Clayton Majete

About the author: Clayton Majete is an instructor in the department of sociology and anthropology at Baruch College of the City University of New York.

Interracial relationships are still considered taboo as a result of misinformation. In the past, social scientists, and society in general, categorized people involved in interracial romances as disturbed, or they labeled these relationships as acts of rebellion against one's parents or attempts to move up the social ladder. However, scientific research on interracial marriage shows that this is not the case.

Interracial marriage in America may be the social institution that is least understood and most distorted by myth and bias. It should not surprise anyone that many of these biases are based on the racial divisions that permeate all aspects of our society. And although social science has studied practically every conceivable...