Interracial marriage in the United States in the context of "Loving v. Virginia"

Facilities and services such as housing, healthcare, education, employment, and transportation have been systematically separated in the United States based on racial categorizations. Notably, racial segregation in the United States was the legally and/or socially enforced separation of African Americans from whites, as well as the separation of other ethnic minorities from majority communities. While mainly referring to the physical separation and provision of separate facilities, it can also refer to other manifestations such as prohibitions against interracial marriage (enforced with anti-miscegenation laws), and the separation of roles within an institution. The U.S. Armed Forces were formally segregated until 1948, as black units were separated from white units but were still typically led by white officers.

In the 1857 Dred Scott case (Dred Scott v. Sandford), the U.S. Supreme Court found that Black people were not and could never be U.S. citizens and that the U.S. Constitution and civil rights did not apply to them. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875, but it was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1883 in the Civil Rights Cases. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), so long as "separate but equal" facilities were provided, a requirement that was rarely met. The doctrine's applicability to public schools was unanimously overturned in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). In the following years, the court further ruled against racial segregation in several landmark cases including Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States (1964), which helped bring an end to the Jim Crow laws.

Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the American Community Survey, as of July 1, 2024, the non-Hispanic White population was estimated at 191,382,624, representing approximately 56.3% of the total U.S. population.

Although non-Hispanic Whites remain the largest single racial and ethnic group in the United States, and still constitute a majority of the population, their share has declined significantly over the past eight decades. In 1940, they comprised approximately 89.8% of the total population, illustrating the extent of the demographic transformation that has occurred since the mid-20th century. This decline has been attributed to factors such as lower birth rates among White Americans, increased immigration from non-European regions, and broader sociocultural changes, including higher rates of interracial marriage and evolving patterns of racial self-identification.

Melungeon (/məˈlʌndʒən/ mə-LUN-jən) (sometimes also spelled Malungean, Melangean, Melungean, Melungin) was a slur historically applied to individuals and families of mixed-race ancestry with roots in colonial Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina who were primarily descended from free people of color and white settlers. In the late 20th century, the term was reclaimed by descendants of these families, especially in southern Appalachia. Despite this mixed heritage, many modern Melungeons pass as white, as did many of their ancestors.

Many groups have historically been referred to as Melungeon, including the Melungeons of Newman's Ridge, the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, the Chestnut Ridge people, and the Carmel Melungeons. Free people of color in colonial Virginia were predominantly of African and European descent; however, many families also had varying amounts of Native American and East Indian ancestry. Some modern researchers believe that early Atlantic Creole slaves, descended from or acculturated by Iberian lançados and Sephardi Jews fleeing the Inquisition, were one of the precursor populations to these groups. Many creoles, once in British America, were able to obtain their freedom and many married into local white families.