American service women interracial marriages

On July 11, , newlyweds Richard and Mildred Loving were asleep in bed when three armed police officers burst into the room. The couple were hauled from their house and thrown into jail, where Mildred remained for several days, all for the crime of getting married. At that time, 24 states across the country had laws strictly prohibiting marriage between people of different races. Five weeks earlier, the longtime couple had learned Mildred was pregnant and decided to wed in defiance of the law.

War brides are women who married military personnel from other countries in times of war or during military occupations , a practice that occurred in great frequency during World War I and World War II. Among the largest and best documented examples of this were the marriages between American servicemen and German women which took place after World War II. By , over 20, German war brides had emigrated to the United States. This also occurred in Korea and Vietnam with the later wars in those countries involving U. As many as 70, GI war brides left the United Kingdom, , to , hailed from continental Europe, 15, from Australia and 1, from New Zealand, between the years and The reasons for women marrying foreign soldiers and leaving their homelands vary. Particularly after World War II, many women in devastated European and Asian countries saw marriage as a means of escaping their devastated countries.

Growing up, my dad would repeat his house rule almost every week: When you get married, marry a Sikh. Through my mids, my parents were still holding out hope that I would end up with a Sikh man. Sikhism is the fifth-largest religion in the world, originating in Punjab, India. Its central values include the devotion to one God, service, equality, fighting for justice and truthful living. Honestly, I often struggled when I went on dates with Sikh men.

Interracial marriages are more likely to occur within the military than outside it. Moreover, these unions nearly have doubled over the last 20 years. Contributing factors include diverse national recruitment, international exposure, and education.