Love in America: We've come a long way, baby Coco Helado, Match.com Ever since Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?, in which an African-American doctor and his white upper-crust fiancée try to persuade their families that true love is color-blind, love across racial and ethnic barriers has been a hot-button issue in American life. The film was released in 1967, the same year as the Loving vs. State of Virginia Supreme Court case, when a black-and-white couple succeeded in overturning anti-miscegenation laws. Since then, attitudes have shifted considerably. Although couples of mixed backgrounds may still face familial and social opposition to their relationships, they are increasingly accepted. Currently approximately one in 25 marriages in America is between people of different ethnicities; in California the rate is one in ten. We've come a long way, baby. America today is decidedly more diverse than it was in the late 60s. Mixed couples are featured in clothing ads and music videos; when they appear in the movies, they are no longer presented as shocking or even especially deserving of commentary. But how willing are we really to date people of different backgrounds? Surveys show we are far more tolerant than the previous generations. But when it comes to finding a mate, are most of us still looking for "people like us?" At Match.com, for example, why do so many people specify in their profiles that they want someone of the same ethnicity? Clearly, no one explanation applies to everybody. Just as styles of dating vary among individuals within different ethnic groups, individuals within each group have their personal preferences-and prejudices. Some seek partners with similar backgrounds to themselves in order to preserve tradition or provide a sense of familiarity; others are drawn to the "exotic"-which in turn means different things to different people. And many others see religion or ethnicity as less defining than other factors such as professional interests or personality quirks. The term "mixed couple" means many possible combinations. One story is religion. In prior centuries, Catholics and Protestants regularly fought bitter and bloody wars. In America today, however, Catholic/Protestant couples are so common they are rarely described as "interfaith." And while some Jewish people seek to date other Jews, the majority marries people of other faiths. When it comes to crossing the "color line," social barriers can be more unyielding. Despite the huge changes that have taken place in the U.S., some black-and-white couples still face opposition ranging from dirty looks on the street to lectures by family members that they are "betraying their race." Other mixed couples report a relative degree of acceptance; more than half of women in America who are of Asian descent marry men who are not. A local bias Perhaps our obsession with race is specific to North America; in Brazil or the Caribbean, for example, people accept blended racial categories much more readily. And American Latinos, who are projected to soon become our nation's largest ethnic minority, are so racially diverse a group that classifications of "white" and "black" often seem irrelevant. In our multicultural world, the mixed couple is a trend that's likely to increase. But dating is a time of experimentation, and sometimes people who are willing to date those of a different background eventually decide they want to settle down with someone like themselves. Clearly there is no one path that's right for all Americans. And our ability to accept and support one another's different choices gives "diversity" a good name.