An Analysis of Resistance to Racial Exogamy

Abstract

Support for biracial unions is a significant barometer of American race relations (Aldridge, 1978; Gordon, 1964; Porterfield, 1978). It is also useful for assessing the social acceptance of racial minority groups (Lewis, Yancey, & Bletzer 1997; Yancey & Yancey, 1998). Historically, opposition to interracial unions, especially those consisting of Blacks and Whites, was an important source for legitimizing racial segregation (Myrdal, 1964; Spickard, 1989). In contemporary America, White supremacist groups use fear of interracial unions to justify their rejection of racial equality (Ferber, 1998), and interracial marriages, especially Black-White marriages, continue to be proportionately rare (Jaret 1995, chap. 7). When researchers want to gauge the level of opposition to interracial marriage, they typically use the most obvious method: They ask people. They then correlate the individual responses with other individual-level variables to see what individual-level factors are associated with individuals' opposition to such unions. Based on this research, the following variables are correlated with expressing increased opposition to interracial marriage: older age, lower education and income, being Anglo, and political and religious conservatism (Fang, Sidanius, & Pratto, 1998; Roof & McKinney, 1987; Schuman, Steeh, Bobo, & Krysan, 1997; Wilson & Jacobson 1995). These same variables tend to be associated with less progressive racial attitudes in general.