But Does Increased Visibility of Interracial Couples Mean Better Race Relations and Diminished Reliance on Stereotypes?
Some sociologists and race experts worry that decades devoted to ending racial segregation have created a "colorblind society." Be not mistaken: they are not considering this to be a good thing, but rather a new problem. A generation so unconcerned about race, ignores disparities that still exist, goes the thinking.Even though young people report having friends of other races, one professor says, those friendships don't necessarily lead to a reduction in negative attitudes toward an entire racial group, because people view their own friends as an exception to whatever stereotype may exist.
Instead or dismantling stereotypes and inequality, the data suggest young people are increasingly becoming comfortable with racial and ethnic inequality.
"We have this sense that to talk about race is to be racist. That's what people have been told," says Professor Forman, 35, who is black and is married to a white colleague at his university.
The Colorblind Syndrome
Rebecca Bigler, 42, a psychology professor who directs the Gender and Racial Attitudes Lab at the University of Texas-Austin, traces such attitudes to baby boomer parents who may have set a tone for raising colorblind kids."It makes us feel racist if we acknowledge race, so we try not to, and we end up being color-mute," she says. "Children learn from their parents that you don't talk about race...the younger generation — especially white kids — believe that racial injustice is "a thing of the past...[but] Society is still marked by racial inequality, and my worry is that it won't get addressed," she says.
Interesting factoid: A Gallup Poll on interracial dating in June found that 95% of 18- to 29-year-olds approve of blacks and whites dating. About 60% of that age group said they have dated someone of a different race.