Racially Informed Ethnic Heterogeneity in Asian American Intermarriage and Assimilation

Abstract

Though racial integration of non-White minorities was initially considered unlikely, Asian Americans’ high rates of intermarriage with Whites suggest a new possibility. Recent research, however, reveals that Asian American intermarriage occurs in ethnically heterogeneous manners and further varies by spousal race and ethnicity. This study delves into the varied patterns of marital racial integration among Asian Americans, examining intermarriage data from the American Community Survey (ACS). In examining both interethnic and Asian-White interracial marriages, I find that Asian Americans continue to experience segmented assimilation in intermarriage, where their paths diverge by spousal race. Yet, ethnically heterogeneous understandings and experiences of one’s social position as “Asian” situate Asian Americans at varying distances from the mainstream White society, leading some Asian Americans to intermarry without having achieved acculturation or middle-class attributes. These findings challenge the presumed linear trajectory of minority incorporation, underscoring the pivotal role of race and racialization. This complexity further carries significant implications for broader American race relations