Only 83% - approve interracial dating in America
How scary is this, a recent poll found that eight out of ten Americans now agree that it’s OK for blacks & whites to date. That means 2 out of every 10 Americans still live in the dark ages. The Civil War ended in 1865… over 140 years ago and yet there is still a clear divide on the subject. Believe it or not, the last poll conducted in 1987 found that a huge 46% were against blacks and whites dating.
As you would expect age is a discerning factor in attitudes towards interracial dating with the older generation being less tolerant than newer generations – you can put this down to the media and education.
Nearly two-thirds of all Americans born before 1946 (65%) say it is acceptable for whites to date blacks. In contrast, this tolerant view of interracial dating is shared by more than eight-in-ten Baby Boomers (84%) and members of Generation X (87%), who were born between 1965 and 1976.
Among younger people there is even broader acceptance of interracial dating: 94% of those born since 1977 say it is all right for blacks and whites to date. There have also been striking changes since the late 1980s in how people of different races view black-white dating. In 1987-88, fewer than half of whites (44%) said that interracial dating was acceptable; that number has nearly doubled (to 81%) in the current survey. Two decades ago, about three-quarters of blacks (74%) felt interracial dating was acceptable. Today, nearly all African Americans (97%) believe that interracial dating is acceptable.
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READER COMMENTS:
Well, it may not be as bad as it looks. Sometimes it depends on the “whys” as much as anything. I have known some people that believe that it’s a bad idea to have kids with someone of another race because the kid won’t fit into either community and they might view dating as starting towards that path.
On the other hand, some people project their own prejudices onto society and so when they say “society” can’t handle it, they mean that they can’t quite do so.
My sister-in-law is of middle-eastern descent. Ironically, with all of the problems my mother (whose abstract views on race are unfortunate) has with her, race doesn’t even register anymore. I guess I’m happy that she dislikes her daughter-in-law for the right reasons.
Posted by trumwill on Wed 13th June 2007 at 12:12 AM | #