A study conducted by the Pew Research Center found that in the Denver metro area, 22 percent of new marriages were interracial, which is higher than the national average of 17 percent.
On June 12, 1967, interracial marriage became legal throughout the entire country when Richard and Mildred Loving presented their case (Loving v. Virginia) to the Supreme Court. It was a long and grueling journey for the Lovings. In 1958, the couple had been convicted for the felony of miscegenation. When the case was presented, 17 states remained resolute in their refusal to repeal laws banning interracial marriage. Regardless, the justices unanimously agreed, and the laws against interracial marriage were declared unconstitutional. That year, only three percent of new marriages were interracial. Nearly 50 years later, in 2015, those numbers jumped from three percent to 17 percent. According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, there are 11 million people – or one out of 10 married people – in the United States with a spouse of a different race or ethnicity.
This growth in intermarriage coincides with the shift in societal norms as Americans are more accepting of interracial marriages, especially within their own families.
Daniel T. Lichter, director of the Institute for the Social Sciences at Cornell University, said,
There's much greater racial tolerance in the United States, with attitudes having changed in a way where it's much more positive toward interracial marriage. But I think that a greater reason is the growing diversity of the population. There are just more demographic opportunities for people to marry someone of another race or ethnicity."The study found that in the Denver metro area (Denver, Aurora, and Lakewood), 22 percent of new marriages were interracial, and that 14 percent of whites married someone of a different race. [gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="15956,15957"] Pew Research Center also discovered differences in interracial marriage depending on political leanings and level of education. There were also differences among men and women, as well as differences between race and ethnicity. [gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="15960,15958"] What are your thoughts on this research study? Tell us in the comments.
