om one another. Thus, many interracial couples get married simply because they are in love, and "for them, love is blind--colorblind" (Randolph, 1989, p. 162).
Despite the recent increase in interracial marriages in the United States, black-white couples must still deal with many problems which other couples are able to avoid. The majority of these problems are related to the prejudicial attitudes of Americans as a whole. Such attitudes are deeply ingrained in the way of thinking which is found throughout American society. Until the 1960's, laws against black-white marriages were common throughout the United States. Such laws existed in the country since the late 1600's (Buckley, 1991, p. H20). Therefore, it can be seen that Americans have had a long tradition of intolerance toward interracial relationships. In the 1960's, there began a gradual increase in the tolerance of most Americans. This shift in attitude was reflected by the way in which black-white relations were depicted in the entertainment media. Thus, for example, the 1967 film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner dealt sensitively with the issue and showed that an interracial romance could be accepted by family members. Since then, other movies and television programs have shown interracial marriage in a positive light, or have at least shown a willingness to treat the topic with an open mind. For example, the TV show True Colors depicts an interracial family, and the TV show Molly Dodd allowed its main character to have a baby through an interracial romance. Spike Lee's 1991 film Jungle Fever raised controversy with its depiction of a black-white extramarital affair.
Although the entertainment media has tried to show sensitivity in its treatment of black-white relations, "racism is still a major problem in America, regardless of the positive signs" (Turner, 1990, p. 49). The American attitude toward interracial marriage has not changed much since the early 197...