The high interracial marriage rate in the Chinese and Japanese American communities and the relatively lower level in the Indian American community is the focus of a new research project at the University of California at Berkeley.

Louise Ly, a PhD. candidate in sociology, is looking into the intersection of race, ethnicity and gender in interracial marriages within the Asian American and White American communities. She’s speaking this Saturday at United Methodist Church in Berkeley, CA from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. The free event is sponsored by the Japanese American Women’s Alumnae of UC Berkeley.

“On one level, it’s just simply to understand whether or not race and ethnic differences come up for interracial Asian/White relationships,” said Ly. “Not just between couple, but extended families and child rearing practices.

“On another level, the aim of my project is to better understand how interracial marriage relate to assimilation. Scholars have argued since the 1960s, when different groups intermarry, differences lessen. The assumption is Asian Americans are actually assimilating to a high degree.”

Ly hopes to put that theory to the test.

To do so, she’s interviewing 120 couples focusing primarily in Chinese-White relationships and Indian-White relationships. Data from 2003 -2006 found the intermarriage rate in the Asian American community ranges from 66 percent in the Japanese American community to just 9 percent in the Indian American community. The interracial marriage rate is 25 percent in the Chinese American community and 12 percent in the Vietnamese American community.

Ly is the middle of still doing interviews and has yet to begin to compile her data or begin her analysis. She does not expect to complete her project for another 12 to 18 months.

In her very preliminary findings that could change as the project develops, she finds that Asian and Whites are attracted by differences.

“Some Asian women I interview say they aren’t interested in Asian men, but are more interested in White men because they’re not like their fathers,” said Ly. “Whatever they’ve seen in their families or have observed in other Asian American families, they are not interested in seeing that in their own families. They mention chauvinism, patriarchy, sort of large discrepancies in gender power in the household. It’s sort of ideas they have about Asian men. They sort of look to White men because they’ll have a different experience with them.”

Ly is still looking for couples to interview and is especially interested in talking to Indian American and White couples. If you are interested, you can contact her at Louisely@berkeley.edu.