That puts them in a small but steadily growing cadre of couples who marry across racial lines, a choice that exposes them to stares and comments from strangers and sometimes brings out hidden prejudice in family and friends. Couples who were not part of McNamara's study agree to an extent.
Rude reactions happen, but they're the exception, the couples say.
And they see younger people putting far less focus on racial boundaries. What we're getting is a generation that says, 'I'm not going to be set in this box. We have the same problems, we have the same marital issues, we have the same parenting issues. Inside the home, that may be true. But the sight of an interracial couple still stirs strong feelings about power, culture, morality, religion and sexuality for some.