Interracial article that needs to be read. your thoughts please

Interracial marriage still rising, but not as fast

– Married for 7 months, Hai Nguyen, 37 and her husband John Pope, 37, sit outside their home in Houston, … .By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer Hope Yen, Associated Press Writer – Wed May 26, 7:01 am ET

WASHINGTON – 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.
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What does this article says about the future of IR in your opinion

 

i think the article indicates that some people will date/marry interracially. Although the numbers are not accurate IMO,however I have noticed more people interacting with other racial groups. Now Asians are more likely to marry whites because it's more socially acceptable in their culture.

 

wesly snipes is trying to change that thought process. LOL

I think it is show that the world is getting smaller ( more interaction between races and cultures) and with more education people cant be lied to anymore.

I have become a lover of country music now because of the smaller world.

 

More & more of a global, cosmopolitan perspective is being taken by *lots* of people...


Still & all, there *are*, sadly enough, those that *still* refuse to look beyond their veiw of across the street where they reside...

Words To Live By : Broaden Your Horizons!






'Nuff Said!!!!


















OpinionsCartoonStudios@Yahoo.Co.UK

 

The article states that IR bet Blacks and whites has increased threefold.

The Kid Rasta

 

you think homogenous races will be the minority soon

 

Interracial will never be common, although I like white women and enjoy seeing them with black men I know it's not how nature meant it, there is nothing wrong with whites marrying whites and blacks marrying blacks, in fact that's how it should be, interracial couples will always be a minority and that's a good thing, imagine what the world would be like if everyone was brown, not nearly as beautiful and colorful as it is now.

Don't worry about it , there's plenty of white girls out there

 

It's time for you to GO!!!!!!!! BAN HIM!!!!

 

^
Man, did you even read what I wrote, it's not because we like interracial that we should apply our standards to society, you can't seriously expect interracial couples to be more than 5% of society, unless of course, you want the world to look like northern Brazil, I can tell you it's not healthy.

I love white women as much as you do, but come on, some of you guys need a reality check.

 

This is why you need to go!!!!!

There is no one look or color that will be produced by "mixing"

Please elaborate.... hopefully it's crude and will get you banned!!

 

Ok, let me elaborate on it, if nature didn't mean for whites to marry whites, blacks to marry blacks and Asians to marry Asians we would all have been born the same race, if we were born different it's because there is a purpose, but so what, the human mouth wasn't meant for sex either but people still have oral sex, so I'm not saying it's WRONG for people to date interracially (If it was wrong for people to date interracially I would be wrong too since I'm currently dating a white girl and have dated white girls all my life), I'm just saying as a rule of thumb people choose their own race over other races, there is a huge difference between tribalism and racism, even if all racism died on this planet most people would still marry their own.

As for that Brazil comment, if you're not Brazilian you'll never understand it, mixed people are like, 48% of the population in Brazil, and they lack identity, they don't know what they are, the Portuguese pretty much created a new race down here.

 

you're a racialist of the worst order...please keep giving your beliefs on race, "the new ones" and the like....

 

^ Nah, just being realistic, I don't live in a bubble.

 

Actually...No. If IR mating was somehow unnatural then nature would have put in safeguards to prevent it. When humans take two similar animals that aren't supposed to be mated, (horse and donkey=mule, lion + tiger=liger) and mix them to produce offspring, most of that offspring will be sterile. Because they are different species. The fact that people from different racial groups ARE able to produce completely healthy and fully functional offspring is evidence that it is in fact natural.

Social pressures and conditioning also contribute heavily to same race preference.

Are you sure these differences didn't develop later as humans spread out from Africa and adapted to different environments?

Asian women have a very high rate of preferring whites over their own. The reason for this is conditioning. Countless hours of it.

The term "race" is not really all that scientific to begin with.

 

You believe ""race-mixing" is unnatural!!! Is this your opinion as a realist? Whatever this belief is rooted in, you should be banned from this site based on that opinion alone!!!

 

You don't need to me tell me about Brazil. There is no one look or color that will be produced by "mixing" doesn't just apply to Brazilians. You are supposedly mixed? Do you lack an identity? What are you? A new race?

 

Well, the fact that they can produce offspring only means they're from the same species, that's actually what defines being from the same species.

Also the fact that some people tend to feel more confortable among people who look like them, I remember reading a question on yahoo answers once where a girl said she's happy her husband is blonde and has blue eyes like her because she can be sure what her kids will look like.

Could be, but that's irrelevant.

I really don't think Asian women prefer white men over their own,while many like white men I think that's kinda harsh

I'm sure some people would disagree, but you might be right to some extent as "race" is a cultural concept, physical differences, however are not a social concept, if I go to Finland they will know I'm not Finn just by looking at me.

 

Well, you read what I wrote and nowhere did I say "race-mixing" is unnatural, in fact I have even posted pictures of me and WHITE GIRLFRIEND on this site, so, no I don't think it's unnatural, but if you still think there is something inappropriate about my beliefs then feel freel to ban me as my beliefs will remain unchanged, I will not let anyone bully me into adopting their viewpoints, that's what I believe in, deal with it.

 

Yes, I'm mixed but I'm not mixed in the way typical Brazilians are, my father is a black Brazilian and my mother is German, so I'm a first generation mischling, that's different, the racial make-up of mixed Brazilians goes back some 500 years, they have been systematically mixing for 500 years, that's not just a few generations, so no, I don't like identity as I can see my father and mother everyday and I know exactly who I am.

 

What are you trying to say here, if not that?

...telling everyone you need to go for that belief is how I'm dealing with it!!!!!!