Many parents are worried that mixed raced dating will somehow dilute their own culture and will threaten the preservation of their cultural beliefs. They feel that in order to control the weakening of their cultural bonds, they must restrict the actions of their children i.e. prevent them from dating outside of their culture. Parents worry that if their child falls in love with someone of a different culture, they might sacrifice their own traditions in order to make the relationship work. Technically, it is up to their children to make these decisions. Realistically, the parents have the power to decide. Many children who go against their parent's will are punished with disapproval and even worse, alienation.
For couples in multicultural relationships, compromise is sometimes the best way to bridge the gap between the varying traditions. Choosing the most important traditions from each culture, while making sure to include the parents' opinions, will allow the partners and their parents to feel equally significant. The parents may never be completely happy with the choices their child has made, but at least they won't feel as thought that family roots have been betrayed.
People of different cultural backgrounds are not impervious to learning new customs and traditions. New partners may readily accept the challenge of engaging in the practices of different cultural groups. A person's roots are not left behind simply because they are exposed to new customs. Cultural and familial roots make us who we are, and that can never be taken away.
