Jessica Perry
English 2020
Professor Nathan Cole
July 8th, 2013
Interracial Relationships on the Rise
It is hard to believe that relationships between two people of a different race used to be
illegal. Although, many states had chosen to legalize interracial marriage much earlier; in 1967,
the Supreme Court officially decided that anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional. Antimiscegenation laws were laws that essentially enforced racial segregation when it came to
intimate relationships and marriages. Miscegenation refers to cohabitation, intimacy, and
relationships between a white and a black person. It was considered a felony in the United
States. It was also illegal for a pastor or another person to officiate a marriage ceremony
between a miscegenation couple. Sometimes, those who participated in interracial
relationships and attempted to marry were not held guilty of miscegenation but other felonies
such as adultery and fornication would be held against them instead.
Interracial couples prior to 1967 were held accountable legally for their actions. But,
they were also held accountable by their peers and others in society for their preferences.
People saw it as a disgrace to one’s culture. White people had “pure skin” and having sex with a
black person or a person with a darker skin tone would only contaminate it. White people were
ignorant. They didn’t understand that white and black people were the same and there was
nothing a black person could do to “contaminate” them. African-Americans were not seen as
equal to whites. Though, things have gotten better for African-Americans in recent years, there
are still many people who still do not see blacks as equal to whites.
The Civil Rights Movement was a pivotal moment for interracial couples. When the laws
surrounding interracial marriage changed, the public’s view on it did as well. Slowly, but surely,
the public started to embrace mixed couples. In a 1958 poll, only four percent of whites
nationwide approved of marriages between blacks and whites. In the South, there was an even
lower approval rating. When mixed couples wanted to marry, they often challenged their
parents. Most of the time, the white parents had more of a problem with the union than the
black parents did. However, some black parents still resented white people. It wasn’t until 1960
that the United States Census allowed interracial marriages to be reported on the census. The
census completed in 1960 showed that there were 157,057 interracial marriages nationwide.
The upward trend of interracial marriages began in about 1980. At that time, less than
seven percent of new marriages were interracial. As time passed, more and more people
approved of interracial unions. In 1997, there was a sixty-one percent approval rating for
interracial marriages. In the 2000 census, over one million interracial marriages were reported.
Interracial marriages have continued to grow rapidly in recent years. The 2010 Census showed
that interracial marriages increased by about twenty-eight percent from 2000 and 2010.
Recent studies have shown an increasing popularity in interracial marriages. Fifteen
percent of all new marriages in 2010 were between people of a different race or ethnicity. This
number has nearly doubled since 1980. About twenty-four percent of black males and nine
percent of black females married outside of their race in 2010.
Many people use the term “married out” or “married in” to describe interracial
relationships. Those who “marry out”, marry someone of a different race or ethnicity as them
and those who “marry in”, marry someone of their own race. Studies have shown that those
who “marry out” tend to have a lot of other things in common. Even though their skin tone is
different, they have many other similar qualities. For example, they might have the same level
of education or the same level of income. Those who “marry out” have a higher combined
income on average than a white man marrying a white woman.
Interracial marriages are more common in the western United States than they are in
the East. In the Western United States, twenty-two percent of newlyweds were interracial in
2010. In the South, only fourteen percent of new marriages were interracial and in the
Northeast, thirteen percent of new marriages were interracial.
Society’s approval towards interracial relationships and marriages has increased
dramatically since the miscegenation laws were in place. Currently, more than forty-three
percent of American’s say that having more interracial relationships has been a change for the
better in our society, while forty-four percent say that it has made no difference. Minorities,
young adults, the college educated, and those who describe themselves as liberal see
interracial marriages in a more positive light. Finally, people in society have realized that all
races are equal and that there is nothing wrong with someone marrying outside of their race.
Work Cited
"Newsroom." 2010 Census Shows Interracial and Interethnic Married Couples Grew by 28
Percent over Decade. United States Census Bureau, 25 Apr. 2012. Web. 07 July 2013.
<http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/2010_census/cb12-68.html>.
Taylor, Paul, Wendy Wang, Kim Parker, Jeffery S. Passel, Eileen Patten, and Seath Motel. "The
Rise of Intermarriage." Pew Research Center. N.p., 16 Feb. 2012. Web. 07 Jan. 2013.
<http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2012/02/SDT-Intermarriage-II.pdf>.
Barnes. "The History of Interracial Marriage: Colonial America to Loving v. Virginia (1967)." US
History Scene. US History Scene, 12 Dec. 2011. Web. 07 July 2013.
<http://www.ushistoryscene.com/uncategorized/the-history-of-interracial-marriage-colonialamerica-to-loving-v-virginia-1967/>.
Walker, Jade. "Interracial Marriage In The U.S. Climbs To New High, Study Finds." The
Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 16 Feb. 2012. Web. 07 July 2013.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/16/interracial-marriage-in-us_n_1281229.html>.
"Anti-miscegenation Laws." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 26 June 2013. Web. 07 July
2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-miscegenation_laws>.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-miscegenation_laws_in_the_United_States
"Interracial Marriage." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 07 May 2013. Web. 07 July 2013.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interracial_marriage>.