The first interracial marriage in what is today the United States was that of the woman today commonly known as Pocahontas, who married tobacco planter John Rolfe in 1614. The Quaker Zephaniah Kingsley married (outside the U.S.) a black enslaved woman that he bought in Cuba.

Were there interracial couples in 1960s?

The 1960 Census revealed that 60% of interracial marriages involved a white man and a black woman. This introduces the gendered reactions to interracial marriage tying back to the idea of “blood”20.