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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 2, 1976)
thursdsy, dscsmbcr 2, 1370 third dimension IF INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE IS asocial taboo, one could not guess it from Lincoln merchants and citizens who were encountered in a recent role play experiment between two UNL stu dents. The topic seems to be pr.se, to take second place behind such other social peculiarities as marriage between the same sex, Egbert Thompson, a black UNL jour nalism senior and editor of the news paper of the multicultural affairs office, . acted as my fiancee and husband in stops at local stores and banks as we sup posedly prepared for our wedding and to invest in the futurs. ? : . We stopped at four j radars to look, for engagement rings, the County-City Elig. to apply for a marriage license, and a savings and loan company to inquire about a joint account. First we allowed them to help us, and later we returned to uncover our real identity . and gather comments. - Jewelers were especially helpful. They explained the different types of 1 diamonds, helped me try them on, and in general were eager to make a sale. '-Oh Egbert, I like this one," I ex c&limed over many. We looked at each other, suppressing laughter: " Tlss clerk was besrizg. Maybe they ; . get a black groom and a white bride every day, we thought. ASKED LATER IF A BLACK white marriage mixture surprised them, the cterks said it did not. Once two women engaged to each other came in . - -and wanted to buy a ring at Powell's. ' This surprised the saleswoman, she said. The same clerk said she would not condone interracial marriage in her own family, but added 'It is what is in the heart that counts." Sartor Hamann's was buzzing with customers and employes, many of . whom did double-takes as we walked in. When we returned later I spied an el derly lady give us a sidelong glance. "Interracial marriages are a common thing," said one Sartor's clerk. Randy Weblemoe. "There is no reason to get upset about them. Fred Wilson at the jewelers bearing his name said that what people do is their business. His, he said, is helping whoever comes through his door. An exuberant salesman at Zales, Dale Isackson, said that prejudice is "an an cient philosophy," and it would be ridiculous to turn down a sale or treat a mixed couple differently simple because of their colors, he said . "Money is green," said Egbert, "right?" "Right! Isackson said, smiling. The color of money is the only one that matters, he said. THE MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN outside the marriage license office at the County-City Eldg. looked from Egbert's face, then to mine, and asked us what we wanted. When we told her we wanted a marriage license, but then could not produce the blood test re sults or birth certificates she asked for. She directed us into the cfike. The receptionist inside treated us as just another couple to fill out a form that afternoon. She went dryly about the task. Egbert filled out fee groom's infor mation, including his name, age and . race. In case you're wondering, it is not 2- , legal to ask for nee on a marriage li- : cense, according to a spokesman for the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commis sion. The information is to be used for statistical purposes, he said. Ths respondent does not have to answer the -rscequestlca. .-. - --" I filled out the brides portion, which asked for the same information. The re ceptionist, official form in hand, took our printed card and betan typing. A few more returns of the carriage and we might have been an official "Mr. and Mrs. " I looked at Egbert with mild alarm, and we interrupted her typing. Earlier, Egbert had asked her if she thought we would get a lot of hassles as a mixed couple. She said, "I guess you take that risk where ever you go," scarcely looking up from her desk. ' I told her what we were actually doing. She cooly removed the paper from the typewriter and said 'That's why you didn't have your blood test or ID with you." We received details of how to open a joint account after our marriage from Irene Schroder, a helpful, pleasant First Federal Savings and Loan teller. The fact that we were a mixed couple might have bothered some of her fellow em ployes, she said. But customers are for -service, she said. LucMly, wi went to ; the right window. SOMEBODY'S GOT TO PROTEST our unionswe st3 thought. We went 1 to Miller and Pake's bridal registry, photography shop and bridal gown consultant. This time we did not come back and tell them what we were doing. Maybe we did not have the heart after they were so helpful. Whether.the bridal gown consultant was nervous because I told her the wed ding was in two weeks or whether it was because she saw my black fiancee sitting next to me, I don't know. Neverthe less, she helped me choose an ivory wed ding gown and happily filled out a card to register me. I was to try on and purchase the gown later. No one was at the bridal registry desk, but one girl asked us if she could help. - At the photography shop, we looked at photo Christmas cards and asked about getting ours and "the baby's" picture taken. We went through scrap books, price lists and a discussion of special effects, but we saw no hint of surprise or disgust. The employe suggested we make a sitting appoint ment soon for the cards. She followed us halfway to the elevator, telling us different ways we could be framed. ' FINALLY, WE DID SOME LIMIT ed apartment hunting. We went from r- door to door trying to stage an event, perhaps secretly wishing someone -would say, "What, rent an apartment to you two.34" Out of five or six apartments near the UNL campus, only one manager was in, and he was more than willing to show us a third floor vacancy:, It had a refrigerator like June Lockhart's on the Lassie television show. I looked around the shabby interior. "Oh, Egbert, here's a shelf for all your books." Then I opened a tiny closet. "Plenty of storage space," the manager said. No evidence of prejudice. The apart ment was ours or anybody's. It seems nobody in Lincoln cares that one of us is black and one white. We shrugged oar shoulders to the cool wind on this gray November day. "Hey, Egbert Said, "IH bet we'd have trouble in (this other) area of town. The KKK's burned a cross in my frineds y;4 ess time." "Really," I said, interested. Bui that's where we broke our engagement." co op I gvs COlfyl recepvisi By Tcrri Wilison or Una Minna .-2 KliMt M 1 3TW mIT O TAT T1 Continued from p. 1 Once married (after Jack graduates from medical school in three years), this couple plans to have children. They want to pass on their "nice philosophy of life" and i ' " : : i 1 - . ! i . 1 Y K. i r help rid the world of prejudice, according to Sue. Although the subject of interracial marriage has never taken up more than a few paragraphs in marriage and the family textbooks, older texts show a more negative at-. titude toward it. In face, textbooks dated 1959 and 1960 came out blatantly against it "The most frowned-upon marriage and one rarely occurring in the United States is that between whites and nonwhites," said Ruth Cavan in her I9S9 book Ameriam Marriage. In this year, marriage of whites with Negroes was legally forbidden in 29 states. Penalties of heavy fines or imprisonment were imposed upon such couples. In states legally allowing interracial marriage, negative public opinion often inhibited mixed marriages. In 1959, interracial marriages constituted about eight out of every IOjOOO marriages in the United States. "(The) mixed marriage presents unusually difficult problems, which in some cases are hopelessly insoluble" said sociologist Henry Bowman in his 1960 book, Marrisge for Moderns. On June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court ruled that laws prohibiting interracial marriage were unconstitutional. Today, however, 12 states still have statutes which prohibit it. They are Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia, mostly , Southern statei.;.,-(t :- n v.- Tbg followin statistics come from the Nebraska t " Health Data and Statistics Dept. of the health department. In Nebraska in 1965, 16 of 12JD69 total marriages performed were black- lute. Of 11,568 white men, six married black women. In the more common pairing, 10 black men out cf 358 married white women. In 1975, 57 of 13 37 marriages were black-white. Of 12,549 white men, three married black women. This time time, of 333 black men, 54 married white women. Altogether in Nebraska in 1965, 55 marriages of the 12JD69 were racially intermixed. In 1975, 249 of the 13,037 were. These totals include blacks, whites, Indians, Mexicans, and orientals cf ar.y pairing. Civil rights legislation cf the '60s may have contributed W as nam - , done in 1970 which found that black-white marriages were more stable than black-black marriages. Black-husband, white-wife marriages were found to have lower divorce rates than white-white marriages. Prof. Babchuk confirmed these findings and said reasons for black-white marital success are that the couples are "more aware and sensitive to problems they are likely to face." For example; they have carefully considered money, parents, friends and society's attitudes and norms and have worked out ways to solve foreseen problems, more so than a racially similar couple, he said. The effects these marriages might have on future society are being studied. Even though those of the college-age generation seem to be more ready to choose this route, it is not yet free of prejudice and opposition from parents and peers. But it is worth bucking society to marry the person one loves, Jhe participants claim. , more cren atntuce toward mixta msr- !!of:rn rcciclepts atid manias ar4 the fcnUy zy the fclsck-whiie msrrirs is ccm-ar:t;v::y r,ci Fhsta fey TesI Ki.it texts cy aaccesafuL Fcr cxirrle,!. 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