After 40 years, interracial marriage flourishing

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18090277/ ^

[celejrm313]

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.

[PAR35]

John Kerry married and African woman.

[CarrotAndStick]

???

[untenured]

Theresa Heinz Kerry grew up in (IIRC) Mozambique.

[wideawake]

Indeed. There's no reason why the government should care what your ethnicity is.

I just don't believe this woman is telling the truth when she claims to be questioned about her racial indentity almost every day.

Methinks she is unhealthily preoccupied about her own "racial identity" rather than just being happy to be an American.

[uglybiker]

Hillary Clinton married the first black President.

[CarrotAndStick]

Oh, okay.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Many prominent blacks — including Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, civil rights leader Julian Bond and former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun — have married whites. Well-known whites who have married blacks include former Defense Secretary William Cohen and actor Robert DeNiro.

To state the obvious, in the absence of racial discrimination a black (of either sex) would be equally likely as a white to marry a white, and less likely to marry a black than a white since there are more white potential mates than black ones.

Equally obvious is the fact that that is not the observed reality. But it might be expected that since blacks have historically been accorded less status than whites, the opportunity and hence the rate of intermarriage would be higher among higher-status blacks than among the black population at large. And it could be anticipated that the black population at large would look askance at that . . .

[GATOR NAVY]

I think you’re correct. Look at this woman-she’s a professor of African-American studies. She’s made race her life’s work.

[AIM-54]

"Is the woman usually white in these cases?" Look at the multi-millionaire black, and you'll find they prefer "trophy wives", usually blonde.... Quite obvious, but un-PC to mention.

a.k.a. 'golddiggers' - very un-pc to admit.

[art_rocks]

Marry outside your race and you get to have more holidays.

[goldstategop]

I'm glad the bans were struck down. Who you decide to fall in love with, have a relationship with, marry and have kids with is NONE of the government's business. As a conservative, I see individuals, not races. I think it makes our country stronger and better when people relate to other as individuals rather than as members of some prescribed ethnic group. Anyway, our evaluation of a suitable mate should take into account qualities we can't see: character, communication skills, and commitment. That's a heck of a lot more decisive than their skin pigmentation.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[Cecily]

Tom and Helen were the best couple.

[PAR35]

Thanks for pointing out my typo. I’ll try again:

John Kerry married an African woman.

[NucSubs]

Awesome movie.

[Clock King]

Broken clock ...right twice ...

[El Cid]

Re: #18

For the past 10+ years I've been scratching those categories off of the government forms and just writing in "American". I don't think they actually call it 'race', but 'ethnicity'. We're all ethnic Americans - old-timers or new (legal) arrivals.

Besides there is just one race. As one who believes that we're all descended from Noah and Mrs. Noah, and Shem and Mrs. Shem, and Japeth and Mrs. Japeth, and Ham and Mrs. Ham, from ~5 thousand years ago, we're all cousins (some nearer than others) anyways.

[Clock King]

Kim, a white woman raised on Cape Cod, met Al, who is black, in 1993 after she came to Jackson’s Tougaloo College to study history.

Mmmm. My mom went to Tougaloo...

Hate to take the side of the family, and I won't! But I do sense what they are feeling. But if she's been with her husband for at least 12 years and has two kids, she's probably a keeper.

[Polybius]

Only in America can a poor black boy grow up to be a rich, white woman.

And only in America can a good-looking black boy grow up to be an ugly white woman.

[wideawake]

It's interesting that the segment of the African-American population who are most vociferous about the lack of suitable African-American marriage partners are urban women.

The eternal complaint from this demographic segment is that there is no one for them to marry because all the men their age in the neighborhood are either dating women from outside the community (I have seen women from this community openly insult the white wives of African-American men) or are in trouble with the law, or unambitious slackers, or cads who date and impregnate many women but who will not settle down with one. There is an entire self-help cottage industry of books on this topic, with an avid readership.

At the same time, this is the group in the African-American community which is least willing to date or marry outside their ethnic group.

If a white man asks a young, blue-collar African-American woman out, her response usually ranges from anger to laughter to confusion - as in "is this white boy crazy?"

Most marriages between African-Americans and whites seem to consist of African-American men married to white women. A smaller group consist of white men married to professional African-American women.

Almost no blue collar white men are married to blue collar African-American women. And it's not because blue collar white men are an unvariegated army of racists.

There is a very deep cultural thing going on here.

[Riverman94610]

The reason so few black women are with working class white men is because most”sisters” are on an upward mobility trip.They want to “better themselves”with a man of any color who has serious”ends”.They especially don’t want the drama of a mixed relationship while struggling to stay afloat financially.
This attitude is not limited to black women but more pronounced in them since most of them have”come up hard”and don’t want to scrape and struggle like their parents did.