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Interracial Intimacy

The Regulation of Race and Romance

As late as the 1960s, states could legally punish minorities who either had sex with or married persons outside of their racial groups. In this first comprehensive study of the legal regulation of interracial relationships, Rachel Moran grapples with the consequences of that history, candidly confronting its profound effects on not only conceptions of race and identity, but on ideas about sex, marriage, and family.

"A good introduction to an issue too often overlooked. . . . The writing is clear and accessible, the evidence is evocative, and the ideas are challenging."—Beth Kiyoko Jamieson, Law and Politics Book Review

"U. S. government bodies have tried to regulate interracial intimacy from the day Pocahontas married John Rolfe up through Loving v. Virginia, which found antimiscegentation laws unconstitutional in 1967. . . . The weirder anecdotes from our racial history enliven this study, which is likely to become a classic in its field."—Publishers Weekly

"Moran examines the history of U. S. regulation of cross-racial romance, considering the impact of that regulation on the autonomy of individuals and families as well as on racial identity and equality. . . . She is attuned to the nuances of race in this polyglot nation, and supplies thoughtful analysis of these nuances."—Booklist


232 pages | 6 x 9 | © 2003

Law and Legal Studies: Law and Society, The Constitution and the Courts

Political Science: Race and Politics

Table of Contents

Preface
1. Insights from Interracial Intimacy
2. Antimiscegenation Laws and the Enforcement of Racial Boundaries
3. Subverting Racial Boundaries: Identity, Ambiguity, and Interracial Intimacy
4. Antimiscegenation Laws and Norms of Sexual and Marital Propriety
5. Judicial Review of Antimiscegenation Laws: The Long Road to Loving
6. Race and Romanticism: The Persistence of Racial Endogamy after Loving
7. Race and the Family: The Best Interest of the Child in Interracial Custody and Adoption Disputes
8. Race and Identity: The New Multiracialism
9. The Lessons of Interracial Intimacy
Notes
Index

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