Undergraduate Honors Thesis
The Threat of Pinky (1949) and Island in the Sun (1957): How White Southerners Reacted to Interracial Romance in Film from 1949 to 1958 Public Deposited
- Abstract
Romantic relationships between Black and white people in the United States have caused
controversy since before the founding of the nation. Miscegenation, as these types of romantic
and sexual relationships were often called, typically referred to intimacy between a white person
and a Black person, but could also refer to a relationship between a white person and another
person viewed as non-white. The term was usually used in a derogatory manner to express
opposition to interracial romances. Passing legislation was the most common way of challenging
miscegenation. One of the first anti-miscegenation laws was passed in Virginia in 1705, its
origins tied to slavery and the desire to ensure racial purity by establishing a clear line between
white people and Black people.1 Most states have had an anti-miscegenation law on the books
for at least a part of their history; only nine states have never had an anti–miscegenation law.2
Though several states had repealed their laws by the mid-twentieth century, the 1967 U.S.
Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia, finally ruled anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional.
In the wake of Loving, thirteen states repealed their laws, all in the western United States; most
southern states, with the exception of Maryland, repealed their anti-miscegenation laws after
Loving.3
- Creator
- Date Awarded
- 2024-04-15
- Academic Affiliation
- Advisor
- Committee Member
- Granting Institution
- Contributors
- Last Modified
- 2024-04-18
- Resource Type
- Rights Statement
- Language
Relationships
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_Provost_Ethan_Final_Thesis_Copy.docx.pdf | 2024-04-15 | Public | Download |