DrBanneker
Space is the Place
Ok, I haven't been posting here for a long time but I have seen a lot of threads about interracial dating and marriage one way or the other. Though we can debate who screws who more, a lot of people seem ignorant of the numbers (at least in a whole context) and what they say---or don't say--about Blacks marrying out. I'll admit I started studying this after reading one too many covers of Essence or some magazine screaming "BLACK MEN DON'T WANT US" ad naseum. Yep, interracial marriage is up, but do we really deserve the worst rap?
Sorry this is American-centric but regarding Black men and women dating out, there are at least 4 different ways to look at this:
1. Historical and as a proportion of all Black marriages
So obviously, unless you are living under a rock, interracial marriage rates in Blacks have gone up over the years. A quick snapshot of the percent of all marriages with a non-Black spouse (from US Census data) as a percent of all Black marriages by sex is below
Year-----Black Husband White Wife-----White Husband Black Wife
1960 ------------------2%------------------------------------2%
1970-------------------2%------------------------------------1%
1980-------------------6%------------------------------------2%
1991-------------------9%------------------------------------4%
2000------------------11%-----------------------------------5%
2010------------------13%-----------------------------------6%
Note I kind of estimated 2000 since I couldn't find the exact Census table. So from a historical perspective interracial marriage is increasing. Again, no shock here. Also, for cohabitations, interracial rates are usually higher. In 2010 for Black men about 26% of cohabitation was interracial. Couldn't find the same number for women. But far from the all is swirl Coli consensus, these rates are nowhere near even half--barely a quarter if you count people shacking up.
2. As a proportion of new marriages
A lot of noise was generated by a Pew Report a few years ago that reported interracial marriages from 2010 data. A lot of blogs screamed "30% of Black men marry out" when that was actually only the number from California in the state by state estimate. The Pew report at that time did indicate overall 24% of men and 9% of women who reported marriages in 2010 married out. Now this is different from the data above in this is new marriages not a percent of all marriages. Pew data is pretty good but there are a few things people don't realize:
1) they used Census data but not the full count type data which isn't available. Without going into detail it is another annual survey called the American Community Survey which samples about 1% of the population
2) The ACS is relatively good sample wise but oversamples small areas --- like small towns and suburbia so while I don't have evidence, this could inflate those numbers. But they are probably in the right direction.
So in new marriages swirling is popular, but still a far cry from everyone or the majority.
3. Versus other ethnic groups in total and new marriages
So here is where it gets interesting. Namely, comparing us to other US groups. The rates of total marriages that are interracial (Census, 2010) and new marriages that are interracial (Pew, 2010) are below. I also include Jews from another recent Pew survey
Outmarriage as a percent of all marriages in 2010
Group---------Men---------Women
Blacks-------13%----------6%
Whites--------5%----------4%
Asian----------9%---------22%
Hispanic-----16%--------19%
Native
American----58%--------59%
Jews----------41%--------47%
As a proportion of new marriages (Pew 2010; except Native Americans who have 2013 data)
Group---------Men---------Women
Blacks--------24%----------9%
Whites---------9%-----------9%
Asian----------17%---------36%
Hispanic------26%---------25%
Native
American-----54%---------61%
Jews------------58%--------58%
New Jewish inter-marriages aren't broken down by sex so I put 58%, the overall rate, for both.
This is interesting in showing something that may surprise some---except for Asian men, Black men marry out at far lower rates than other minorities. Whites have low rates since they are the majority population. Which raises the question on why aren't the other groups men harangued for being disloyal? Or why are we told to be more like <insert group>?
4. Versus Blacks outside the USA
Stats are readily available for swirling in the UK and Canada--which have long exceeded US rates
For Canada
Black men marry out at 30%, Black women at 20%
(Source: Statcan, 2006)
For UK
Blacks marry out at 29% for Black Caribbean immigrants, 18% of Black African immigrants, and 48% for Blacks born in Britain (National Statistics, UK). Interestingly, people of Biracial Black-White heritage marry out at a rate of about 76% to White women. Black African, Caribbean, and British born women marry out at rates of 15%, 20%, and 33% while Biracial Black-White women marry out at 80%.
So in summary Black men in the US marry out more than in the past, however, less than every other large ethnic group except Asian men and less than Blacks in other English speaking countries.
Discuss.
Sorry this is American-centric but regarding Black men and women dating out, there are at least 4 different ways to look at this:
1. Historical and as a proportion of all Black marriages
So obviously, unless you are living under a rock, interracial marriage rates in Blacks have gone up over the years. A quick snapshot of the percent of all marriages with a non-Black spouse (from US Census data) as a percent of all Black marriages by sex is below
Year-----Black Husband White Wife-----White Husband Black Wife
1960 ------------------2%------------------------------------2%
1970-------------------2%------------------------------------1%
1980-------------------6%------------------------------------2%
1991-------------------9%------------------------------------4%
2000------------------11%-----------------------------------5%
2010------------------13%-----------------------------------6%
Note I kind of estimated 2000 since I couldn't find the exact Census table. So from a historical perspective interracial marriage is increasing. Again, no shock here. Also, for cohabitations, interracial rates are usually higher. In 2010 for Black men about 26% of cohabitation was interracial. Couldn't find the same number for women. But far from the all is swirl Coli consensus, these rates are nowhere near even half--barely a quarter if you count people shacking up.
2. As a proportion of new marriages
A lot of noise was generated by a Pew Report a few years ago that reported interracial marriages from 2010 data. A lot of blogs screamed "30% of Black men marry out" when that was actually only the number from California in the state by state estimate. The Pew report at that time did indicate overall 24% of men and 9% of women who reported marriages in 2010 married out. Now this is different from the data above in this is new marriages not a percent of all marriages. Pew data is pretty good but there are a few things people don't realize:
1) they used Census data but not the full count type data which isn't available. Without going into detail it is another annual survey called the American Community Survey which samples about 1% of the population
2) The ACS is relatively good sample wise but oversamples small areas --- like small towns and suburbia so while I don't have evidence, this could inflate those numbers. But they are probably in the right direction.
So in new marriages swirling is popular, but still a far cry from everyone or the majority.
3. Versus other ethnic groups in total and new marriages
So here is where it gets interesting. Namely, comparing us to other US groups. The rates of total marriages that are interracial (Census, 2010) and new marriages that are interracial (Pew, 2010) are below. I also include Jews from another recent Pew survey
Outmarriage as a percent of all marriages in 2010
Group---------Men---------Women
Blacks-------13%----------6%
Whites--------5%----------4%
Asian----------9%---------22%
Hispanic-----16%--------19%
Native
American----58%--------59%
Jews----------41%--------47%
As a proportion of new marriages (Pew 2010; except Native Americans who have 2013 data)
Group---------Men---------Women
Blacks--------24%----------9%
Whites---------9%-----------9%
Asian----------17%---------36%
Hispanic------26%---------25%
Native
American-----54%---------61%
Jews------------58%--------58%
New Jewish inter-marriages aren't broken down by sex so I put 58%, the overall rate, for both.
This is interesting in showing something that may surprise some---except for Asian men, Black men marry out at far lower rates than other minorities. Whites have low rates since they are the majority population. Which raises the question on why aren't the other groups men harangued for being disloyal? Or why are we told to be more like <insert group>?
4. Versus Blacks outside the USA
Stats are readily available for swirling in the UK and Canada--which have long exceeded US rates
For Canada
Black men marry out at 30%, Black women at 20%
(Source: Statcan, 2006)
For UK
Blacks marry out at 29% for Black Caribbean immigrants, 18% of Black African immigrants, and 48% for Blacks born in Britain (National Statistics, UK). Interestingly, people of Biracial Black-White heritage marry out at a rate of about 76% to White women. Black African, Caribbean, and British born women marry out at rates of 15%, 20%, and 33% while Biracial Black-White women marry out at 80%.
So in summary Black men in the US marry out more than in the past, however, less than every other large ethnic group except Asian men and less than Blacks in other English speaking countries.
Discuss.
