Mixed ethnicity growing common among the Indian-Americans

One in nine Indian-Americans is biracial
USA, January 15, 2006: by Lavina Melwani www.littleindia.com

Genetics is their football and they are out to smash all stereotypes. Races meet and merge in their faces. Long Indian eyelashes cover eyes of pristine blue; glowing ebony skin mixes with Caucasian features. Think Halle Berry, think Tiger Woods, think Saira Mohan, think Lisa Ray, Sarita Chowdhury. These are the faces of the future, faces where cultures and races blend, where different essences combine to create a new fragrance haunting but you're never quite sure of what it is. Musk? Attar? Tuberoses? Or a mix of all?

Welcome to the brave new world of children of intercultural unions, families that defy the old rules -- hopscotching over national borders, crisscrossing cultures and a babble of languages to create a new race, a new reality. It's almost as if the great showman in the sky, sitting in his dir ector's chair and bored with the same old, same old, is experimenting and bringing some pizzazz to the leela or celestial play. Bi-racial marriages, barred by law in 16 states just 40 years ago, are now commonplace in America, and the 2000 Census recorded more than 6.8 million multi-racial Americans. What will surprise Indian Americans, however, is that they at the front of the ranks. According to the 2000 US census, 220,000 Indians -- almost 12 percent of the total Indian population of 1.9 million -- identified themselves as multi-racial, i.e. they listed themselves as Indian and one other racial group, which is five times the national average of 2.4 percent. Nationwide, almost 2.5 percent of all Whites, 4.8 percent of Blacks and 14 percent of Asians identified themselves as multi-racial. For the complete article with many interviews, click "source" above. Hindu Press International