Interracial Couples Increasingly Common...But Many Aren't Marrying; U.S. Census Data Show....
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Interracial couples are increasingly common in America, but many are opting not to get married.
That's according to a new analysis of U.S. Census data published by the Los Angeles Times, which found racially and ethnically mixed couples were more than twice as common in 2012 as they were in 2000.
But
there were also more than twice of the amount of unmarried interracial
couples living together than married ones. In 2012, nine percent of
unmarried couples living together came from different races, compared
with about four percent of married couples, according to Census Bureau
data.
"The same gap exists for Latinos — who are not counted as a
race by the Census Bureau — living with or marrying people who aren't
Latino," the newspaper added.
Some researchers say the reason for interracial couples not marrying is disapproving family members.
"You
don't need to get a blessing from either side of the family [to live
together]," Zhenchao Qian, a sociology professor at Ohio State
University, told the Times. "Moving to the next stage is sometimes more
difficult."
That's because "many older Americans, especially whites, are still uneasy about interracial marriage."
Or
there were three ago. According to a 2009 study by the Pew Research
Center, just half of white respondents aged 50 to 64 said they would be
fine with one of their relatives marrying someone of any other race or
ethnicity.
Another reason for the parental uneasiness cited by researchers: fear of a loss of culture.
"That seemed to be the more common concern," Damon Brown, an African American man married to an Indian American woman, told the paper. Their families thought "you can be black, or you can be Hindi," he said.
Whatever the case, it's clear some Americans still are uncomfortable with seeing racially mixed couples.
Earlier this year, a Cheerios commercial featuring an interracial family drew so many prejudiced comments online, General Mills decided to disable commenting on its YouTube account.
By: Dylan Stableford
Categories: HUMANITIES, ARTICLES
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