What Comes Naturally: Miscegenation Law and the Making of Race in America
This compelling history of the United States miscegenation law demonstrates its centrality to maintaining white supremacy in the century following the Civil War. Pascoe, broadening her focus beyond black-white relations, considers Western states� prohibition of marriage between whites and American Indians, Chinese, Japanese, and Filipinos, as well as blacks. She weaves a fascinating story out of significant court cases, including McLaughlin v. Florida, an often overlooked 1964 case in which a co-habiting white woman and black man were successfully defended. This case�s use of the Fourteenth Amendment�s equal-protection clause led the way for the Supreme Court�s decision in Loving v. Virginia, three years later, that miscegenation law was unconstitutional. Showing how marriage law can reinforce discrimination based on what is considered �natural,� this timely argument also has relevance for the current debate over gay marriage.Copyright ©2008Click here to subscribe to The New Yorker