ABC 33/40 - Birmingham News, Weather, SportsInterracial marriage reaches all time high in US

Interracial marriage once was outlawed in many states, including Alabama. Times have changed. Interracial marriage in the United States is now at an all-time high.

According to a Pew Research Center study a record one in 12 marriages is between spouses of different races.

Pew found a steady flow of new Asian and Hispanic immigrants is expending the pool of prospective spouses. Blacks are now substantially more likely than before to marry whites.

Such marriages are fastest growing in western states, where almost one quarter of all newlywed couples is interracial.

Marrying outside your race is not as commonplace here in the South (14%) or in the Northeast (13%) or the Midwest (11%).