Majority of Americans Support Interracial Marriage

As recently as 1967, rules restricting people from marrying outside their race existed in the United States. The Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court trial ultimately struck down “anti-miscegenation laws,” as they were called, but couples who dared break racial barriers were often harassed in the decades following. Today, things still aren’t easy for people in interracial relationships, but studies show they’re getting much better. They also suggest that, one day, nobody will care.

More than 35 percent of Americans say they now have a family member in a relationship with someone of a different race. And in 2008, more than 30 percent of whites getting married were doing so with someone who wasn’t white. For Blacks, that rate was more than one in four. And with more and more families becoming familiar with interracial dating, it makes sense that the trend is for fewer and fewer people to care about interracial relationships.

Overall, 63 percent of Americans say they’re OK with their family members marrying someone outside of their race. That number isn’t great, but things look up when you ignore older people and look at just the opinions of “millenials,” the group of Americans who are currently 29 and under. Unlike their elders, almost all millenials support mixed-race couples—the only difference is to what extent.

Sadly, millenials tend to have a different view of how acceptable it is to marry outside your race based on what race you’re intending to marry. For instance, while 93 percent of millenials think it’s fine to marry an Asian-American, only 88 percent think it’s OK to marry an African-American.

The kids are getting better, but they’re not perfect yet.

(Photo: OLIVER BERG/Landov)