In recent decades, there has been an increase in the number of black-white marriages in the United States. In 1970, there were 65,000 black-white couples; by 1988, that number had grown to 218,000 (Garwood, 1991, p. 19). The ratio of black-white marriages to all other marriages also increased during that period. In 1990, black-white marriages represented "four out of every 1,000 married couples, where in 1970 only 1.5 of every 1,000 marriages was mixed" (Kroll, Smith & Murr, 1991, p. 44). The attitudes of Americans toward interracial marriage have gradually been changing in recent decades, as well. Thus, there is more tolerance toward interracial relationships today than there was in the past. However, for the most part, prejudicial attitudes remain strong for many Americans. In fact, the average American attitude shows far less acceptance than is found in most of the other countries of the world.
Many questions have been raised regarding the motivations for entering into a black-white relationship. Some people take a rather cynical viewpoint on-this issue. For example, the black filmmaker Spike Lee has claimed that, although many interracial relationships are based on love, many others are based on "the myths of black male sexual prowess and white women as the epitome of beauty" (Buckley, 1991, p. H20). This perspective seems to be supported by the fact that there are far more black-white marriages between black men and white women, as opposed to white men and black women. One source notes: "Of the interracial marriages in the United States today, 71 percent are between black men and white women; only 29 percent pair white men with black women" (Kroll, Smith & Murr, 1991, 45-46). Nevertheless, it is obvious that many black-white relationships are motivated purely by love. In this regard, the only thing that is truly unique about such relationships is that they cross the color line which normally separate the races fr...