Not just gay marriage: Support for interracial unions way up too

We've been hearing a lot lately about America's struggles: rising joblessness, increasing poverty, growing inequality, and an education system that's falling behind those of other developed countries. But it's worth keeping in mind that even as things seems to get worse by some measures, they're getting better by others. And perhaps the most obvious area for optimism is in Americans' level of tolerance toward minorities.

For years now, it's been clear that acceptance toward gays and lesbians has been on the rise. In 1996, just 27 percent of Americans said gay marriages should be legally valid. Today, that figure is 53 percent.

That shift has received widespread attention from the news media. But less noticed has been a similar change in attitudes toward interracial marriage. A new Gallup poll finds that a record 86 percent of Americans approve of black-white unions. As recently as 1995, only 48 percent of Americans were OK with such marriages. When Gallup first starting asking about interracial marriage in 1958, just 4 percent of Americans approved.

The gap between blacks and whites on the issue has steadily narrowed, even as both races have warmed to interracial marriage. In 1968--a year after the Supreme Court banned laws forbidding the practice--just 17 percent of non-Hispanic whites approved of blacks and whites tying the knot, while 56 percent of blacks did. In 1995, the figure for whites was 45 percent, and for blacks 68 percent. This year, it's 84 and 96 percent.

Among Americans aged 18 to 29, inter-racial marriage isn't an issue. Ninety-seven percent approve.