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Dramatic increase of intermarriage between whites and blacks, shows US census

Friday, September 16th 2011 - 16:04 UTC
Full article 28 comments
In 2008, 14% of black men were married to a white woman In 2008, 14% of black men were married to a white woman

Marriages between whites and blacks in the United States have become less infrequent, going from being relatively rare 30 years ago to comprising a notable percentage of such unions, a study published Thursday found.

A study in the October issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family found that between 1980 and 2008 the rate of intermarriage between the two groups had increased dramatically.

Three decades ago just five percent of black men were married to a white woman, a figure than had risen almost threefold, to 14%, by 2008.

Meanwhile, just one percent of black women had wed white partners in 1980; a percentage that was up to 6% in 2008.

Researchers said the study was completed using data gleaned from the 2010 US Census, and found that black-white intermarriage since 1980 increased by a higher percentage than for any other racial or ethnic group.

Despite the dramatic increase, however, black-white intermarriage remains the exception, the researchers said.

“The number of marriages between whites and African Americans is undeniably increasing rapidly, but it is still a small number,” said Zhenchao Qian, lead author of the study and a professor of sociology at Ohio State University.

“Our results point to better race relations in 2008 than 1980, but we still have a way to go. The racial boundary is blurred, but it is still there,” said Qian, who conducted the study with co-author Daniel Lichter from Cornell University.

“It used to be that race trumped everything, including education, when it came to marriage between blacks and whites; that is changing,” the sociologist said.

“For the first time, we found that highly educated blacks and whites were more likely to intermarry,” Qian said. “That is very significant and is another sign that racial boundaries are blurring”.
 

Categories: Politics, International.

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  • xbarilox

    “Dramatic increase of intermarriage between whites and blacks, shows US census” what do you mean with dramatic? are you scared Mercopress?

    whites and african-americans. white is a colour, african-american is a colour or a nationality or what? I always thought that a person born in the USA is a united statian even when he/she is not “white”, or what you call “an american”.

    Sep 16th, 2011 - 04:45 pm 0
  • Jeff

    None of what you said made any sense.
    I guess that's bound to happen when your'e ignorant in another language/culture.
    The word dramatic in this sense just implies that it was a marked increase. People who are born in the United States of America are called Americans. White is a color and a race. African-American is a race not a color.

    Sep 16th, 2011 - 08:59 pm 0
  • lsolde

    Good for them, if they love each other.♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

    Sep 16th, 2011 - 09:23 pm 0
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