A Brief History of Intercultural Marriage's Legal Status in the USA
Intercultural marriages are both as old as time and as new as this decade.
While it has been true that the majority of Americans today support mixed race marriages, this has not always been the case, and it has only been legal to do so in recent history.
In an episode of Notes from America with Kai Wright (Intercultural relationships are more common, but are they less taboo? On Feb 12, 2024) he shared that the growing number of married couples that identify themselves as interracial or interethnic relationships is now more than 10%. (This is only regarding marriage, not other relationships).
And the history of the legality of these unions likely plays a role.
The 2023 federal ruling states that interracial couples can now legally marry and have their unions recognized and protected under federal law. (This overrules any state law restrictions). Yes, it was just that recent.
56 years prior to that this issue had to be taken all the way to the Supreme Court to be permitted. This was done in the case of Loving v. Virginia (1967) when a Supreme Court ruled that laws restricting interracial marriage were unconstitutional. The film Loving (2016) was made about this detailing the lower court rulings, jail time, and extreme measures that had to be taken to win the right to legally marry a person of a different race. FYI - While this addressed the issue on a federal level, state laws could still restrict marriage, which is why the federal ruling in 2023 is very important.
Prior to that (and sometime still today) interracial and interethnic marriages were stigmatized and frowned upon in the USA.
From a historic context, the tide has turned relatively recently. In Notes from America with Kai Wright (Feb 12, 2024) he shared that in the 2020 census nearly, 40 million people identified themselves as multi-racial. That was almost a 300% increase from the decade before. I am proud to be one of the many who are a part of this statistic.
I support and welcome more multi-ethnic couples and families to celebrate their love and their unions and to live the intention that this nation promises – freedom, equality, and the pursuit of happiness.
