Interracial marriages at an all-time high, study says

[alienlovechild 75]

(CNN) -- The first time Priya Merrill, who is Indian, brought her white boyfriend home for Thanksgiving in 2007, the dinner was uncomfortable and confusing. She still remembers her family asking if Andrew was the bartender or a family photographer.

The couple married last August, and her Indian family has warmed up to her husband despite their racial differences.

"I think we get the best of both cultures," said Merrill, 27, of New York. She added, "Sometimes I just forget that we're interracial. I don't really think about it."

Apparently, race is mattering less these days, say researchers at the Pew Research Center, who report that nearly one out of seven new marriages in the U.S. is interracial or interethnic. The report released Friday, which interviewed couples married for less than a year, found racial lines are blurring as more people choose to marry outside their race.

He said interracial marriages have soared since the 1980s. About 6.8 percent of newly married couples reported marrying outside their race or ethnicity in 1980. That figure jumped to about 14.6 percent in the Pew report released this week, which surveyed newlyweds in 2008.

Couples pushing racial boundaries have become commonplace in the U.S., a trend that is also noticeable in Hollywood and politics. President Obama is the product of a black father from Africa and a white mother from Kansas. Supermodel Heidi Klum, who is white, married Seal, a British singer who is black.

However, studies show that support for interracial marriages is stronger than in the past, especially among the Millennial generation. Among 18- to 29-year-olds, about 85 percent accept interracial marriages, according to a Pew study published in February. Scholars say interracial marriages are important to examine because they can be a barometer for race relations and cultural assimilation.

In 1958, a woman of black and Native American descent named Mildred Jeter had married a white man, Richard Loving. The couple married in Washington, D.C., instead of their home state of Virginia, where state laws outlawed interracial marriages. The couple was arrested by police. Their case made its way to the Supreme Court in the case Loving vs. Virginia in 1967, where the justices unanimously ruled that laws banning interracial marriages were unconstitutional.

The Pew Center study released Friday found that marrying outside of one's race or ethnicity is most common among Asians and Hispanics, two immigrant groups that have grown tremendously. About 30 percent of Asian newlyweds in the study married outside of their race, and about a quarter of Hispanic newlyweds reported marrying someone of another race.

The African-American population also saw increases in interracial marriage, with the number of blacks participating in such marriages roughly tripling since 1980, the study said. About 16 percent of African-Americans overall are in an interracial marriage, but researchers point out a gender difference: It's more common for black men to marry outside of their race than for black women.

The gender difference was the reverse in the Asian population surveyed. Twice as many newlywed Asian women, about 40 percent, were married outside their race, compared with Asian men, at about 20 percent.

The Pew Center also found education and residency affected whether people married interracially, with college-educated adults being more likely to do so. More people who live in the West marry outside their race than do people in the Midwest and South, the survey found.

Cherlin explained why education has helped bridge various races and ethnic groups: With more minorities attending college, education, rather than race, becomes a common thread holding couples together.

"If I'm a college graduate, I am going to marry another graduate," Cherlin said. "It's of secondary importance if that person is my race."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/06/04/pew.interracial.marriage/?hpt=Mid

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Things haven't changed much. For years, data has shown that Asian men and Black women have had the hardest time finding partners across racial barriers.

[KaiserD 12]

I remember once naively thinking that there wasn't even any controversy to be had over this, ah how wrong I was.

We've had some headaches in both the UK and US about it, more here than there certainly. Even though I've had a couple of racist comments made towards me personally, the thing that offended me the most was an article written in Essence magazine called "Black men and white women, and why it still hurts" and all of the "enlightened" discussion that ensued.

I found a lot of discussions about a mindset that to some black men, black women were like the "bottom of the crop" that somehow dating white women was like a status thing. I cant't say I know any black men that think like that but black women are better off without men like that anyways. There is nothing lesser about them whatsoever.

On the flip side I'm not going to apologize for marrying someone I adore just because he's a different colour to me

It seems like such an obvious thing, marrying the person who is right for you regardless of where they are from that it is very difficult for me to imagine that interracial marriages were once illegal. The saddest part was 1967 wasn't even all that long ago.

[besaangel 18]

Interracial is HOT... Hubby & I are loving our cultural mix

[alienlovechild 75]

It seems like such an obvious thing, marrying the person who is right for you regardless of where they are from that it is very difficult for me to imagine that interracial marriages were once illegal. The saddest part was 1967 wasn't even all that long ago.

1967 wasn't that long ago but I've seen a lot changes in this topic. I don't recall any single incident that changed people's minds but it happened largely because it simply mattered less. Your chances of finding a compatible spouse increase if you don't exclude whole blocks of individuals based on race or ethnic background.

[SuperDuper! 230]

So why is your topic news?

[alienlovechild 75]

So why is your topic news?

I didn't write it but the fact there's little buzz given the nature of the forum goes to show how much things have changed in this country so that's notable in a way.

Now for something completely different.

How is a 50 day oil spill still a headline story? Watching a broken pipe and oil covered birds or oil blobs on a beach isn't breaking news either. Same coverage and same images everyday.

[SuperDuper! 230]

I didn't write it but the fact there's little buzz given the nature of the forum goes to show how much things have changed in this country so that's notable in a way.

Now for something completely different.

How is a 50 day oil spill still a headline story? Watching a broken pipe and oil covered birds or oil blobs on a beach isn't breaking news either. Same coverage and same images everyday.

I've seen many inter-racial couples hooking up for years, so it's no big deal. Your bringing up the oil spill as some connection to this topic concerns me. Talk to people close to you for support.

[Heracles 417]

I didn't write it but the fact there's little buzz given the nature of the forum goes to show how much things have changed in this country so that's notable in a way.

Now for something completely different.

How is a 50 day oil spill still a headline story? Watching a broken pipe and oil covered birds or oil blobs on a beach isn't breaking news either. Same coverage and same images everyday.

An oil spill by a private corporation destroying a large percentage of the US Southern coastline is a very big deal.

Funny how these but UPS does it better types are all quite on this issue. Had it been government, well you know the drill.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

As anyone noticed the nonchalant way that these oil spill clean-up workers move? Most of the vids Ive seen is that theyre just standing around, doing pretty much nothing.

Another thing ive noticed is the media keeps showing the same oil soaked bird vids over and over again with no clean-up workers in sight.

How many birds die on roads all over the world in a day? Context?

Edited June 9, 2010 by Col. Lingus

[Heracles 417]

As anyone noticed the nonchalant way that these oil spill clean-up workers move? Most of the vids Ive seen is that theyre just standing around, doing pretty much nothing.

Another thing ive noticed is the media keeps showing the same oil soaked bird vids over and over again with no clean-up workers in sight.

Dude had the private sector been responsible for this, it would have been plugged, fixed and cleaned in no-time. Oh wait.... #### ###### ####...

Edited June 9, 2010 by Booyah!

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Who cares about color?

[The_Dude 1,142]

As anyone noticed the nonchalant way that these oil spill clean-up workers move? Most of the vids Ive seen is that theyre just standing around, doing pretty much nothing.

Another thing ive noticed is the media keeps showing the same oil soaked bird vids over and over again with no clean-up workers in sight.

How many birds die on roads all over the world in a day? Context?

Thank you for another episode of "Musings of an Imbecile"

A lot of the "workers" are in fact volunteers. So your allusion to their being lazy and undoubtedly wasting taxpayer money is unfounded.

[Heracles 417]

Thank you for another episode of "Musings of an Imbecile"

A lot of the "workers" are in fact volunteers. So your allusion to their being lazy and undoubtedly wasting taxpayer money is unfounded.

Shut up. The private sector will fix all of this up.

What day of epic failure are we on again?

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Thank you for another episode of "Musings of an Imbecile"

A lot of the "workers" are in fact volunteers. So your allusion to their being lazy and undoubtedly wasting taxpayer money is unfounded.

On the front lines are ya mr.all knowing?