“It still recognises race” politics of marriage and challenge of social cohesion among South Africa undergraduates

Abstract

South Africa is a country plagued by several racial challenges in almost all spheres of its activities. While, in recent years, the South Africa government have initiated programs aimed at promoting social cohesion, not much has been done in the area of interracial marriage. Yet intermarriage has been regarded as both a final test of integration and willingness of a person to lose his/her racial identification. Although some people contended that with the end of apartheid two decades ago, South Africa youth endogamy or marriage based on should be a thing of the past, studies to either confirm or refute this contention are scanty. This study, therefore, was an attempt to assess the attitudes of South Africa undergraduate students towards inter-racial marriage. The study indicated that racial endogamy is still common in South Africa, furthermore that few students are more likely to approve of the interracial marriage and the youths exhibited a conservative attitude toward interracial marriage. The study recommended that Inter-racial marriage by students and youths should be encouraged as it would likely foster social cohesion and invigorate and promote peaceful co-existence and encourage the much needed social cohesion among the people of South Africa.

Keywords: Racial Identification, Inter-Racial Marriage, Endogamy, South Africa