Man sentenced to Life for Interracial Murder Hire

[Xavier]

Chiman Rai, an Indian living in Mississippi, has been sentenced to life for putting a contract out on his black daughter-in-law.

Sparkle Rai was found stabbed and strangled weeks after marrying Chiman Rai's son, Ricky. Apparently, Chiman Rai thought the marriage of a black woman to his son would disgrace his family in the eyes of a highly critical Indian social caste.

Often when we think of interracial relationships, we focus mainly on Black and White relationships. But what of the mixing of other cultures in the mix? How does that affect how interracial relationships are viewed as a whole?

[ken]

When i think of interracial relationships in relation to culture, i think of stereotypes. I think IR's are viewed through these stereotypes whether the stereotypes are positive or negative, but i do not know the accused story. I do not know whether the act was committed because the woman was of a different culture or whether it was because she was black

[Xavier]

The stories I have read all imply the motive was because she was black. However, I think you make a valid point about it possibly being more with cultural difference instead of race.

When it comes to interracial marriages between two races born and raised (both parents and children) in the United States, I think the real culture differences are not as large as the perceived cultural differences. When religion as well as possible different cultural realities based on national differences, I think the differences could be significant.

Again, without the accuser's side of the situation, it is hard to deem whether marrying a black woman was a blemish because of her race or if the same would have been because the son had married an American woman of any race.

[Xavier]

I agree wholeheartedly, but in the timeline of civilization, marriage and love outside of one's "own" is still a big change for some. And if there is one thing most cultures fight and have in common, it's the resistance to change.

[Hugh Palmer]

Being originally from Jamaica I have always grown up around other cultures and it was very normal to see interracial couples of all cultures. What was more of a pressure than the typical black and white however was relationships between two separate deeply rooted religious couples. Examples an Indian from India, Muslim or Chinese from China where the religion is deeply rooted in the family. I have seen myself where that have caused the parents to disown or denounce the relationships. I have even see where the wealthy parents of an Indian girl I knew cut her off completely as far as finances and from the rest of her family like her immediate sister just because she was dating a black guy. In their culture the parents choose who their children will marry from an early age and she violated that. it got really ugly but thank God it didn't end up with murder or violence.

[Xavier]

In some ways I think that may have been the case with the original article above.

[Xavier]

And congrats to you and your countrymen on those Beijing Olympics :)