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Internet Exercises
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1

In the United States, people who do not practice endogamy by religion often face special problems, as they adjust to new religious traditions, confront the expectations of their in-laws, and make choices about how to rear their children. InterfaithFamily.com is an organization that seeks to provide guidance on such issues to families with Jewish and non-Jewish members. Go to their website, and link to "Archive" at the top of the page. Peruse the topics listed there, and link to a few of the articles.
  1. What sorts of issues must Jewish interfaith families deal with?
  2. Suppose that either you or your partner is Christian or Muslim, and that the other is Jewish. Would you find the resources on InterfaithFamily.com to be useful? In what ways?
  3. Think about the kinds of problems that families of mixed race or class must face. Do you imagine that these issues are similar to those listed on the InterfaithFamily.com archive? Why or why not?
  4. Consider two married Americans who come from different religious denominations, but who are both still part of the same broad Christian tradition—a Catholic and a Baptist, for example. Must they make as many adjustments as a mixed Jewish and Christian family? What do you imagine are the key differences?
Link to "About IFF" at the top of the page, and click on the most recent InterfaithFamily.com Update.
  1. One of the explicit purposes of this organization is to "empower interfaith families to make Jewish choices." What do you think this means? How do you feel about this approach?
2

Many Americans marry or fall in love with someone who is different from them in one or more socially significant ways. American Love Stories, a PBS website, contains a number of short autobiographical accounts of these exogamous relationships. Visit this website and link to "stories" at the top of the page. Select "extended family" under "browse by topic," and read the stories "Light and Dark," "Red and White," "'Tabu.'"
  1. Overall, would you say that these stories are happy or sad? Do the ethnic and racial differences in these relationships ultimately strengthen or weaken the relationship?
  2. What do these stories—especially "Light and Dark"—tell you about the social construction of endogamy and exogamy?
  3. Do you imagine that there are cohort differences in the acceptance of inter-ethnic and inter-racial relationships like these? Thirty years from now, will similar couples face the same objections from their families?
Select "house and home" under "browse by topic," and read the story called "Our Daughter, Ourselves."
  1. As the parent of a bi-racial child, what additional issues would you and your partner expect to face?
  2. The author notes her concerns about the physical dangers of being in an inter-racial relationship. Were you aware that inter-racial couples can face such problems?





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