2017 marked 50 years since interracial marriage became legal across the United States. Over the course of the year, we’ve spoken to 50 different people – 25 couples – about what it’s like to be in an interracial marriage today.

In this, the final regularly scheduled episode in the series, we take a look back at favorite moments from those interviews, and look at common themes among the stories.

We’ve heard stories about reactions from family members and from the community; ways that couples in interracial relationships have learned to think about race in America differently, and how they’ve learned to navigate the world together in new ways; and some of the new traditions that are formed when individuals with very different backgrounds come together to form a family.

We want to thank all the couples that have shared their stories over the past year, and we hope that you’ll continue having conversations about these topics in your own lives.

-Brad & Farrah

Jen is white and grew up in Philadelphia, while Ermias is black and Eritrean. They met in Eritrea in 1995 when Jen was there as a Peace Corps volunteer. They had a long distance relationship for a while and just when Ermias was on the verge of leaving to come to the US, war broke out between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

They eventually got married shortly after the war ended in 2000, although it took another 5 years before they were able to move to the US together. They now live in Philadelphia with their two sons.

In this episode of the Loving Project podcast, Jen and Ermias discuss the experience of coming together during a turbulent time, learning to deal with racism in America, and why they recently moved their family to Ethiopia for a year.

Jean and Mas have been together since 1972 and married since 1992. Jean is white and was raised in Rochester, New York. Mas is Japanese-American and he was born in an internment camp during World War II and grew up in Seabrook, New Jersey.

Both longtime civil right activists, Jean and Mas met while they were both working for the American Friends Service Committee in Philadelphia.

They have two adult children and three grandchildren.

In this episode of the Loving Project, Jean and Mas talk about how their different backgrounds affect the way they communicate and how they’ve learned to navigate the world together.