It's something that in some places was once against the law, and in others, just out and out socially unacceptable.

It's a cultural shift that's been years in the making, a breakdown of racial barriers that extends from the public domain, to inside the home.

"We all have the same aspirations, hopes, fears, dreams and things of that nature," says Curtis and Barbara Joseph.

The couple met nearly two decades ago in Alexandria, at a camp that strives to teach children about the ideals of social justice.

"The camp took an equal amount of male, female, black, white, Protestant, Catholic," Curtis explains.

The couple says neither of their own families ever discouraged dating outside of their race. Instead, life lessons were about the bigger picture.

"I'm a military kid so I spent a bunch of time in a bunch of different states and out of the country, associating and befriending all different types of people," says Curtis.

They may argue as any couple will from day to day, but the mother and father of two say race is just never a factor.

"I think we just work hard, you know, like I would imagine that most people in relationships do," Barbara says.

But it wasn't too long ago that interracial marriage wasn't just frowned upon, it was illegal. And for those who dared, the consequences could be harsh.

In 1967, Mildred and Richard Loving, an interracial couple, took their fight for their right to love each other all the way to the Supreme Court.

"So now that enforced segregation is no longer with us, the consequences of informal segregation and informal discrimination, while that's still there, those consequences will recede too," explains Loren Demerath, Chair of the Sociology Department at Centenary College in Shreveport.

Dr. Demerath says people are no longer defined simply by the color of their skin.

"We're becoming more individualistic in our choices and less bound by tradition to some degree," he says.

Demerath also adds that people now tend to be less structured when choosing a partner.

"We're more likely to open ourselves up to different relationships if we see that it's possible that we would have this kind of relationship or that kind of relationship."

A Pew Research study found that about 15% off all new marriages in the United States in 2010 were between spouses of a different race or ethnicity, more than double the number in 1980.

There are some regional differences in the study, as interracial marriage in the U.S. tends to tilt westward.

About 22% of all newlyweds in western states married someone of a different race. That's compared with 14% in the south.

New Mexico has the highest rate of interracial marriage at 19%.