Racial and Nonracial Factors That Influence Spouse Choice in Black/White Marriages

Abstract

Biracial marriage has historically been an important barometer of race relations in the United States. Mores prohibiting biracial marriage have existed for every ethnic and racial group that has occupied a subordinate position in American society. This type of marital union has been generally viewed by sociologists as a product involving individuals from dissimilar racial backgrounds, thereby constituting an exogamous relationship (Heer, 1974). Norms and attitudes against it by both dominant and subordinate racial group members have served as significant social barriers to biracial marriages. Gordon (1964) stressed that the acceptance of interracial marriage within society is a major step in the subordinate group assimilation process. Stember (1976) asserted that maintaining a race-gender caste is necessary for keeping White women and African American men in their social places. It can be posited that pressures against Black/White marriages are based on general societal approval of racially endogamous marriages. Recent studies demonstrate that since 1970 a small but steady increase of biracial marriages has occurred in the United States, including those involving African Americans and Whites (Spigner, 1994). The pressure against racially heterogeneous marriages could be lessening. Survey research conducted during the 1980s and early