Public opinion of interracial marriage in the United States

Public opinion of interracial marriage in the United States has changed substantially since the 1940s. Today, support for interracial marriage is near-universal.

Opposition to interracial marriage was frequently based on religious principles. The overwhelming majority of white Southern evangelical Christians saw racial segregation, including on matters of marriage, as something that was divinely instituted from God. They held that legal recognition of interracial couples would violate biblical teaching and hence their religious liberty. This position was held by prominent evangelical denominations such as the Southern Baptist Convention until the late-20th century.