Miscegenation

Miscegenation, intermarriage or extramarital relations between people of different races (see Race). In modern times miscegenation has been regarded with strong disapproval in many nations of the Western world, and social ostracism and prohibitive legislation have been employed to prevent such unions. The prejudicial attitude toward miscegenetic marriages stems mainly from obsolete conceptions of race and heredity. Also contributing to the attitude are white supremacy theories, and the inferior social status commonly imposed on dark-skinned people, and consequently on the children of mixed marriages, in various nations throughout the world.

In the United States, restrictive legislation against miscegenation originated during the period of slavery in colonial times. These laws were designed to protect the right of the slaveholder to the offspring of the slaves, and the laws included severe penalties. Statutes passed subsequently in the majority of the states declared miscegenetic marriages void, purportedly to preserve racial purity. Most of these statutes were directed against blacks, but some applied more broadly to include all non-white people. Between 1942 and 1967, 14 states repealed their antimiscegenation laws. In 1967, the Supreme Court of the United States declared antimiscegenation laws unconstitutional.