Which region is most accepting of black/white interracial couples? (places, life)
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I found this, it shows White/Black intermarriage by county and where it increased. This should give a good idea of where White/black interracial couples are more accepted.
I found this, it shows White/Black intermarriage by county and where it increased. This should give a good idea of where White/black interracial couples are more accepted.
Pretty much larger Metros have higher mixed raced couples, which makes sense. Out west almost every large Metro is represented here except San Diego which I found surprising. Although, I imagine non-Hispanic Black-Latin relationships are more prevalent there than most of the rest of the country.
OP, when was the last time you lived out west? I'm Black, relatively young, and have spent my entire life growing up in the PNW. Mixed-race couples have just been a fact of life out here. Within the cities, I've never seen any push back. Alternatively, we have the look at the history of the South. Southern states in raw numbers may have the highest number of mixed couples but much of that is driven by those areas have such high black populations. In reality, Southern states were the last to allow interracial marriage. I have elder family members who moved to Seattle 55 years ago to get married, when it was still illegal in Tennessee.
Obviously, times have changed around the entire nation, but every time I visit Family in the south, I still find it more racially segregated than the West or the NE. I've also found that Black Americans who grow up on the West Coast are far more open to dating outside of their race, than Black Americans in the south. I think part of that is due to the size of the dating pools. Obviously, if you exclusively date within your race in Portland, you will have far fewer potential partners than somewhere like Atlanta. However, I think another part of it is due to the lack of stigma of interracial dating out here. Alot of cities in the west aren't given the proper recognition on how diverse they are overall.
I grew up south of Seattle and Federal Way, Renton, and Kent all where extremely diverse as it pertained to all ethnicities. My HS had over 65 languages spoken, and an almost even split of White, Hispanic, and Black students, and well as a significant Asian population.
Cities like Seattle actually have a long history of racial tolerance when compared to the rest of the county during the Jim Crow era. However, Racism exists everywhere. More Black people live in Federal Way, WA (Approx. Pop: 100K) than in the entire states of Montana and Idaho. There are many areas out West where it would be less accepted. But most people live in the cities, and I don't think any major West Coast city has any issue with mixed raced couples.
I found this, it shows White/Black intermarriage by county and where it increased. This should give a good idea of where White/black interracial couples are more accepted.
What’s interesting about this map is that, while B/W interracial couples are found nationwide, the West is the only region a lacking significant number of marriages in rural areas. I still fail to understand how the West is winning this poll. You could pass the map off as a smaller Black population, yet super White rural counties in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are very green (hell almost the entire state of NH is green!)
Again, from my perspective it’s absolutely between the Northeast and South, and nowhere else.
Where it's most common is an entirely different question than where it's most accepted, IMHO.
Of course it will be most common in the South. Lots of black people, lots of white people, and a fair amount of integration (more than in the Midwest or Northeast) but even given that, a significant minority of people will not be accepting of interracial couples.
In contrast, out west the dynamics are quite different. There really aren't many majority-black neighborhoods, and almost none of the 90%+ black ones you see out east. Most black people will have the experience of growing up in an integrated place, which means most potential partners will not be black, but be white, Latino, or Asian. So it's much more normal if you see a black person they'll be in a relationship with someone who isn't black, meaning it's less of a big thing.
Funnily enough the state with the highest Black-Other Non-Hispanic (This category is almost entirely white) population is actually Rhode Island. While western states may have high rates of intermarriage this is counteracted by their low black population.
Roughly 2.4% of it's population is half-black/half-white people. Even states like Mississippi only a few percentages of it's population is half-black/half-white.
Numbers are kind of difficult to understand, especially because in combination counts the same people multiple times, similar to the New Zealand Census (Many people think New Zealand is a 70% White Country, but don't realize you can mark multiple races and so if you count everyone that's mixed as non-white the country is actually close to 60% White), so if you want to actually have it out of 100%, you need to make sure you understand the meaning of things.
You wouldn’t practically call those people ”half white half black”- those are Cape Verdeans who are technically 35% white And 65% black on average..genetically but not at all in recent history.
Trust. black/white is not common in Rhode Island my mother lives there my brother lives there my hood friends live there. I’m there every couple months. Indeed I’d say it’s relatively intolerant of that.
What’s interesting about this map is that, while B/W interracial couples are found nationwide, the West is the only region a lacking significant number of marriages in rural areas. I still fail to understand how the West is winning this poll. You could pass the map off as a smaller Black population, yet super White rural counties in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are very green (hell almost the entire state of NH is green!)
Again, from my perspective it’s absolutely between the Northeast and South, and nowhere else.
While Maine NH VT are very white unlike some western states (Idaho Wyoming Montana) there’s always been a VERY VERY small black population in those states dating back to colonial times. Anecdotally, it makes sense to me there would be more given the influx of refugees and probably some blacks from the northern side of the Boston MSA looking for cheaper housing/suburban environs. At the same time there are enough black people in Portland Manchester and perhaps Burlington Vermont to account for interracial marriage but certainly a need to wed “out”. The rural counties well…it’s not gonna be a decrease, right? These folks aren’t concerned with being around black people or black culture. I’ve met black people from those states.
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 02-07-2022 at 08:09 AM..
Pretty much larger Metros have higher mixed raced couples, which makes sense. Out west almost every large Metro is represented here except San Diego which I found surprising. Although, I imagine non-Hispanic Black-Latin relationships are more prevalent there than most of the rest of the country.
I think San Diego is the most conservative of the major metros out west.
What’s interesting about this map is that, while B/W interracial couples are found nationwide, the West is the only region a lacking significant number of marriages in rural areas. I still fail to understand how the West is winning this poll. You could pass the map off as a smaller Black population, yet super White rural counties in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are very green (hell almost the entire state of NH is green!)
Again, from my perspective it’s absolutely between the Northeast and South, and nowhere else.
Rural areas in the west virtually have no black people. Eastern, Oregon probably has fewer than 500 black people total.
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