Brian Kilmeade on inter-species marriage and pure genes July 9, 2009 at 5:04 am
What was Brian Kilmeade thinking? On the July 8 episode of the news program Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade responded to a recent Finnish-Swedish study which found evidence showing that marriage is beneficial to your mental health (British Medical Journal 2009;339:b2462). Kilmeade didn’t think the study had any relevance to marriages in America because apparently the Finns and Swedes aren’t “marrying other species and other ethnics” like Americans do. Kilmeade said that, since Finns and Swedes have “pure genes” and a “pure society”, the results of the study do not apply to (impure?) interracial marriages in the United States.
Fox & Friends is a conservative-leaning news program with a talk-show format that typically contains a lot of light banter. There are usually three co-hosts who sit around a coffee table and engage in water-cooler chat about the day’s news. When it came time to discuss this particular news story, the other two co-hosts picked up the cue and attempted a couple of light-hearted jokes about marriage.
Video via MMFA
If genes aren’t sciencey enough for you, then maybe Kilmeade can feign a little more credibility by interchanging ‘ethnicity’ with ’species’. It goes without saying that a term like “pure genes” was and still is a popular term among believers in eugenics and, well, racists. It is a key premise of ethnic cleansing movements. Aside from being politically incorrect and possibly racist, Kilmeade’s comments were terribly misinformed. The delivery was awkward and stammering, and the the other co-hosts appeared genuinely shocked. Given the general mood and direction of the conversation, Kilmeade came across a little too serious. Where was his head at?
Was he struggling to dress up his racist views for the TV audience? Was some personal relationship baggage surfacing a bit there? Was he trying to repeat something he heard before, something that he didn’t fully understand but sounded smart? Of course I can’t get into his head and know with certainty what he was thinking. I’ll give Mr. Kilmeade the benefit of the doubt and grant him the strongest representation of his statements that I can produce.
Kilmeade seems to be saying that the societies of Finland and Sweden are ethnically homogeneous, therefore nearly all marriages are intraracial. It follows that the conclusion drawn from the study (marriage improves your mental health) only applies to other ethnically homogeneous societies. American society is multicultural, so comparing Nordic marriages to American marriages is comparing apples to oranges. In other words, the study only shows that marriages within the same race, within a homogeneous society are good for your mental health.
There is some validity to what Kilmeade is saying here, if this is indeed what he was trying to say. In fact, there are studies on interracial marriage within the United States showing that interracial couples are less satisfied and experience more stress in their marriages than intraracial couples. But why are interracial marriages less happy?
The main source of dissatisfaction within interracial marriages (in America) is the racism and prejudice that these couples experience. Rather than being caused by cultural friction between the husband and wife, the primary cause is external to the relationship: racial prejudice in American society. It comes from strangers, co-workers, friends, and even family. A large portion of our society still shuns interracial relationships, though now it’s expression is more subdued than in the past. An example of this subdued disapproval is the assumption that different races are somehow incompatible in marriage and family building – an assumption that Kilmeade introduces into the otherwise race-neutral discussion. So our good friend Mr. Kilmead’s off-base opinion implicitly provided its own justification. I doubt he sees it that way.
Kilmeade clearly intended for his view to be taken seriously. His opinion followed (circular) logic and used scientific language (species and genes), however he seemed to be after a predetermined conclusion that isn’t really backed up by any real science. In other words, it’s pseudoscience. But worse, it’s the very brand of pseudoscience that is highly convincing to White Nationalists, Neo-Nazis, the KKK, and other hate groups.
I don’t know what Brian Kilmeade’s personal beliefs are and I don’t know if he’s racist. Maybe he’s aware of the unique challenges that interracial couples face and believes he should warn those who are open to dating/marrying outside their own race. Perhaps he’s afraid that this study could be used to advance same-sex marriage rights. All I can say with any certainty is that his view is not only incorrect, but it is a view that has historically enabled great hatred and cruelty.
Brian Kilmeade has some explaining to do.
Footnote: I am the offspring of an inter-species couple who married shortly after their impure union was legalized in the United States. My parents remain happily married over 40 years later.
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