’ experiences of intimate racism
responses to the partner’s racism
identity experiences
co-occurrence analyses.
Overall, every participant reported experiences of intimate racism including but not limited to explicit racism, microinsults, microaggressions, and racial fetishization. These encounters of intimate racism were almost always attached to a negative emotion that left the targeted partner with lower reports of self-esteem, added stress, and internal identity conflicts. Additionally, the response back to their partner depended on how the targeted partner perceived the intimate racism. Within this study the responses to intimate racism were confronting the racism, disengaging from their partner, prioritizing their partner, and making sense of the racism they experienced.
What are the implications?
The results from this study suggest that racism is not always something that is perpetrated from random people in public settings, it happens from loved ones in the most intimate spaces as well. It is important to recognize for both partners the different forms of racism that appear in interracial romantic relationships. Firstly, knowing that being in a relationship with a person is not a pass for being racist and secondly, understanding that experiences of racism from your partner are still racism and should not be invalidated. With this in mind, it is important to remember that racism almost always elicits a negative emotion in the targeted partner and ultimately puts strain on the relationship.
