Recent Study Finds Interracial Marriages in the United States at All-Time High

It seems somewhat incredible that only 45 years ago (in 1967) the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for any state to make interracial marriages illegal. That was in the historical case of Loving v. Virginia, and it marked the beginning and true reality of “true love has no color.”

Now, in 2012, research has shown that, more than any other time in the history of the United States, people are continually acting on their belief that love is colorless. According to MSNBC, The Pewter Reserach Center found that 1 in 12 Americans marry outside their race. They report that this might be due to more opportunities to marry interracially as a result of increase in immigration, particularly by Asian and Hispanic groups. The study states that about 8 per cent of all marriages in this country are interracial ones.

In addition, the study found that Asians and Hispanics were the most likely to marry other races; while blacks have had recent spikes in interracial marriages, despite historically being the least likely to marry “out.”

As a result, there are approximately 9 million close-generation mixed-race individuals in the United States which translates to approximately 8 per cent of the population.

Given these recent increases in interracial marriages and mixed-race Americans, do you think interracial couples will still be considered a strange pair in public? Do you think it is unusual when you see an interracial couple or do you accept it as part of an ever-evolving, more accepting societal dynamic?