Solangel Maldonado, a legal scholar from Seton Hall University, has shed light on the lingering impact of discriminatory laws on interracial dating preferences in her new book, "The Architecture of Desire: How the Law Shapes Interracial Intimacy and Perpetuates Inequality." Despite the fact that these laws have been struck down, Maldonado argues that their legacy continues to influence people's romantic preferences by limiting opportunities for interracial relationships to develop.
Studies have revealed that people using dating apps, regardless of their own race, are more likely to contact white individuals and least likely to contact African American women and Asian American men. While some may consider these preferences to be personal, Maldonado asserts that attraction is influenced by various factors, including family members' views, educational institutions, friends, society, and even the dating sites themselves.
Until the 1960s, several U.S. state laws, known as anti-miscegenation laws, prohibited white people from marrying Black Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans. These laws were in effect in 41 states at some point between 1661 and 1967. It was not until the landmark case of Loving v. Virginia in 1967 that the U.S. Supreme Court declared these laws unconstitutional, stating that they were "designed to maintain White Supremacy."
Other discriminatory laws, such as the Naturalization Act of 1790 and the Immigration Act of 1924, also hindered interracial relationships indirectly by limiting the pool of desirable marital partners. These laws were eventually abolished in the 1950s and 1960s, but their impact on interracial relationships persisted.
Furthermore, federal, state, and local governments promoted and enforced discriminatory housing policies, such as redlining and racially restrictive covenants, until the late 1960s. These policies segregated African Americans and other racial groups from white people, determining where they could live and send their children to school. The primary goal of these policies was to "to prevent the formation of interracial relationships in public schools," as argued by legal and race scholar Reginald Oh.
Although these explicitly discriminatory laws have been abolished, their legacy continues to limit opportunities for interracial interactions both online and offline. Residential segregation persists as a result of decades of discriminatory practices, with affordable housing concentrated in low-income and predominantly minority neighborhoods. This segregation also affects the diversity of schools, with many Black and Latino children attending "apartheid schools" in high-poverty neighborhoods with few white students.
The opportunities for meaningful interactions across race in the workplace, where some people meet their romantic partners, are also limited. Black Americans, for example, are disproportionately clustered in low-wage positions and sectors, making intimate relationships with the predominantly white managerial and professional staff unlikely.
Maldonado believes that these defunct laws not only influence whom people meet offline but also whom they are interested in meeting online. Psychological boundaries follow individuals online, and people tend to gravitate toward others who are similar and familiar to them, rather than those they have been taught to see as fundamentally different from their family, friends, and neighbors.
While attraction is complicated and race may always play a role in whom people choose as romantic partners, Maldonado emphasizes the importance of recognizing the role that these discriminatory laws continue to play in people's intimate lives, especially when it reproduces racial inequality.
