Miscegenation and Interracial Relationships

This course examines the history of anti-miscegenation legislation in the US. The goal is to understand how such legislation sought to keep people of different races apart and, in so doing, was a primary mechanism for creating and maintaining racial categories.

We also explore the multiracial individuals who resulted from such inter-racial relationships and the contemporary political activism of multiracial individuals. We use historical, legal, and literary texts as well as new media representations of interracial relationships and mixed race people.