Interracial Marriage Rising but Not as Fast
UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous holds a news conferense in Damascus on May 21, 2012 as Syrian forces ambushed and killed nine army deserters in a northern suburb of the Syrian capital, according to a human rights watchdog while NATO ruled out military action against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. / LOUAI BESHARA/AFP/GettyImages
Melting pot or racial divide? The growth of interracial marriages is slowing among U.S.-born Hispanics and Asians. Still, blacks are substantially more likely than before to marry whites.
The number of interracial marriages in the U.S. has risen 20 percent since 2000 to about 4.5 million, according to the latest census figures. While still growing, that number is a marked drop-off from the 65 percent increase between 1990 and 2000.
About 8 percent of U.S. marriages are mixed-race, up from 7 percent in 2000.
The latest trend belies notions of the U.S. as a post-racial, assimilated society. Demographers cite a steady flow of recent immigration that has given Hispanics and Asians more ethnically similar partners to choose from while creating some social distance from whites due to cultural and language differences.
White wariness toward a rapidly growing U.S. minority population also may be contributing to racial divisions, experts said.
"Racial boundaries are not going to disappear anytime soon," said Daniel Lichter, a professor of sociology and public policy at Cornell University. He noted the increase in anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks as well as current tensions in Arizona over its new immigration law.
"With a white backlash toward immigrant groups, some immigrants are more likely to turn inward to each other for support," Lichter said.
Broken down by race, about 40 percent of U.S.-born Asians now marry whites - a figure unchanged since 1980. Their likelihood of marrying foreign-born Asians, meanwhile, multiplied 3 times for men and 5 times for women, to roughly 20 percent.
Among U.S.-born Hispanics, marriages with whites increased modestly from roughly 30 percent to 38 percent over the past three decades. But when it came to marriages with foreign-born Hispanics, the share doubled - to 12.5 percent for men, and 17.1 percent for women.
In contrast, blacks are now three times as likely to marry whites than in 1980. About 14.4 percent of black men and 6.5 percent of black women are currently in such mixed marriages, due to higher educational attainment, a more racially integrated military and a rising black middle class that provides more interaction with other races.
The numbers reflect in part an internal struggle that Asians and Hispanics say they feel navigating two cultural worlds - the U.S. and their parents' homeland.
Hai Nguyen, 37, of Houston recalls the instant connection she felt after meeting her first Vietnamese boyfriend, Greg, in college. Nguyen says while she had to explain herself to white boyfriends, with Greg it was a feeling that "he so gets me, because we eat the same food, we like the same things, our families know each other and there is so little that needs to be said."
With the enthusiastic support of her parents, she and Greg married. But their connection soon began to fade, due partly to Nguyen's budding career as a business analyst, which clashed with more traditional expectations for her to "always have fresh food on the table." The two divorced and Nguyen is now remarried to Jon, who is white.
"My parents have prejudices, but they've accepted it," said Nguyen. She described occasionally feeling different with her parents and other single-race couples. "They know it's inevitable. My native tongue will eventually fade, and history will take its course."
The demographic shifts can complicate conventional notions of racial identity.
Due to increasing interracial marriages, multiracial Americans are a small but fast-growing demographic group, making up about 5 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.
Still, many multiracial people - particularly those who are part black - shun a "multi" label in favor of identifying as a single race.
By some estimates, two-thirds of those who checked the single box of "black" on the census form are actually mixed, including President Barack Obama, who identified himself as black in the 2010 census even though his mother was white.
Census figures also show:
- Hawaii had the highest share of mixed marriages, about 32 percent. It was followed by Alaska, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Nevada, which ranged from 15 percent to 19 percent. The bottom five states were Pennsylvania, Maine, Kentucky, Mississippi and West Virginia, each ranging from 3 percent to 4 percent.
- Mississippi had the fastest growth in mixed marriages from 2000-08, a sign of closer ties between blacks and whites, though it still ranked second to last in overall share of mixed marriages.
- Mixed marriages jumped from 2.25 million to 3.7 million, or 65 percent, from 1990-2000, as such unions became more broadly accepted in Southern states.
- Among U.S.-born whites, about 0.3 percent married blacks in 1980; that figure rose to about 1 percent in 2008. About 0.3 percent of whites married Asians in 1980 and about 1 percent in 2008. About 2 percent of whites married Hispanics in 1980, rising to about 3.6 percent in 2008.
Juan Thurman, 37, a Houston sales account manager, says both family pressure and a strong ethnic identity weighed heavily on him as a Hispanic when he was dating, even as he found himself interacting more with other races in school.
In high school and at Rice University, Thurman said, he had fewer opportunities to meet Hispanic women in his honors classes. Ultimately, he married Emily, who is white, based on shared life views of gender equity and a liberal outlook toward religion. He relishes having friends of many different backgrounds.
"Interracial marriage is not a big deal," Thurman said. "Still, from a family standpoint, I did feel culturally different and I continue to feel so."
The figures come from previous censuses as well as the 2008 American Community Survey, which surveys 3 million households. 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.
© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The number of interracial marriages in the U.S. has risen 20 percent since 2000 to about 4.5 million, according to the latest census figures. While still growing, that number is a marked drop-off from the 65 percent increase between 1990 and 2000.
About 8 percent of U.S. marriages are mixed-race, up from 7 percent in 2000.
The latest trend belies notions of the U.S. as a post-racial, assimilated society. Demographers cite a steady flow of recent immigration that has given Hispanics and Asians more ethnically similar partners to choose from while creating some social distance from whites due to cultural and language differences.
White wariness toward a rapidly growing U.S. minority population also may be contributing to racial divisions, experts said.
"Racial boundaries are not going to disappear anytime soon," said Daniel Lichter, a professor of sociology and public policy at Cornell University. He noted the increase in anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks as well as current tensions in Arizona over its new immigration law.
"With a white backlash toward immigrant groups, some immigrants are more likely to turn inward to each other for support," Lichter said.
Broken down by race, about 40 percent of U.S.-born Asians now marry whites - a figure unchanged since 1980. Their likelihood of marrying foreign-born Asians, meanwhile, multiplied 3 times for men and 5 times for women, to roughly 20 percent.
Among U.S.-born Hispanics, marriages with whites increased modestly from roughly 30 percent to 38 percent over the past three decades. But when it came to marriages with foreign-born Hispanics, the share doubled - to 12.5 percent for men, and 17.1 percent for women.
In contrast, blacks are now three times as likely to marry whites than in 1980. About 14.4 percent of black men and 6.5 percent of black women are currently in such mixed marriages, due to higher educational attainment, a more racially integrated military and a rising black middle class that provides more interaction with other races.
The numbers reflect in part an internal struggle that Asians and Hispanics say they feel navigating two cultural worlds - the U.S. and their parents' homeland.
Hai Nguyen, 37, of Houston recalls the instant connection she felt after meeting her first Vietnamese boyfriend, Greg, in college. Nguyen says while she had to explain herself to white boyfriends, with Greg it was a feeling that "he so gets me, because we eat the same food, we like the same things, our families know each other and there is so little that needs to be said."
With the enthusiastic support of her parents, she and Greg married. But their connection soon began to fade, due partly to Nguyen's budding career as a business analyst, which clashed with more traditional expectations for her to "always have fresh food on the table." The two divorced and Nguyen is now remarried to Jon, who is white.
"My parents have prejudices, but they've accepted it," said Nguyen. She described occasionally feeling different with her parents and other single-race couples. "They know it's inevitable. My native tongue will eventually fade, and history will take its course."
The demographic shifts can complicate conventional notions of racial identity.
Due to increasing interracial marriages, multiracial Americans are a small but fast-growing demographic group, making up about 5 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.
Still, many multiracial people - particularly those who are part black - shun a "multi" label in favor of identifying as a single race.
By some estimates, two-thirds of those who checked the single box of "black" on the census form are actually mixed, including President Barack Obama, who identified himself as black in the 2010 census even though his mother was white.
Census figures also show:
- Hawaii had the highest share of mixed marriages, about 32 percent. It was followed by Alaska, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Nevada, which ranged from 15 percent to 19 percent. The bottom five states were Pennsylvania, Maine, Kentucky, Mississippi and West Virginia, each ranging from 3 percent to 4 percent.
- Mississippi had the fastest growth in mixed marriages from 2000-08, a sign of closer ties between blacks and whites, though it still ranked second to last in overall share of mixed marriages.
- Mixed marriages jumped from 2.25 million to 3.7 million, or 65 percent, from 1990-2000, as such unions became more broadly accepted in Southern states.
- Among U.S.-born whites, about 0.3 percent married blacks in 1980; that figure rose to about 1 percent in 2008. About 0.3 percent of whites married Asians in 1980 and about 1 percent in 2008. About 2 percent of whites married Hispanics in 1980, rising to about 3.6 percent in 2008.
Juan Thurman, 37, a Houston sales account manager, says both family pressure and a strong ethnic identity weighed heavily on him as a Hispanic when he was dating, even as he found himself interacting more with other races in school.
In high school and at Rice University, Thurman said, he had fewer opportunities to meet Hispanic women in his honors classes. Ultimately, he married Emily, who is white, based on shared life views of gender equity and a liberal outlook toward religion. He relishes having friends of many different backgrounds.
"Interracial marriage is not a big deal," Thurman said. "Still, from a family standpoint, I did feel culturally different and I continue to feel so."
The figures come from previous censuses as well as the 2008 American Community Survey, which surveys 3 million households. 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.
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It makes me feel a need to note of my
annoyance when the media uses phrases like:
'The U.S. society is "Becoming" more Multiracial' and
like: 'Multiracials are the fastest "Growing" Segment'.
The reason it annoys me is that -- I honestly feel that...
the reality of the situation is...in past generations the
fact that a person was 'Multiracial' was simply 'Ignored'
by society and, NOW that society is no longer in a position
to 'Ignore' us, it wants to treat us as if we are some sort
of "new alien-like phenomenon" that has just recently arrived
in the U.S. (and, thus, in a sense, continue to 'Ignore' those
of us who were Mixed-Race long before the trend of a new
surge in Interracial Relationships became so very popular).
Such presentations manage to conveniently leave out
the fact that...for instance -- 1) in 1920, the entire
'Mulatto' population of the U.S. had essentially and
mysteriously "disappeared from existence" -- thanks
to government forms no longer allowing an option
which would acknowledge the existence of such (as
well as government bureaucrats like Walter Plecker,
with his racist 'VA Racial-Integrity Act', and Naomi
Drake); 2) the Multi-Generational Multiracially-Mixed
(MGM-Mixed) individuals and people groupings (such
as Creoles, Melungeons, etc.) have existed in the U.S.
since the start of the nation; 3) that a non-scientific,
racist, and eugenics-based (yet often legally-enforced)
social-construct called the 'One-Drop Rule' both forced
'false-identities' on people and forced different groups to
'pretend' to be one "singular" group and led to the bullying
(sometimes violently) of Mixed-Race people if they dared
to protest or take a stand against this 'forced' and often
visibly-false 'identity' 4) that there are many different
'types' of Mixed-Race people and groups in existence; etc.
In my humble opinion, the many stories relating to the
"surprisingly larger" numbers of the U.S. Mixed-Race
population should use statements such as 'U.S. society
is "Acknowledging" Multiracials more" and/or that
'Multiracials are the fastest "Acknowledged" segment'
-- because, based on the way MOST news stories present
the topic, people who are unfamiliar with the matter would
likely find themselves being under the (false) impression
that the literally 'millions' of Mixed-Race people whose
existence the U.S. has 'Finally Acknowledged' (since
the Census of 2000) -- are solely or mainly the result
of First-Generation / Interracial Liaisons...when,
in reality, they/ we were 'on the scene' long, long,
before the celebrated Census of 2000 and / or the oh
so trendy "newest surge" in Interracial Relationships.
My hope, my dream, my wish is that...the media will stop
giving the (false) impression that being of Mixed-Race is
"a 'new' phenomenon" in the U.S. and will, instead work to
clue people into the fact that...were it not for racist laws
and "rules" refusing to even 'Acknowledge' our existence in
the years past -- the figures would not seem so "incredible"
and "shocking" in today's world AND the world would actually
begin to understand that many of those of us who are, in fact
Mixed-Race Americans are NOT the result of some sort of a
trendy "new surge" in Interracial Relationships (and/or
society's acceptance of such) AND it would not continue
to (falsely) credit this activity with what is simply, in
my opinion, the 'sudden Acknowledgement' of our existence.
Many of us Mixed-Race people have existed for decades
(regardless of the fact that neither the government nor
most of society would choose to 'Acknowledge' our
existence) -- and (in spite of what the news media
would falsely lead society to believe) we are not 'all'
the result of the "newest" social trend in Interracial
Relationships (particularly those who are the products
of endogamous MGM-Mixed families and / or people
groupings -- such as Creoles, Melungeons, etc) -- but
rather we have been in the U.S. for centuries --and--
until the Census of 2000, many of the people (and the
government institutions) in the U.S. society of the
past -- chose to simply either 'refuse to see us'
and/or chose to simply 'look upon us with disdain'.
Regardless of the past, our society and the media, NOW
needs to, in my opinion, BOTH continue-to 'Acknowledge'
the fact of our existence -- AND to also 'Acknowledge'
the FACT that many of those of us who are Mixed-Race
in The States have actually "existed for a very, very very
long time AND that (while a sudden surge in 'Interracial
Relationships' may be "a new thing") we Mixed-Race
people in America are, most certainly, NOT "a new thing".
-- AllPeople (AP) Gifts
soaptalk@hotmail.com)
Founder/Moderator of the sites below:
facebook(DOT)com/allpeople.gifts
groups(DOT)yahoo(DOT)com/group/Generation-Mixed
groups(DOT)yahoo(DOT)com/group/MGM-Mixed
groups(DOT)yahoo(DOT)com/group/FGM-Mixed
youtube(DOT)com/user/apgifts
You say it all it is time we the American people put aside any and all race debate we all started out as Immigrants even the Indian people America is and should be the Melting Pot of the world why because as people come and live here something wonderful happens yes they become Americans but this country becomes Stronger much Stronger and because we embrace evey one that settles here their children and the children of their children are willing to do what is needed to protect this country.
There are more children of past Immigrants serving today that ever before why because they Love America because it gives them a chance to build a safe home for those that follow just as our Ancestors did for Us.
This Country is unlike any other we do not look over or shoulders when the government makes a sweep to remove those outspoken against them.
Though our Police maybe Heavy handed at times they can't just shut you up by locking you up here we have freedom of speech a right granted by past Immigrants Our Forefathers because no doubt about it they were Immigrants each and everyone from the Indians to the Pilgrims and that is what makes us so Great.
So other countries and some of their people hate us thats because we offer something they do not have nor will they ever get Personal Freedom to say or do with in reason what we want and against whoever we want as long as it is the truth.
Is it any reason People of the outside world want to live here they want what many Americans have fought and died for FREEDOM to speak to live without persecution Freedom to raise a family Undoctrinated Freedom to just be who they are to live to love to build a life.
Here in America that is the norm but in many other countries that is against the Law punishable by imprisonment or even Death for some and that is the real shame because all they want is the right to live and prosper be it Family or to be Profitable.
If one thinks it through some of our greatest thinkers and Leaders were Immigrants but that did not stop them they gave of them selves many dieing in poverty just to give back what they were given They suffered our slights, slings and arrows but still they gave why because unlike some of us they Loved America with an open Heart willing to give all they had just to make this country better because they believed in it and wanted to succeed and be the Greatest Nation In the World.
I am Irish American 1/10 of 1 percent Indian that makes me 99.9 percent but I am All American why because that is my History not who I am I was Born American and Bleed American I may relish my history but I care more about my Future I maybe Irish by history but I'm all American By Birth and I am willing to die for my Choice are you?
God may bless America but its people are what makes it Great!
We are a Great Nation but it is only because of the People that live,Work and prosper here and are willing to Fight to grant that life to others.