I read this article, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100201145436.htm , that basically says that family influence plays a big part in cultural/ethnic identity.  As an interesting note, it also says that women are more shaped by family input into cultural identity that men.

Long story short, given the increase of multiethnic/racial individuals, and black marriage/dating/etc, what impacts do you see this phenomenon having on black dating?  Black identity?  Black marraige? 

I am a teacher and I think what you are talking about is the least of our worries.  I have students in 8th grade who are 16 and almost 17 years old, who can barely read, Black young men!  Who's mom's crandle and blame school districts as their sons continue to get older and more illiterate.  And young teenage girls who are giving blow jobs to boys and grown men and having sex with other teenage girls on school grounds.  The state of Black America that I see daily is really really scarey and it sadens me and forces me to be over protective and super informative to my own children and their friends.  We have to step up and start making these parents accountable and Black men have to stop making babies and leaving black women to raise them alone.  People need to stop criticizing Bill Cosby and start listening to him.

@ Smiley:

I currently work in education, and I see all the ills you describe.  However, I wanted to focus on a small slice of black life and black relationships to shift the discussion from what brothers or sisters are or are not doing to what we as a community train our brothers and sisters to do in regards to the community - in relationships.

I wanted to open the discussion to see if we coach more "loyalty" in black women, to place the burden of propogating black culture on black women, or just simply have different cultural expectations on men and women.  And, in the instance where a relationship has one nonblack member, how does that shape the resulting family and the children's cultural identity, and are those changes different based upon which partner is the non-black partner.

I hear you JAT, and see where you are coming from.  When viewing issues, I will try to go back and look at the root or the very beginning of they hows, whys and the whats in order to gain a clear view of why something exists now.  I feel thqt any lack of identies in AA men and women goes back to the fact that we are too individualized in our behaviors and are caught up in a whole lot of BS that we identifies with that indentifying with our ethnic heritage is secondary in too many cases.  Too many of us identifies with looking good, dressing to what many of us feel our social and financial income should dictate, etc.  We get to heritage and cultural during ethnic festivals and 28 days in February.

JAT, I feel mate selection is key, and I'm not just talking about two folks meeting, having chemistry, and attraction towards each other, but determining finite sentiments in regards to outlooks, temperment, perspectives, and vision on a wealth of issues.  I think too many folks have a "I like you, you like me, sex is great, my income is good, your income is good, so lets jump right on in and make it work" mentality and end up finding themselves in a middle of a hot mess.

First of all, grown folks, educated or not, our black folks past or don't past much of anything down to our children to make much of a difference in our their behavior or social loyaties and responsibility... their behavior speak for themselves.   I don't think we coach more loyaty in BW, but I think black women, just like any of ethnic group, have a desire to be with their own kind.

I feel that when there is one nonblack parent, the influence of which cultural to identify with is influenced by their social environment and the predominate ethic group in their lives.

@JAT:  Interesting question.  As a culture I believe we do have certain "norms" that we adhere to, even when the situation dictates a new paradigm.  For example, the whole "head of household" topic you addressed in a recent blog. 

For example, our culture plants & waters the seeds that a man should be the dominant authority in a household (largely based on a Christian faith), however when you have women who are holding it down for the household -- it turns that "norm" on its ear, thus creating or adding to the challenges we already face in our relaitonships.

As it pertains to mixed-race families....I don't feel experienced or knowledgable about the impact of that on our relationships, but I do believe it flips the script on many of the things are "cultural norms" in an all Black union.  Just my 2.5.