Interracial Marriages on the Rise in the US

A new study by the liberal Brookings Institute has found a jump in numbers of interracial couples across all races in the United States.

The study, released in the middle of December, found a rise in interracial relationships especially with Asians, Hispanics, and Native Indians/Alaskan Natives. But whites and blacks are also marrying other races more today than in the past.

Up to 8.4 percent of new marriages were interracial, the study found. This is up from .4 percent in 1960.

The study found some quirks in the statistics. For instance, Asian women were far more apt to marry white or black men than Asian men were to find a relationship outside their race.

Additionally, it was discovered that black women marry outside their race less often than black men. Only 9 percent of black women date or marry white men, while 24 percent of black males end up with white women.

But, even as black and white relationships are less likely, William H. Frey of Brookings says that the number is still significant and shows how America is changing.

Frey noted, “as black-white marriages were prohibited in 16 states until 1967. The fact that nearly three in 10 new black marriages are multiracial with most of them to white spouses reflects an important shift toward blurring a long-held color line in the United States.”

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.