Studies show that 16%–37% of white Americans admit moderate to strong disapproval of close relatives engaging in interracial romances with blacks

Historically, white Americans have been least accepting of interracial romances between whites and blacks, and this tendency continues to emerge in contemporary public opinion polls. Given societal norms prohibiting the expression of racial prejudice, there is good reason to believe that rates of disapproval are underestimated. Evidence suggests that whites' implicit racial attitudes tend to be considerably more biased than their explicit racial attitudes. Whites tend to be less accepting of interracial romance for themselves than for others. Qualitative analysis of attitudes toward interracial romance shows that although most whites report explicit approval of interracial romance, they go on to explain why they would avoid it for themselves. Recent findings from a large demographically representative survey of Americans indicated that 38% of whites were unwilling to engage in any type of romantic relationship with a black person. Moreover, data from actual online dating profiles in the United States showed that over 50% of white profile owners were unwilling to date blacks.