What is the truth about intermarriage between members of different races in America?

Washington - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner was considered a radical turning point in the history of the American film industry, as it dealt with the subject of a love affair and desire for marriage between a white girl (played by actress Catherine Hutton) and a black man (played by the actor). Sidney Poitier).

The film was produced in 1967 when the laws of 17 US states prevented mixed interracial marriage, hence the film was considered in that period as a violation of racist norms and traditions, and the situation continued until June 12, 1967, when the Supreme Court ruled the absolute right to marry between members of the races in Loving v. Virginia.

What is the fastest growing segment of the population?

The population of the United States , according to the Federal Census Bureau, is now 333 million, of whom 59.3% are white, 18.9% are Hispanic, 12.6% are African, 5.9% are Asian, and 3.3% are other races.

If current rates of population increase continue , the United States will become a country without a racial majority; The white population will drop to less than 50% by 2045.

And more than 35 million Americans define themselves in 2021 as multiracial, that is, they are the product of a mixed intermarriage between two different races, and this segment is the fastest growing among the population, as its number was only 9 million in 2010.

Increased acceptance of mixed-race marriage... But!

In 1961, only 4% of Americans approved of black and white marriage, while today, 94% of Americans approve of such marriage, according to Gallup data .

In 2021, one in 10 married people - nearly 11 million Americans - is married to someone of a different race, which is 5 times what it was in 1967.

Recent survey results indicate that while the majority of white people said they would live with, marry and have children with black spouses, only a small percentage of them actually did.

At the same time, the most common type of mixed marriage is between whites and Hispanics, and these relationships made up 38% of all mixed marriages in 2020. The marriage of whites to Asians made up another 14% of all mixed marriages, while those of whites to blacks made up 8% .

These numbers reflect economic, political, cultural and racial factors. At a time when 72% of blacks said they would accept marriage of another race, the percentage for whites was 61%, and for Hispanics 63%.

The most common mixed marriages are between whites and Asians, and whites and Latinos, while non-white marriages to each other account for only 20% of all interracial marriages.

These percentages are higher among younger, more educated Americans than others. There is great geographic variation in where mixed marriages occur; It is more common in urban areas than in rural settings, according to a Pew Center analysis .

For example, last year , multiracial marriages in Honolulu, Hawaii , accounted for 42% of all marriages, while the proportion did not exceed 3% in Jackson, southern Mississippi.

Political consequences of interracial marriage

Acceptance of interracial couples has grown steadily over the past decades and years, although the challenges and pressures unique to these couples still exist.

Many interracial couples in the United States are concerned, especially with a heated and renewed public debate on issues ranging from racial justice, immigration, and racism, to outright attacks on minorities.

Meanwhile, the United States has seen more mixed-race marriages and more mixed-racial children, and the country has seen an increase in hate crimes and mass shootings motivated by racial bias.

At a time when the United States is moving towards a country whose demographic composition is changing rapidly, away from the dominance of quantitative whites, the feelings of racism, xenophobia and immigrants are increasing, as expressed in the policies of former President Donald Trump, whether by preventing Muslims from entering several countries, or building the separation wall with Southern border with Mexico.

Racial tension and anti-immigrant sentiment have risen over the past few years, and white Americans feel threatened by their growing diversity.

A recent Pew Research Center poll found that 59 percent of Republicans and 46 percent of whites believe that the decline in the majority of the white population will weaken American culture.

Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States

Kamala Harris, US Vice President Joe Biden, provides a vivid example of interracial marriage: a black Christian woman married to Doug Imhoff, a white Jewish man. The couple formed a mixed ethnically and religiously family, although educationally and culturally close.

It remains that Harris and Imhoff represent a very small percentage among married couples who do not share the religion of their spouse, as even with the increase of people of different races and their tendency to marry other races, the percentage remains very small in cases of cross-religious marriages.