Interracial Marriage Data Can Be Deceptive For Asian Americans

By Susan | Wednesday, May 18, 2011 | 36 Comments

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8a marriage Interracial Marriage Data Can Be Deceptive For Asian Americans As studies have been showing, interracial and inter-ethnic marriages have been generally on the rise over the past few decades — and now they account for one in seven new U.S. marriages, according to the Pew Research Center. The data for Asian Americans is deceptive in some cases, but fairly well-known in others.

Within these most recent findings, Asian Americans are the racial group most likely to intermarry based on percentages (clocking in at 30.8%), while whites are the least likely to do so (8.9%). Further, Asian American women are far more likely than men to intermarry, while African Americans face a mirrored trend. Finally, of the minority groups (Black, Hispanic, and Asian), of almost 3,000 sampled people, more people would be accepting of a family member marrying an Asian as opposed to a member of one of the other minority groups.

At first glance, this data suggests that Asian Americans are intermarrying more and becoming more assimilated. However, there are several problems with this unaltered data.

One problem is simply sample size. While Asian Americans are more likely to intermarry, there are also fewer of them to begin with. In the 2000 Census, only 4.2 percent of the population identified as Asian American. This doesn’t include mixed race individuals, but even then only 13.9% of people identify as Asian American in combination with another race. This is just statistics: if one Asian American marries someone outside of his or her race, and one Caucasian American marries outside his or her race, the Asian American will have a greater effect on the total percentage for his race.

Another problem is from including inter-ethnic Asian American marriage within this data. Asian Nation reported that there is variation among the pan-Asian marriage rates. Japanese and Korean Americans are the most likely to marry across Asian ethnic lines, while Asian Indians are least likely. Filipino, Japanese, and Korean Americans are also the most likely to marry other races. However, this statistic is conditional upon an Asian American marrying across racial lines in the first place. According again to Asian Nation, a study by Shinagawa and Pang found that:

With the exception of U.S.-raised Korean women, all other Asian ethnic groups and husbands and wives are also more likely to marry another Asian (either within their own ethnic group or some other Asian ethnic group) than to marry a White person.

Saying that Asian Americans are the most likely to intermarry is a version of racial lumping. A trend that is true of the race at large may not be true of the individual ethnic groups. This problem may not have as large an effect on public opinion as, say, the commonly quoted statistic that Asian Americans earn higher salaries than other minority groups, but it still provides an opportunity to misunderstand the data.

Finally, the Pew Research Center noted that while Asian Americans are the most likely as a group to intermarry, this trend has not changed over the past two decades. In fact,

Rates of intermarriages among newlyweds in the U.S. more than doubled between 1980 (6.7%) and 2008 (14.6%). However, different groups experienced different trends. Rates more than doubled among whites and nearly tripled among blacks. But for both Hispanics and Asians, rates were nearly identical in 2008 and 1980.

So, while intermarriage is on the rise, it hasn’t necessarily changed for all the groups involved. What does this mean? As a multiracial individual, I would love to be able to report that Our Great Country is moving towards a multiracial face and that the racial lines would soon be disintegrated. In some sense, this may still be true. While trends for Asian Americans have not improved over the past two decades, at the same time percentages have not decreased. Even with the availability of in-race marriage partners, some people have chosen to marry outside of the Asian American group.

There are still color barriers, and at present they show no real sign of going away. Even if individuals would be more accepting of an Asian family member than a Black one, they would be most accepting of a White family member. There is still a hierarchy within society, and until something drastic happens this does not seem likely to change quickly.

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TienVNguyen

I’m not sure I follow the point of this article.

I agree that we should be on the path of marrying whomever we want without any stigmas attached to it (which in some/many circles there currently are), and statistics like these are an indicator of how this is going–but I see nothing wrong with the numbers remaining flat as they are.

The notion that people should start trying to marry outside of their race/ethnicity in order to change these statistics defeats the purpose of the idea of freedom of marriage. It’s almost as if people who support interracial marriage are looking down at intraracial couples because they’re not “helping” the cause or statistics–but whoever you want to marry and throw your life away with (joking, sort of) then that’s up to you.

The notion here is that flat growth in the # of interracial marriages indicates something wrong with society, so the greater number of interracial marriages there are, the better it is for society as a whole.

In short I think the idea of studying these statistics at a macro is the wrong way to look at it and is self-defeating. A subject as personable as marriage should be looked at a micro/individual level. Did someone marry someone of their own race because their family was against it, or simply because they found they had more in common with and build a relationship that way?
GoGo

thanks for this insightful article, susan. i wasn’t aware that the data behind asian american interracial marriage was so complex. it definitely paints a more interesting picture than “oh all the asians are gonna marry into the white race eventually”
susan.hirai

@TienVNguyen I can understand where you’re coming from in terms of micro/macro levels, but I think that it helps to take a step back and see where the overall population stands in terms of intermarriage. Every couple which gets married will have their story, and their own underlying factors which could have led to the races of both partners.

I don’t necessarily advocate people looking for partners outside of their race. That would be, in essence, a form of discrimination. However, there may be factors that prevent people of one race marrying people of another. Perhaps the people simply weren’t compatible, but maybe their families actually stepped in to prevent it. The rise of multiracial individuals, to me, would show that the non-personality-based factors were decreasing–and that is something that I would want to see.
DMan

@susan.hirai Susan, I hope you can also experience as a real life issue and not in terms of statistics, numbers and media. I am not sure you identify more with your Asian/Japanese side or as biracial Hapa. As you want to point out the rise of interracial marriages among Asians, you neglect to point out the failures and the divorces and break ups that do occur and not mentioned
susan.hirai

@DMan Dman, this post was based on a single set of data–that of marriage. I thoroughly agree that a more comprehensive macro analysis would have included the divorce and remarriage statistics of both intra- and inter-racial couples.

I am not sure how a macro analysis, however, precludes me from experiencing this as a real life issue. Within my own family, one of my Japanese American aunts was essentially cast out for marrying a Caucasian American GI because her parents had experienced the “love them and leave them” attitude around WWII.

I believe that I mentioned in a previous comment that I do acknowledge that there are personal stories to this issue. However, without conducting my own study (and only one study I know of actually features interviews between interracial couples), I analyzed this data in just one way. Interracial marriage is not purely data to me, and I have a very personal connection to it.
EugeniaBeh

Great analysis!
Ed

@susan.hirai @TienVNguyen Can you explain your statement “The rise of multiracial individuals, to me, would show that the non-personality-based factors were decreasing–and that is something that I would want to see.”? If I understand you correctly I don’t believe this is true nor is this “link” verifiable. Many multi/interracial relationships are based on racial bias/exclusions where personality comes secondary if not tertiary. I’m also of the understanding that multiracial individuals (white/asian) are more likely to prefer/find attractive/marry individuals that are white (willing to be proven wrong on this). If this is true, this also indicates that multiracial individuals are also guilty of placing a lot of value on non-personality-based factors

Great analysis on the story by the way
susan.hirai

@Ed @TienVNguyen What I meant by that statement was that an increase in interracial relations (and thus multiracial individuals) would demonstrate that the barriers between races were being overcome to some extent. I didn’t phrase my comment correctly, and so I apologize for hastily writing it out. Perhaps a better sentence would have been, “the rise of multiracial individuals…would show that the non-personality-based barriers were decreasing”. The factors I mentioned were the antagonistic factors for interracial relationships. So I agree with you–I just didn’t say it right.

And thank you!
ozmo

er, “4.2 percent” is not a sample size. it’s a…. percent. i dont know what the sample size is, but the population of asians in the country is about 12 million people. then its up to you to decide whether that data is worth drawing conclusions upon.

btw, what the data tells me is, asian men and black women should hook up.
Ed

@ozmo Er, completely useless post
Ed

@ozmotion Useless, referring to your assertion that asian men and black women “should” hookup in an attempt to achieve balance.
David06

So what you’re saying is that those many multi/interracial couples be it married or dating don’t have things in common? They don’t have personalities that click? Don’t have personalities that work? You’re making sound like race is the only thing that’s driving people to date and/or get married. @Ed @susan.hirai @TienVNguyen
ozmo

@susan.hirai @Ed @TienVNguyen race should not be a barrier to a relationship, but natural differences in culture exist to predispose like-groups to marry. also, the less people are willing to step outside their comfort zone of like-minded or like-background’ed people, the less likely it is that they’ll find that common ground with those different from them (whether it be race or otherwise)
CrzySxyFangrl69

But what if you’re already mixed? In all honesty, if I married one of my “own” (monoracial Pilipino), it would still be considered an interracial marriage -_- My parents are both from the Philippines but my dad’s mixed.And aren’t Pilipinos already mixed (culturally and possibly ethnically)? The true “pure” native ones look more African…I know this, since my mom has native Aeta blood.
http://angryhapagrrl.wordpress.com/ Bunni

@DMan Face, meet palm. -_-
susan.hirai

@David06 @Ed @TienVNguyen I don’t think anybody said that interracial marriage or the lack thereof is completely separated from personalities. There are several different factors which may affect why a couple does or doesn’t get married.
susan.hirai

@David06 @Ed @TienVNguyen I don’t think anybody said that interracial marriage or the lack thereof is completely separated from personalities. There are several different factors which may affect why a couple does or doesn’t get married.
David M.

Whats wrong with Asians marrying Caucasians? One look at Maggie Q should show that’s a positive. I was stationed in the Marines in Hawaii for two years, and the mixtures of Asians with other races, was quite astounding. As a matter of fact, the blend appears, healthy, handsome, and intelligent.
susan.hirai

@David M. Nothing is wrong with intermarriage of any kind, but more with the misinterpretation of the data describing those marriages.
Ed

@David M. That’s a dangerous fallacy that contributes to the inferiority complex that Asians around the world have when forced to evaluate themselves against the western standard of beauty. Too often Asians use it as one of their mantras for dating Caucasians exclusively i.e. “I want good looking children”. The precedence it sets is that full Asians are not as attractive as hapas. I know almost as many hapas (with white) as I do full Asians and none of them (like me) are winning any beauty contests and most are average at best. People really need to believe that there is beauty in all races and all combinations of races, rather than paying lipservice to the notion.

Asians in relationships with Caucasians in itself is not wrong, but when you consider the less than honourable conditions (racial fetishes, racial hiearchy, racist media, racial hegemony) in which many of these relationships are initiated and ultimately the long term, multi-generational effect on the Asian community, then I can’t help but be concerned. Also, the vast majority (90%) of Asians, both males and females, that I know that are in my age range (+/- 10 years) are all married to Caucasians and many of them never have and never wanted to date another Asian. For the most part I let them be, but I will lay pretty heavily into them when they start patting themselves on the back for being open minded and color blind, when they are anything but.
GoGo

@David M. Yes, interracial mixing is definitely a positive because it produces hot chicks like Maggie Q. Because God forbid, if interracial mixing produced ugly, freaky fat chicks, then maybe it’s not such a good idea after all. Oh god, I really need to stop reading these articles on interracial dating/marriage that seem to pop up on this blog every other day like some really bad herpes outbreak.
mwei

@GoGo @David M. if it weren’t for the “interracial dating” articles, half of Asian websites and blogs wouldn’t even exist.
GoGo

@mwei @David M. i know, and i think that’s really sad, when there are so many other important issues this community could be talking about. instead it’s all either about tiger mom or about interracial relationships. okay this definitely needs to be my LAST post on this thread because i’m also contributing to the numbers by once again commenting
Ed

@GoGo @mwei @David M. This is my last post on this thread as well, but Asian IR disparity is a symptom of a much bigger set of problems and are heavily interconnected with the other more community issues you speak of.
tiredofthissh**

a lot of asian men are just pissed that many asian women marry white men. point blank!
Takuma

@tiredofthissh** How does this relate to the article?
Ed

@tiredofthissh** Hahaha!! I’m glad you came along, because you are just one of the many reasons articles like this keep coming up on Asian sites.
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BenJ

@tiredofthissh** You know, you’re right that a lot of guys are pissed off that Asian men marry white women. It’s a definite self hate with Asian guys that keep popping up. There’s only really one article I know that sums up Asian social frustration incredibly well, and that’s Wesley Yang’s Paper Tigers article in New York Magazine. What I found most interesting is that there’s an Asian dating coach featured in that article. Tiredofthissh**, it doesn’t help to be negative and reaffirm the sad truth. As an Asian male, yes, I know it sucks, but instead of standing on the sidelines, I went out and did something about it. Go check out this link, it’s the Asian Dating coach responding to comments on the Paper Tigers article. http://www.abcsofattraction.com/blog/asian-american-paper-tigers-by-wesley-yang-jt-tran-response-to-new-york-magazine/
metro

misguided conclusion; as an Asian male why would I want to be more accepted into a white family, I mean it’s China’s century, everyone else is just living in it …also it’s natural to feel more comfortable with someone in your own race…at the same time it’s also in my DNA to seek a partner outside my race. I began my dating with hot blondes in college, although lately I’ve discovered admirable qualities in Asian girls, there’s a definite emotional full-bodiedness a White girl brings. Wesley’s Yang’s Paper Tiger’s article is a joke, just highlights a self perpetuating myth about Asians. That is there’s a weakness that Asians feel that exist, but its existence is only as real as Asians give it credibility. It’s kind of like what I learned from high school; to be popular just tell the other popular kids to go F** themselves.
sittinonthedock

I’m a caucasian female and interracial marriage is just plain wrong. Everyone loses. An interracial child is a hiccup on the space time continuum….they don’t relate fully to either parent, and then they won’t relate to their children because the children will be majority something. They won’t relate to past history or a definite culture. No one should be pushing interracial marriage unless they want everyone in the world to be confused, miserable and most importantly Alone. Trust me, I’m 100% white and I’m alone because my dad’s brother married an asian and I don’t have any contact with my half-asian cousins (who btw had no children—I wonder why? Hmm….), and my mom’s side felt the need to marry blacks, so I have no relatives on that side.

You have deeper, more honest friendships with relatives and members of your own race. Why would you rob people of that deep human connection? Some people want more than just friends to go out to the club with.
susan.hirai

@sittinbythedock I wholeheartedly disagree with your categorization of interracial marriage as wrong. I don’t know if you can say that I am a “hiccup”. I fully relate to both of my parents, and I can related to both of my past histories and both of my cultures. I am neither confused, miserable, nor alone.

I have perfectly deep human connections, and I pity the fact that you are unable to see that over-categorizing and lumping people together is narrow-minded.
Dylan Lowe

@sittinbythedock I completely disagree with your statement that interracial marriage is wrong. Interracial sex and marriage is on the rise in America, and it will continue to do so; which is also the case in other developed countries, such as Canada, Britain, Germany, and France.

Incidentally, Britain has the highest rate of interracial dating and marriage in the world, which is much higher than the rate of interracial relations in America; which means that your opinion is a MINORITY viewpoint that is peculiar to the history and legacy of anti-miscegenation laws in the United States (Muttarak, R. (2004) Marital assimilation: Interethnic marriage in Britain, Page 22-23):

http://www.apa.org.au/upload/2004-2E_Muttarak.pdf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2moSvsIAbC0

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/2197/intermarriage-race-ethnicity-asians-whites-hispanics-blacks

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1616/american-marriage-interracial-interethnic

You may not approve of what I say, but interracial dating, sex, and marriage is actually on the rise in the majority of developed countries, which includes the United States.

Needless to say, there are a lot of interracial relationships in the developing countries of Latin America, Africa, Middle East, India and China, which involve Europeans. Whether you like it or not, there is practically nothing that the US government could possibly do to prevent this happening, because the government would never sacrifice US soldiers for any cause which is not considered to be “legitimate”.
Dylan Lowe

@sittinbythedock Your argument is not supported by any scientific evidence, because the concept of “race” is not a meaningful one in terms of biological reality.

You say that interracial marriage is “wrong”, but people like you are WRONG to make such a remark in the first place. The First Amendment does not guarantee that there is any “truth” to your bigoted argument.

Besides, interracial marriage happens all over the world – not just America – irrespective of whether you approve or not, and White people are powerless to prevent miscegenation in developing countries, whereby, Whites are a small minority amidst a largely colored population.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Sturm-Frontseite/100002245595151 Sturm Frontseite

@sittinonthedock. You are completely WRONG to say that everybody is a loser, which is predicated on the assumption that every race is “equal”. But on the contrary, WHITE PEOPLE ARE THE ONLY LOSERS as far as interracial relationships go because the White race is the only race which can be DESTROYED by miscegenation. A White person who marries another race will produce offspring who are “less White”; but on the other hand, Blacks and Asiatics will produce offspring who are “more White”, which means that WHITE PEOPLE ARE THE ONLY LOSERS. I don’t take my authority from any White nationalist who is American because Mein Kampf is the only true and legitimate authority on race reality as far as I am concerned.