Research Paper on:
Hispanic and Caucasian Interracial Marriage

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
1900, there was decline that lasted until 1940 (Majete, 1997). Majete reported that laws barring intermarriage between blacks and whites existed in all states until 1967, at which time the  United States Supreme Court ruled that laws barring these marriages were unconstitutional (1997). The numbers of interracial marriages have steadily increased (Majete, 1997). Fletcher reported that since 1960, the number  of "interracial couples has increased more than tenfold, to 1.6 million, including marriages involving Hispanics. Such unions now account for about 4 percent of U.S. marriages, a share that is  expected to mushroom in coming years and that is already offering powerful evidence that many Americans are jettisoning old prejudices as never before" (Fletcher, 1998, p. A1). The New York  Times wrote that about one in twenty-five married couples in the U.S. is interracial (OToole, 1998). There are reasons for the increasing numbers of these marriages. First, there is the  increasing numbers of immigrants and second, there is the fact that the Hispanic and Asian American populations are growing at a faster rate than the White population (Fletcher, 1998). Thirdly  is the fact that there is greater exposure and contact between races and ethnicities (Greto, 2001). Joel Wade, who is a professor of psychology at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania and  who has studied interracial relationships extensively, said: "We no longer have forced segregation and [different races and ethnicities] work and go to school together; and what happens, they find out,  is that though we have different skin tones and backgrounds, we?re similar in a lot of ways, which breeds attractions" (Greto, 2001). Furthermore, many immigrants come from countries with had  mixed-race traditions (Fletcher, 1998). For example, in a great deal of Latin America, "marrying a person of lighter skin color is considered a move up the social ladder" (Fletcher, 1998,