Race of the Future

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1993 Time Magazine cover which shows a computer-generated face of the hypothetical future multi-ethnic race of the United States
1993 Time Magazine cover which shows a computer-generated face of the hypothetical future multi-ethnic race of the United States

The Race of the Future theory/idea states that due to the process of miscegenation, the mixing of different ethnicities or races, especially in marriage, cohabitation, or sexual relations, all the races are blending to become one race in the future. The idea was stated by Gottfried de Purucker, an author and theosophist. When asked about intermarriage in 1930, he said "the race of the future will be a composite, composed of the many different races on earth today. Let us also remember that all men are ultimately of one blood." [1]

Contents

[edit] In the United States

[edit] History

The word miscegenation was used in an anonymous propaganda pamphlet printed in New York City in late 1863, entitled Miscegenation: The Theory of the Blending of the Races, Applied to the American White Man and Negro. The pamphlet purported to be in favor of interbreeding of whites and blacks until the races were indistinguishably mixed as mulattos, claiming that this was the goal of the United States Republican Party. The real authors were David Goodman Croly, managing editor of the New York World, a Democratic Party paper, and George Wakeman, a World reporter. The pamphlet soon was exposed as an attempt to discredit the Republicans, the Lincoln administration, and the abolitionist movement by exploiting the fears and racial biases common among whites. Nonetheless, this pamphlet and variations on it were reprinted widely in communities on both sides of the American Civil War by opponents of Republicans.

The British colony of Maryland was the first to pass an anti-miscegenation law (1664). [2] In the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century, many American states passed anti-miscegenation laws, often based on controversial interpretations of the Bible, particularly the story of Phinehas. Typically a felony, these laws prohibited the solemnization of weddings between persons of different races and prohibited the officiating of such ceremonies. Sometimes the individuals attempting to marry would not be held guilty of miscegenation itself, but felony charges of adultery or fornication would be brought against them instead. Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Alaska, Hawaii, and the federal District of Columbia did not pass anti-miscegenation laws. In 1883, the constitutionality of anti-miscegenation laws was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in Pace v. Alabama.

In 1948, the California Supreme Court in Perez v. Sharp effectively repealed the California anti-miscegenation statutes, thereby making California the first state in the twentieth century to do so. In 1967, the remaining anti-miscegenatation laws in 16 states were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia.

[edit] Today

In the United States, the proportion of multiracial children is growing. Interracial partnerships are rising, as are transracial adoptions. In 1990, about 14% of 18- to 19-year-olds, 12% of 20- to 21-year-olds and 7% of 34- to 35-year-olds were involved in interracial relationships (Joyner and Kao, 2005). [3]

[edit] See also

[edit] References