PROGRESS

Interracial Marriage Rates Soar

Four decades after it was decriminalized.

Demographic changes have sent rates of interracial marriage in the U.S. soaring four decades after it was de-criminalized. According to a new Pew study, 15 percent of new marriage in 2010 traversed racial or ethnic lines, more than twice the rate of three decades ago. Most Americans surveyed said they have no problem with the idea of intermarriage in their own family. “In the past half century, intermarriage has evolved from being illegal, to being taboo, to being merely unusual,” said Pew director Paul Taylor. The study found varying patterns among ethnic groups, such as the fact that black men are three times more likely to marry outside their race as black women, and Asian women are twice as likely to do so.