Black-White Marriage Research Articles

Black-White Marriages

The majority of marriage partners in the United States are of the same race, although a growing minority are choosing to intermarry (Lieberson & Waters, 1988). In this article, we examine why black and white individuals living in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area chose to marry each other. Explored are characteristics such as social class background and family upbringing which might influence a decision to go against the societal norm of racial endogamy.

Interracial Marriages

Interracial marriages have garnered attention periodically since the turn of the century. However, sociopsychological research in the area of intermarriage continues to be scant in spite of increased contact between the races in the 1960s. Social scientists have maintained the study of intermarriage may provide a precise, quantitative measurement of crucial and related questions such as the process of assimilation, the degree of internal cohesion in individual racial, religious, and ethnic groups, and the extent of social distance between groups of these types (Barron, 1946: 249). Little has been done, however, in the areas which promise so much in understanding social processes. What research that has been done has focused on: the incidence of interracial marriages; causal factors; sociopsychological characteristics; and, the problems encountered by the marriage partners and their children. This paper will summarize the small amount of research which has been done on interracial marriages in the areas mentioned in an attempt to update the body of information. It will also provide directives for future research which should lead to a better understanding of black-white marriages and their implications for black people and the larger society.

The Prevalence of Black-White Marriage in the United States, 1960 and 1970

Data from the 1960 and 1970 Censuses of the United States are analyzed with respect to the prevalence of marriage between blacks and whites. During the decade there was an overall substantial increase in the prevalence of such marriages. This overall increase included: (1) a very sharp increase in the prevalence of such marriages in the North and West and a substantial decline in the South and (2) a very large rise in marriages involving a black husband and a white wife and a smallfall in those with a white husband and a black wife. The stability over the decade of black-white marriages is shown to have been less than that of racially homogeneous marriages. The theory that racial-caste hypogamy is associated with class hypergamy is subjected to empirical test and found to receive no support unless the availability of marriage partners by educational attainment is held constant.