Deviant Love?

                                                                                                                                         By Amy Hutton

In 2011, I do not think of myself as a deviant woman. If I were to back to 1958, I would be the ultimate deviant.  I do not commit crimes, hurt people, nor am I an ignorant person. I am a deviant woman because I date interracially.

Things were much different before the year of 1958. Half of the States in the United States had laws that prohibited interracial marriage. One such law stated that “all marriages between a white person and a colored person shall be absolutely void without any decree of divorce or other legal process.” In 1948 about 90% of American adults opposed interracial marriage.

It wasn’t until 1958 that a black woman by the name of Mildred Jeter and her husband, a white man named Richard Loving, changed the way the United States looks at interracial marriage. They lived in Virginia which abided by the same laws as Pennsylvania. They were arrested and banned from ever coming back to the State for at least 25 years. Ultimately they did come back to Virginia to visit family and were arrested again.

Mildred, while she was released on bail, wrote to Attorney General Robert F Kennedy asking for his help. The case went to the Supreme Court and finally in 1967 the Court legalized interracial marriage everywhere in the United States.

How much has really changed?

In 1967, about 72% were opposed to interracial marriage and 48% felt that marrying a person of another race should be prosecuted as a criminal act. These were very high percentages given that was the year that interracial marriage finally became legal. In 1991 adults who opposed interracial marriage became a minority.

A current statistic says every one in seven new marriages are interracial. This says a lot. I grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood but did attend public School. I was taught never to judge anyone on the color of their skin. But when it came to dating I knew I was expected to date within my race. However, that is not what I am attracted to first.

As I grew up my best childhood friends were a mix of black, latino and white. It was only a matter of time that I would begin to date. My first boyfriend was Puerto Rican. The next several men I dated were also of latino descent and within the last ten years I have dated mostly black men. The only difference I see in these men is the color of their skin.

Socially, interracial marriage has almost doubled since the 1980’s. Only about 6.8% of newly married couples reported marrying outside their race but in 2008 that percentage jumped to 14.6%. Many more people, especially in the current generation, support and accept interracial marriages. I feel it is no longer a deviant act when 85% of those between 18 and 29 years old accept interracial relationships. Not everyone will agree with this social change today but as older generations pass away and newer generations take their place, interracial relationships won’t be such a "deviant" issue.