REVISED Final Paper
The Watchful White Eye (1763 words) Historically, interracial and same-sex marriage bans have represented a calculated political eye in American households. By placing the minority under this vigilant white heterosexual eye, the United States government has the ability to control the privacy of its citizens, as well as how they are represented in public. It is evident that through cases and laws such as Griswold v. Connecticut, Bowers v. Hardwick, and the Naturalization Act of 1907, the United States has been and is continuing to attempt to erase groups of people, beginning in the private home and extending towards the public sphere. Because marriage is, by nature, a legally contractual relationship, it relies on the law to uphold its social status. These cases and laws demonstrate the government distancing themselves from the minority, or the opposite of the white heterosexual norm. The examination of historical interracial and same-sex marriage laws reveal that through governm
