Interracial couples on the rise

In today’s modern world it is astonishing to think that interracial relationships could be considered taboo by any rational person. In the last 40 years society has come a long way in the acceptance of partners of different races.

                Some U.S. states still had laws forbidding interracial marriage as late as the 1960’s. In 1967 the Supreme Court deemed all anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional making it legal for all races to marry. Since that time there has been a significant rise in the not only the number of interracial marriages but also of interracial co-habitation.

                According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 15 percent of new marriages in the United States in 2008 were between spouses of different races or ethnicities. That is six times higher than recorded in 1960. If you take co-habitation in to consideration the number of interracial couples is even higher. For example, although only 7 percent of married African American men had Caucasian American wives in 2008, 13 percent of African American men reported co-habitation with someone of another race.

                Interracial couples are even displayed more frequently on T.V. (Ross had a black girlfriend on Friend’s) and in movies (Zoe Saldana and Ashton Kutcher in the re-make of Guess Who). We are seeing couples of all ethnicities together in the media: Seal and Hedi Klum; Eva Longoria and Tony Parker; Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves.

                It has become common to see interracial couples in our society. The rise of interracial marriage and co-habitation is reflected on T.V., in the movies, and in the media.