Comments on: Interracial Marriage Rises to All-Time High http://dcentric.wamu.org/2012/02/interracial-marriage-rises-to-all-time-high/ Race, Class, The District. Mon, 16 Jul 2012 03:01:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: kerry_k http://dcentric.wamu.org/2012/02/interracial-marriage-rises-to-all-time-high/#comment-1289 kerry_k Sat, 18 Feb 2012 04:48:00 +0000 http://dcentric.wamu.org/?p=14170#comment-1289 According to the 2010 U.S. Census, "In Hawaii, Asians made up the highest proportion of the total population (57 percent)." Source:  http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb11-ff06.html So the intermarriage rate is high for Asians in America, whether they are in the majority or in the minority. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, “In Hawaii, Asians made up the highest proportion of the total population (57 percent).”

Source:  http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb11-ff06.html
So the intermarriage rate is high for Asians in America, whether they are in the majority or in the minority.

]]> By: Elahe Izadi http://dcentric.wamu.org/2012/02/interracial-marriage-rises-to-all-time-high/#comment-1280 Elahe Izadi Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:28:00 +0000 http://dcentric.wamu.org/?p=14170#comment-1280 Thanks for putting this piece into perspective, that the low rate of whites marrying outside their race is partially a reflection of them being the largest racial group in the U.S. And yes, the very low numbers of white-black couples in D.C. does stand out to me as well, given the city's demographics. Thanks for putting this piece into perspective, that the low rate of whites marrying outside their race is partially a reflection of them being the largest racial group in the U.S. And yes, the very low numbers of white-black couples in D.C. does stand out to me as well, given the city’s demographics.

]]> By: Anonymous http://dcentric.wamu.org/2012/02/interracial-marriage-rises-to-all-time-high/#comment-1279 Anonymous Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:04:00 +0000 http://dcentric.wamu.org/?p=14170#comment-1279 I would really like to see a study that calculates the hypothetical rates of intermarriage for various ethnicities if everyone married without regard to race, and then compares that with the actual rates of intermarriage -- the math is harder, but I think it would be a better way to measure differences among groups. Of course there are plenty of social factors (racism among them) determining these rates, but I think it would be easier to tease out their influence if we could try to control for the demographic factor. Until U.S. demographics shift dramatically, whites will always be the least likely group to marry outside their ethnicity, and Asians the most, simply because whites are the largest major ethnic group and Asians the smallest. (Suppose every white person who could married an Asian person: Even with 100% "marriage out" among Asians, you'd still have 90% "marriage in" among whites; the population discrepancy is just that great.) When you consider demographics, the low numbers of white-black couples locally seems especially significant -- if demographics alone were driving these rates (which obviously is not the case! but just as a point of comparison), the rate of intermarriage between black and white people in the DC area would be much higher. I would really like to see a study that calculates the hypothetical rates of
intermarriage for various ethnicities if everyone married without regard to race,
and then compares that with the actual rates of intermarriage — the
math is harder, but I think it would be a better way to measure differences among groups.

Of course there are plenty of social factors (racism among them) determining these rates,
but I think it would be easier to tease out their influence if we could
try to control for the demographic factor. Until U.S. demographics shift dramatically, whites will always be the least likely group to marry outside their ethnicity,
and Asians the most, simply because whites are the largest major ethnic group and Asians the smallest. (Suppose every
white person who could married an Asian person: Even with 100% “marriage out” among Asians, you’d still have 90% “marriage in” among whites; the population discrepancy is just that great.)

When you consider demographics, the low numbers of white-black couples locally seems especially significant — if demographics alone were driving these rates (which obviously is not the case! but just as a point of comparison), the rate of intermarriage between black and white people in the DC area would be much higher.

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