Interracial couples becoming more common

When Matt Doehrmann, who grew up in a small Iowa town, wraps his arm around his new wife, Mayra, a native of Juarez, Mexico, his sandy blonde hair and green eyes contrast with Mayra's dark hair and tan skin.

The two are even more diverse in their cultural background, but they say that their differences are what keeps their relationship interesting.

Couples like the Doehrmanns of Des Moines, Iowa, are becoming more commonplace as the racial and cultural landscape of America diversifies.

Higher visibility of mixed-race relationships in pop culture, along with changing ideals within different racial groups have helped make interracial dating and marriage more accepted in the United States. Yet, despite changing social attitudes, these couples still face challenges.

There are the stares at the grocery store and family and friends disapproving of their relationship. Also, they each may have different cultural expectations of one another.

For the first time, the 2000 U.S. Census gave Americans the chance to categorize themselves as multiple race. It also revealed that the number of interracial couples has steadily increased over the past several decades.

But such couples still stand out in our society, comprising a minuscule percentage of total marriages. In 1960, racially mixed marriages represented less than one-half of 1 percent. By 2000, interracial marriages made up about 3 percent of all marriages.

Mixed relationships have grown as a result of people appreciating one another's races and cultures, an Iowa professor says.

"Interracial dating and marriage and coupling is more the result today of people enjoying the differences between them as opposed to the forbidden-fruit model of the 1950s," says Kesho Scott, a professor of sociology and American studies at Grinnell College in Iowa.

Pop culture has contributed to the success of interracial relationships, she says. The imagery of beauty has become "more brown, more tan," she says. In what Scott calls the "Halle Berry" syndrome, crossover beauty images are making a mixed-race appearance more acceptable.

Social class affects the stigma connected to an interracial relationship, she says. An interracial marriage might be more acceptable for some families if say, a daughter is marrying up the socioeconomic ladder, to a doctor, for example, Scott says.

Social class also plays a role in that the more highly educated people are, the more likely they are to be in an interracial relationship, says Sandra Patton-Imani, assistant professor of American studies in the department for the study of culture and society at Drake University in Des Moines. For example, she says, in universities and more middle-class settings, there's more of a racial mixture than there was 20 to 30 years ago.

Those in interracial relationships still spend more time defending and justifying their relationships than do same-race couples, says Kristine Fitch, associate professor of communication studies at the University of Iowa.