Indiana’s Miscegenation Laws: An Ineffective Racist AgendaPosted in Dissertations, History, Law, Media Archive, United States on 2013-10-23 01:55Z by Steven |
Indiana’s Miscegenation Laws: An Ineffective Racist Agenda
Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana
May 2013
57 pages
Megan M. Harris
An Undergraduate Honors Thesis (HONRS 499)
Miscegenation laws have played an influential and explanatory role in Indiana’s perception and attitudes about interracial relationships. Indiana had stringent regulations against such unions, which existed for a large portion of the Hoosier state’s history. Despite the unusually harsh legislations against these couples, interracial marriages continued to occur in Indiana. In fact, some multiracial communities, such as the Longtown Settlement, were created as safe havens for these couples. Although these laws were repealed in Indiana two years before the country abolished them nationwide in 1967, the state has had persistent attitudes against interracial marriage that couples must endure. In the face of the continual growth of such unions, local and national attitudes can be adjusted to greater social acceptance, especially with a clear understanding of the racism that underlies the previous miscegenation laws that outlawed interracial marriages.
Read the entire thesis here.