Interracial marriage in US doubles

[TruthSeeker]

Interracial marriage rate doubles in 30 years: how US attitudes have changed

By Mark Trumbull, Staff writer / February 16, 2012

The rate at which Americans marry someone of another race has more than doubled over the past three decades, a sign of increasing public acceptance of once-taboo relationships.

About 15 percent of all new marriages in the United States in 2010 were between spouses of different race or ethnicity, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center. In 1980 the share was 6.7 percent. The Pew Center refers to marriages of mixed ethnicity in cases where Latinos and non-Latinos married.

Alongside the growing numbers of such mixed marriages, American approval of family ties that cross racial and ethnic lines has been rising.

The Pew report draws on the center's own polling, as well as on Census records relating to marriage. In Pew's polling during the past three years, 63 percent of Americans say it “would be fine” with them if a member of their own family were to marry someone outside their own racial or ethnic group.

In 1986, the public was divided about this, with 28 percent saying interracial marriage was not acceptable for anyone, and an additional 37 percent saying it may be acceptable for others, but not for themselves. Only one-third of the public viewed interracial marriage as acceptable for everyone.

Today, 35 percent of Americans say they have an immediate family member or close relative who is currently married to someone of a different race.

All this doesn't mean that race has become a meaningless concept for Americans.

A USA Today/Gallup poll last year found, for instance, that 46 percent of Americans (including 44 percent of whites and 55 percent of blacks) agreed with the statement that relations between blacks and whites "will always be a problem for the United States," while a majority of the public sided with the view that "a solution will eventually be worked out."

But the weight race carries for social relations has clearly declined for individual Americans.

In Gallup polls asking "do you approve or disapprove" of marriage between blacks and whites, the results have shifted dramatically over the past half century.

In 1958, some 94 percent of Americans disapproved. (The phrasing of the question then was slightly different, referring to "colored people.") By last year, 86 percent said they approved, while 11 percent said they disapproved.

Interracial unions remain a small share of marriages overall. Looking at all married couples in 2010, regardless of when they married, Pew found that intermarriages accounted for 8.4 percent of the total, up from just 3.2 percent in 1980.

Among all newlyweds in 2010, nine percent of whites, 17 percent of African-Americans, 26 percent of Hispanics, and 28 percent of Asian-Americans "married out" (outside their own race), the center reported in its study, released Thursday.

Even as Americans feel freer to find a marriage partner without race as a barrier, the institution of marriage faces strains on other fronts, however.

The National Marriage Project, a research group based at the University of Virginia, has documented what it calls a worrisome decline of marriage, particularly among poorer and working-class Americans. A new book by scholar Charles Murray, "Coming Apart," points to the same trend as a factor fraying America's social fabric.

In addition, many younger Americans are postponing marriage, not because they don't feel its important but, in part, because the high divorce rates they witnessed among their parents have made them wary of failure. A record 41 percent of children born today are born to unmarried women, according to Pew research cited in a recent Christian Science Monitor magazine cover story on the "Generation-Y" marriage trends.

Interracial marriage rate doubles in 30 years: how US attitudes have changed - CSMonitor.com

 

[TruthSeeker]

Interracial marriages on the rise as US becomes more diverse, blurring nation’s color lines

By Associated Press, Published: February 16

WASHINGTON — Interracial marriages in the U.S. have climbed to 4.8 million — a record 1 in 12 — as a steady flow of new Asian and Hispanic immigrants expands the pool of prospective spouses. Blacks are now substantially more likely than before to marry whites.

A Pew Research Center study, released Thursday, details a diversifying America where interracial unions and the mixed-race children they produce are challenging typical notions of race.

“The rise in interracial marriage indicates that race relations have improved over the past quarter century,” said Daniel Lichter, a sociology professor at Cornell University. “Mixed-race children have blurred America’s color line. They often interact with others on either side of the racial divide and frequently serve as brokers between friends and family members of different racial backgrounds,” he said. “But America still has a long way to go.”

The figures come from previous censuses as well as the 2008-2010 American Community Survey, which surveys 3 million households annually. The figures for “white” refer to those whites who are not of Hispanic ethnicity. For purposes of defining interracial marriages, Hispanic is counted as a race by many in the demographic field.

The study finds that 8.4 percent of all current U.S. marriages are interracial, up from 3.2 percent in 1980. While Hispanics and Asians remained the most likely, as in previous decades, to marry someone of a different race, the biggest jump in share since 2008 occurred among blacks, who historically have been the most segregated.

States in the West where Asian and Hispanic immigrants are more numerous, including Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico and California, were among the most likely to have couples who “marry out” — more than 1 in 5. The West was followed by the South, Northeast and Midwest. By state, mostly white Vermont had the lowest rate of intermarriage, at 4 percent.

In all, more than 15 percent of new marriages in 2010 were interracial.

The numbers also coincide with Pew survey data showing greater public acceptance of mixed marriage, coming nearly half a century after the Supreme Court in 1967 barred race-based restrictions on marriage. (In 2000, Alabama became the last state to lift its unenforceable ban on interracial marriages.) About 83 percent of Americans say it is “all right for blacks and whites to date each other,” up from 48 percent in 1987. As a whole, about 63 percent of those surveyed say it “would be fine” if a family member were to marry outside their own race.

Minorities, young adults, the higher educated and those living in Western or Northeast states were more likely to say mixed marriages are a change for the better for society. The figure was 61 percent for 18- to 29-year-olds, for instance, compared to 28 percent for those 65 and older.

Due to increasing interracial marriages, multiracial Americans are a small but fast-growing demographic group, making up about 9 million, or 8 percent of the minority population. Together with blacks, Hispanics and Asians, the Census Bureau estimates they collectively will represent a majority of the U.S. population by mid-century.

“Race is a social construct; race isn’t real,” said Jonathan Brent, 28. The son of a white father and Japanese-American mother, Brent helped organize multiracial groups in southern California and believes his background helps him understand situations from different perspectives.

Brent, now a lawyer in Charlottesville, Va., says at varying points in his life he has identified with being white, Japanese and more recently as someone of mixed ethnic background. He doesn’t feel constrained with whom he socially interacts or dates.

“Race is becoming a personal thing. It is what I feel like I am,” he said.

According to the Pew report, more than 25 percent of Hispanics and Asians who married in 2010 had a spouse of a different race. That’s compared to 17.1 percent of blacks and 9.4 percent of whites. Of the 275,500 new interracial marriages in 2010, 43 percent were white-Hispanic couples, 14.4 percent were white-Asian, 11.9 percent were white-black, and the remainder were other combinations.

Still, the share of Asians who intermarried has actually declined recently — from 30.5 percent in 2008 to 27.7 percent in 2010. In contrast, blacks who married outside their race increased in share from 15.5 percent to 17.1 percent, due in part to a rising black middle class that has more interaction with other races.

Intermarriage among whites rose in share slightly, while among Hispanics the rate was flat, at roughly 25.7 percent.

“In the past century, intermarriage has evolved from being illegal, to be a taboo and then to be merely unusual. And with each passing year, it becomes less unusual,” said Paul Taylor, director of Pew’s Social & Demographic Trends project. “That says a lot about the state of race relations. Behaviors have changed and attitudes have changed.”

He noted that interracial marriages among Hispanics and Asians may be slowing somewhat as recent immigration and their rapid population growth provide minorities more ethnically similar partners to choose from. But Taylor believes the longer-term trend of intermarriage is likely to continue.

“For younger Americans, racial and ethnic diversity are a part of their lives,” he said.

The Pew study also tracks some divorce trends, citing studies using government data that found overall divorce rates higher for interracial couples. One study conducted a decade ago determined that mixed-race couples had a 41 percent chance of separation or divorce, compared to a 31 percent chance for those who married within their race.

Another analysis found divorce rates among mixed-race couples to be more dependent on the specific race combination, with white women who married outside their race more likely to divorce. Mixed marriages involving blacks and whites also were considered least stable, followed by Hispanic-white couples.

Other findings:

—Broken down by gender, black men were more than twice as likely as black women to marry someone outside their race — 24 percent to 9 percent. The reverse held true for Asian men — 17 percent intermarried, compared to 36 percent among Asian women.

—White-Asian couples who married had the highest median income, nearly $71,000. Behind them were the following race combinations: Asian-Asian ($62,000), white-white ($60,000), white-Hispanic ($57,900), white-black ($53,187), black-black ($47,700) and Hispanic-Hispanic (nearly $36,000).

—The top three states for white-black married couples are Virginia, North Carolina and Kansas, all with rates of about 3 percent.

Interracial marriages on the rise as US becomes more diverse, blurring nation’s color lines - The Washington Post

 

[Jade]

I think, after 100 years, there won't be any 'pure' race.

 

[Backbencher]

Just goes to show that even African have a good chance in the U.S. hehe

 

[NeutralCitizen]

So ? Anything new ? This is already known.

 

[jayron]

Good to know.. But with interracial marriages becoming more common, new set of problems arise. Like African women and Asian men being left out because African men and Asian women have greater chance of finding a mate outside that race hence creating that void.

 

[ZABASHO]

Good to know.. But with interracial marriages becoming more common, new set of problems arise. Like African women and Asian men being left out because African men and Asian women have greater chance of finding a mate outside that race hence creating that void.

 

[CONTINUATOR]

Good to know.. But with interracial marriages becoming more common, new set of problems arise. Like African women and Asian men being left out because African men and Asian women have greater chance of finding a mate outside that race hence creating that void.

They can always get the fat ones, who has no race after all... LOL

 

[CypressHill]

 

[below_freezing]

Good to know.. But with interracial marriages becoming more common, new set of problems arise. Like African women and Asian men being left out because African men and Asian women have greater chance of finding a mate outside that race hence creating that void.

That's OK, the rich Asians interested in marrying other races can move to the UK and marry British blondes, while the poor can marry blacks.

British Chinese - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 1901, the first Chinese laundry opened in Poplar, and it was immediately stoned by a hostile xenophobic crowd. The Trades Union Congress (TUC), concerned about the importation of Chinese labour into the South African gold mines, suggested that the mine-owners and the Conservative government were "preventing South Africa becoming a white man's country". Also during that time, the first report on the Chinese in Britain was produced by the Liverpool City Council amidst concern over Chinese marrying English wives, gambling, and opium-taking. Liverpool's Chief Constable, however, expressed the view that the resident Chinese were "quiet, inoffensive and industrious people".

 

[TruthSeeker]

Good to know.. But with interracial marriages becoming more common, new set of problems arise. Like African women and Asian men being left out because African men and Asian women have greater chance of finding a mate outside that race hence creating that void.

It is even a bigger problem than what you say for Asian men given the Asian cultural preference for male children and the subsequent net higher abortion rate of Asian females in Asian societies. Therefore, Asian men should develop a love for African women.....Problem solved ......

 

[breeze]

I encourage Muslim men to court white women like how black men do. White women are not restrained by any cultural values like women of other ethnic backgrounds, so getting friendly with white women is not difficult. White women are accepting to men of all races and backgrounds. We should all take advantage of this.

 

[TruthSeeker]

White women are not restrained by any cultural values like women of other ethnic backgrounds ...

This statement is a gross exaggeration. "any" cultural values? Or did you mean not restrained by "the same" cultural values as women of other ethnic backgrounds.... ?

 

[NeutralCitizen]

I encourage Muslim men to court white women like how black men do. White women are not restrained by any cultural values like women of other ethnic backgrounds, so getting friendly with white women is not difficult. White women are accepting to men of all races and backgrounds. We should all take advantage of this.

I agree with this.

 

[RazPaK]

I encourage Muslim men to court white women like how black men do. White women are not restrained by any cultural values like women of other ethnic backgrounds, so getting friendly with white women is not difficult. White women are accepting to men of all races and backgrounds. We should all take advantage of this.

Looks like you've got some experience on your hands. However any woman can be loose.