christopher l Teggatz*

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 Controversial Topic: Mixed Marriages*

 

 

MIXED MARRIAGES

A mixed marriage is a marriage between people of different races. I remember when I was a young boy in America; mixed marriages between blacks and whites were very uncommon, and people thought it was shocking. But American culture has changed a lot in the last 30 years, and now nobody would be shocked or surprised by a mixed marriage.

 

I lived for a year in South Africa, which had a racist government until 1990. Mixed couples were very uncommon even in 2001, when I was there. My girlfriend in South Africa was of Indian ethnicity, so we were a mixed couple. Most South Africans found us to be very surprising and shocking. Many white people would ask me, "Aren't you worried about having a mixed-race child?"

 

In Korea, I had a Korean girlfriend for a while in Daejeon. She sometimes told me what people were saying when we were walking down the street or eating in a restaurant. The people in Daejeon didn't seem to like it that I had a Korean girlfriend.

 

Let's talk about mixed couples today...

 

 

 

1.      Would you marry somebody who was not Korean, but who spoke Korean well, and who understood a lot about Korean culture? For example, a white North American?

2.      Would you marry a Korean-American who didn't speak Korean, and who didn't know anything about Korean culture?

3.      Would you marry a black person?

4.      Would you adapt to the other person's culture and language? Would you go live in another country with him or her? What are things you would or would not adapt to (example: eating a bread-based diet in Europe or North America, instead of the rice-based diet of Asia)

5.      Korean and Japanese society is, historically, closed to outsiders. Why? Do you think this is good or bad? What are the benefits and problems of having a closed society? Do you think Korean and Japanese society is racist? Think about the history of South Africa, or Japan's colonial expansion into Korea and China, when you answer these questions.

6.      North American society has historically been very open to outsiders, and we would argue that this makes us strong. What is your reaction to that? Do you think hybrids are stronger?

7.      What do you think is the future of Korean society? Will it mix with other peoples and races? What would happen if it does?

 

 

 

VOCABULARY

 

·         Mixed couple

·         Mixed marriage

·         Mixed-race; a mixed-race child

·         Prejudice

·         To be prejudiced

·         Open-minded

·         To be open-minded

·         Closed-minded

·         To be closed-minded

·         To adapt

·         Hybrid

·         Race (white, black, Arab, Asian, Indian, etc)

·         Racism

·         To be racist

·         Ethnicity (Korean, German, Indian, etc)

 

 

 

HOMEWORK

Write a one-page paragraph giving your opinion about mixed marriages in Korea. Write in paragraph form. Be prepared to read you answer to the class on Tuesday.

 

Warning: People who don't do homework will not pass my class!

 

 

www.teggatz.com l christopherteggatz@yahoo.com

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