MISCEGENATION

marriage or cohabitation by persons of different race. Theories of anatomical disharmony resulting from miscegenation have been largely discredited by 20th-century genetics and anthropology. Although it is now accepted that modern populations are the result of continuous racial crossing since prehistoric times, taboos on miscegenationin some instances legally enforcedhave existed and continue to exist in many biracial societies. In South Africa the official policy of apartheid for many years included legal prohibitions on miscegenation. In the United States many states had laws against interracial marriage until the Supreme Court declared them unconstitutional in 1967.