Hispanic Love Conquers All

Latino lovers are making America an increasingly multi-racial, multi-ethnic country.  Yes, Hispanics are very generous with our love — and are leading the intermarriage charge of this country.  

The numbers tell the story. 

Last year, a New York Times article cited that the number of Hispanic Americans who identify as multiracial grew in just a decade from 3 million to 20.3 million.  That is more than a 576% increase in just 10 years.  

Here are some more facts.  Pew research found that 39% of newlywed Hispanics born in the U.S. marry someone who is not Hispanic. The change is being led by younger Hispanics.  Other research shows that the highest numbers of intermarriage are found among college-educated people.  

What people don't know is that the greatest rate of Hispanic intermarriage is with Asians — in other words, the two fastest-growing populations in the United States are driving a great transformation of both diversity and identity. 

In fact, intermarriage is just shy of being completely accepted in the U.S., according to a piece of data from Axios.  When Gallup first asked about acceptance in 1958, a mere 4% of Americans accepted intermarriage.  Today, the acceptance rate is 98%, leaping nearly 20 percentage points in the last 20 years.  

A couple of months ago, NBC News published a pretty fascinating report, “Who’s Latino?” One of the things that stood out for me in that report was the impact that DNA technology has had on identity, along with population growth and intermarriage.  And among the most interesting data points, ever since the start of the pandemic, there has been a significant interest in people exploring their roots.  23andMe, most notably, said it had a 50% jump in customers of Hispanic descent.  

Perhaps this suggests that, in addition to an interest in the past, it is also a leap into the future.  It is possible that Latinos are ready to take off our masks and share our Latinidad.  Being more willing to share who we are might represent not only a major cultural shift but will extend its influence to the workplace. 

Given that by 2050 one in every 4 people will be Latino,  companies will continue to need to prioritize their Hispanic strategies to hire and retain Hispanic employees, as well as sell to Hispanics and buy from them.  And perhaps this prioritization is getting a boost from intermarriage because it is changing both hearts and minds — in our community as well as other communities and their allies.

That feels fundamentally human and perhaps, more than a simple acknowledgment of diversity, it reveals a greater acceptance and interest in who we are today as an increasingly diverse society. 

So, perhaps, especially on Valentine’s Day, the ancient Roman poet Virgil was right:  Love conquers all.