Interracial marriages surge across U.S.

[CMF Newsman]

NEW YORK - The charisma king of the 2008 presidential field. The world's best golfer. The captain of the New York Yankees. Besides superstardom, Barack Obama, Tiger Woods and Derek Jeter have another common bond: Each is the child of an interracial marriage.

For most of U.S. history, in most communities, such unions were taboo.

It was only 40 years ago — on June 12, 1967 — that the U.S. Supreme Court knocked down a Virginia statute barring whites from marrying nonwhites. The decision also overturned similar bans in 15 other states.

Since that landmark Loving v. Virginia ruling, the number of interracial marriages has soared; for example, black-white marriages increased from 65,000 in 1970 to 422,000 in 2005, according to Census Bureau figures. Factoring in all racial combinations, Stanford University sociologist Michael Rosenfeld calculates that more than 7 percent of America's 59 million married couples in 2005 were interracial, compared to less than 2 percent in 1970

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[daworm]

Ok, I am now officially tired of the word "surge".

[el Gusano]

Interestingly, interracial marriages were where our marriage licenses got started and Big Daddy Gov'mint got started in the industry of regulating and taxing a religious institution. It was in SC, and a man wanted to marry his former slave, and he had to have a license because he had to have permission to marry a black woman. Up until that time, the notes in the preachers' Bibles or at the churches were quite sufficient.

FWIW, about 80% of the blacks we have here are the product of interracial marriages in which a white woman thought that the answer to her prayers were to marry a black man, then she found out that the color of the skin didn't make him a better man. Also, about 80% of our white-black interracial marriages (as opposed to the single mothers who moved here) are a white man with a black woman. None of the ones that I personally know (and that's most of them) could be classified as the n word. (But, we do have plenty of white trash.)

[Dreamwebber]

Interesting....with as many people in the south who claim they have Cherokee blood I would think Interacial relationships started a long time ago

[one]

That wouldn't make the news though. Not juicy enough.

[Longshot! [ Saint ]]

I just want as many people as possible to enjoy the bliss of marriage.

(And the occasional emotional thermonuclear-detonation of divorce. Some of the 'character builders' are also 'Funny Stories.' )