Anti-Miscegenation Laws in the United States

Abstract

The word "miscegenation" is not included in the everyday vocabulary of a large part of our citizenry, but there are nonetheless laws in twenty-nine states prohibiting miscegenation.Etymologically, the term means intermarriage of persons of different races; when used in this paper, however, the word has reference to marriage between whites and non-whites.Without suggesting an opinion on the desirability of antimiscegenation laws, the writer proposes to sketch the provisions and effects of the present statutes on the subject.Various questions then arise: what is the purpose of such statutes and how effectively are they accomplishing that purpose?Also, what are the legal problems created in applying these laws? °*1Indian marriage in this instance would also be Negro-white intermarriage.