Miscegenation

[[File:US miscegenation.svg|thumb|right|165px|Dates of repeal of U.S. anti-miscegenation laws. [[Confederacy|Note a pattern?]]
{{legend|#d3d3d3|No anti-miscegenation laws passed}}
{{legend|#5b9e39|Before 1887}}
{{legend|#f3ee66|1948 to 1967}}
{{legend|#cc2f2f|12 June 1967, invalidated by ''[[Loving v. Virginia]]''}}]]
{{race}}
{{sex}}
{{cquote|
:There was an Old Man of [[Jamaica]], 
:Who suddenly married a [[Society of Friends|Quaker]]; 
:But she cried out--'Alack! 
:I have married a black!'
:Which distressed that Old Man of Jamaica.
|||Edward Lear}}

'''Miscegenation''' (from the [[Latin]] ''miscere'', meaning "mix," and ''gens'', meaning "people") is a term that refers to romantic relationships, [[marriage]]s, procreation or [[sex|sexual]] liaisons between those perceived to be of different [[race]]s or ethnicities. The term was coined by the authors of a [[hoax]] pamphlet in 1863 promoting the act.<ref>[http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/archive/permalink/the_miscegenation_hoax/ The Miscegenation Hoax], Museum of Hoaxes</ref> In [[pornography|pr0n]] speak, it's "interracial," and it's remarkably popular.<ref>Not that we'd know anything about that… </ref>

==In history==
Despite the exceedingly close [[genetic]] similarities between all known [[human]]s, the concept of miscegenation has become very widespread as a result of [[nationalist]] or [[religious]] pressure, and as a result of general [[racism]], which traditionally promotes coherence between a defined group of people. Misleading interpretations of [[biology]] are also used to justify disapproval of miscegenation. [[Godwin's law| For example]], [[Adolf Hitler]] condemned mixed-race sexual unions in ''[[Mein Kampf]]'' in the 1920s, likening them to [[Not even wrong| matings between different animal species, which produce weak or sterile offspring or none at all]]. (Ironically, promoting "purity" is most prone to producing "weak" offspring as [[Population bottleneck| genetic bottlenecking]] has shown - it preserves and amplifies genetic disorders and other undesirable genetic traits.)

While no longer promoted in most [[West]]ernized countries, anti-miscegenation doctrine lives on in [[North Korea]] (where all marriage and sexual contact with non-Koreans is banned - racial purity is state policy<ref>http://foreignpolicy.com/2010/02/11/north-koreas-race-problem/</ref>) and in [[Saudi Arabia]] (where women may not marry non-Arabs without royal permission<ref>[http://archive.is/s2aQ Marriage to Saudis], State Department</ref>) and figures into the citizenship laws of some countries like [[Egypt]].<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10247437 Cairo court rules on Egyptians married to Israeli women], [[BBC]]</ref> Some [[fundamentalist]] religious groups continue to decry miscegenation, particularly some fundamentalist [[Protestant]] denominations in the [[United States]] which refer to the "[[Curse of Ham]]"<ref group=note>Referring to [[Noah]]'s curse on his voyeuristic son Ham (traditionally thought of as the [[Biblical]] ancestor of the peoples of [[Africa]]) and his apparently ne'er-do-well son [[Canaan]] in [[Genesis]].</ref> as a justification for separating white from black. (As a result, miscegenation is a common theme in pornography due to the perception of outsiders being more sexually alluring and/or more powerful.)

The increasingly powerful Israeli anti-miscegenation group, Lehava, protests weddings between Palestinians and Jews that attract many hundreds of angry Lehava supporters.<ref>http://mondoweiss.net/2014/08/zionists-wedding-miscegenation</ref> (The Israeli government funds Lehava via its sister-organization Hemla.<ref>http://mondoweiss.net/2014/08/zionists-wedding-miscegenation</ref>) Late in 2015 the Israeli education ministry banned a novel about a romance between an Israeli and a Palestinian on the grounds that it encouraged miscegenation between Jews and non-Jews.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/12075676/Officials-ban-book-depicting-love-story-between-Israeli-and-Palestinian-from-Israeli-classrooms.html Officials ban book depicting love story between Israeli and Palestinian from Israeli classrooms], ''[[Daily Telegraph]]''</ref>

The case which struck down miscegenation laws in the United States in 1967, ''[[Loving v. Virginia]]'', became extremely influential in developing "[[substantive due process]]". Today, the fight against miscegenation legislation is often invoked as precedent in the current fight for [[same-sex marriage]]. In February 2014 this view gained some judicial sanction when Judge Arenda Wright Allen struck down Virginia's ban on same-sex marriages in an opinion which cited <i>Loving</i> frequently and at length.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2014/01/24/loving-virginias-move-on-gay-marriage/ Loving Virginia’s move on gay marriage], ''[[The Washington Post]]''</ref> However, since 2014, there has been a [[Reactionary|reaction]] against miscegenation from [[Republican Party|certain]] [[Alt-right|quarters]]. This view, that legalizing interracial marriage was a mistake, is by no means fringe among the American right.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mediaite.com/news/politico-flags-stunning-poll-result-one-quarter-of-republicans-oppose-law-protecting-interracial-marriage/|title=Politico Flags Stunning Poll Result: One-Quarter of Republicans Oppose Law Protecting Interracial Marriage|last=Christopher|first=Tommy|date=July 26, 2022|publisher=Mediaite}}</ref> Even senators have expressed this view, as recently as 2022.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fox59.com/indiana-news/sen-mike-braun-said-interracial-marriage-ruling-should-be-left-to-states/|title=Sen. Mike Braun said interracial marriage ruling should be left to states|last=Christy|first=Matt|date=March 22, 2022|publisher=[[Fox News|Fox 59]]}}</ref>
 
[[Racialism]] took on a unique form in [[Brazil]] during the late-19th and early-20th centuries. When Brazilian elites learned of [[Scientific racism| "scientific" racism]], they reversed the approach taken in other countries and promoted miscegenation as a means of "perfecting" the "inferior" races. They called this ideology "racial whitening". [[Anthropologist]]s and [[historian]]s believe that [[white supremacy]] led to an assimilative ideology in Brazil because the majority of its population consisted of black and mixed-race people (i.e., a mix of white, black, and native peoples) by the late-19th century, so [[segregation]] would have led to extreme difficulties. The majority of the population in Brazil today is still of mixed race,<ref>[http://kellogg.nd.edu/publications/workingpapers/WPS/173.pdf Fact and Myth: Discovering a Racial Problem in Brazil], University of Notre Dame</ref> probably dooming any return of white supremacy there.

In 2014 it was discovered that non-African living humans have [[DNA]] from archaic humans like [[Homo neanderthalensis |Neanderthals]] in their genomes.<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jan/29/fifth-neanderthals-genetic-code-lives-on-humans Fifth of Neanderthals' genetic code lives on in modern humans], ''[[The Guardian]]''</ref>. Up until recently it was thought that Neanderthal DNA was not found in native Africans, but more recent genetic studies have found significant amounts of it. A newer study published in 2020 states that "Our results refine our understanding of Neanderthal ancestry in African and non-African populations and demonstrate that remnants of Neanderthal genomes survive in every modern human population studied to date"<ref>[https://www.science.org/content/article/africans-carry-surprising-amount-neanderthal-dna Africans carry surprising amount of Neanderthal DNA],''[[Science]]''</ref><ref>https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(20)30059-3#%20 Identifying and Interpreting Apparent Neanderthal Ancestry in African Individuals],''[[Cell Journal]]''</ref>.This blatantly debunks the concept of "racial purity" and shows that miscegenation is natural among humans and beneficial as miscegenation broadens and diversifies the gene pool.

The ''New York Times'' reported in 2014 that the glorious government of everyone's favorite [[China| People's Republic]] was offering government payout for a miscengenated marriage, specifically, between a Chinese citizen of the Han ethnic group and a Chinese citizen of the Uyghur ethnic group.<ref>
Edward Wong, [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/03/world/asia/to-temper-unrest-china-pushes-interethnic-marriage-between-han-and-minorities.html To Temper Unrest in Western China, Officials Offer Money for Intermarriage]. ''The New York Times,'' 2 September 2014.</ref> This government policy preceded the [[Uyghur genocide]] by about three years, so one could presume that it was a prelude to [[ethnic cleansing]] of the Uyghur people by the Chinese government.

==See also==
*''[[The Birth of a Nation]]'', in which the three villains are portrayed as mixed race
*[[Black brute]]
*[[Interracial marriage in the United States]]
*[[Eugenics]]
*[[White extinction scenario]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|90%}}

[[Category:Law]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:Hoaxes]]

Categories: Law, Racism, Hoaxes