After talking about interracial marriages in lecture the other day, the idea of this remained very prevalent on my mind. My family is Jewish, and throughout each generation, it has been apparent that every family mine marries into, is Jewish as well. It has always been a family "tradition" almost of mine to marry within the Jewish community, raise your children to be Jewish and then have them continue the cycle by marrying another Jew. Ever since I was younger, I can vividly remember my grandma reminding me on countless occasions to marry a "nice Jewish boy". She explains how there are enough problems within a marriage, religion does not have to be one of them.

This past summer, my cousin Matt married his wife Vicki. Vicki's family is Cuban and follows in strict Catholic practices. The first time I walked into her house, I was amazed with the amount of decorative crosses I saw placed throughout the house, as well as other decorative pieces that reflected her culture. I think what amazed me more however, was the long and viscous talk almost every member of my family gave to my cousin Matt after meeting her, about making sure this was the right decision for him. Looking back, it also amazes me the amount to which I agreed with the rest of my family, in that this interracial marriage would end up being a catastrophe.

I think what this experience taught me, is that people do in fact believe there are inherent differences across cultures. Why should a different religion amount to an unhappy marriage?

Some arguments my family gave my cousin was the question of how they will raise their children. Will their son have a bris? A christening? Differences in traditions brought upon anger, when they could have been a time to celebrate and appreciate the differences in both of their cultures. Interracial marriage remains a topic that is very much on the individual level and I think other bystanders should learn to appreciate the decisions people make at an individual level instead of making them a societal issue.

At my cousins wedding, the ceremony incorporated traditions of both a Jewish and Catholic wedding, that in fact made the ceremony extremely special and unique. Differences regarding the way in which they will bring up their children, my cousin claims they will "cross that bridge when they get to it", but do intend to be able to incorporate both cultures and traditions. Each individual issue remains to be exactly that, an individual issue. So what makes one couple happy may be different from the next, but does not make them the wrong or bad choice. Of course it is also hard for people, like my grandma, to throw away ideals that have been instilled in them throughout their life time, but I think once people begin to have acceptance and appreciation of peoples individuals decisions, it will extend to acceptance at a societal level as well.