ABSTRACT
This chapter provides substantial evidence supporting that interracial marriage for Asian Americans may not serve as a smooth or uninterrupted path of transition to greater depths of assimilation and “Americanization”; on the contrary, it represents a critical turning point and marker for revitalization of ethnic/racial consciousness and identity that opens up possibilities for multicultural family-making. Efforts at multicultural family-making for most of the Asian-ethnic participants, while meeting with varying levels of success, are, however, a constant uphill battle in the face of pressures for conformity to the dominant culture, the participants’ own cultural thinness, and ideologies of colorblindness that pervade their social and family lives. The power of the mainstream culture is reflected in the majority of White partners’ narratives regarding ethnic cultural transmission of Asian-ethnic cultures, which were notably more “laissez-faire” than their Asian spouses’ attitudes.
