It’s been five decades since the Loving v Virginia ruling that made interracial marriages legal across the country. So this seems like a reasonable time to check in on some of the related stats. According to Pew, “in 2015, 17% of all U.S. newlyweds had a spouse of a different race or ethnicity, marking more than a fivefold increase since 1967, when 3% of newlyweds were intermarried.” As you’d imagine, many more Americans now say marrying someone of a different race is good for society, and the number of those who indicate an opposition has dropped: “In 1990, 63% of nonblack adults surveyed said they would be very or somewhat opposed to a close relative marrying a black person; today the figure stands at 14%.” (Full disclosure: I’m Jewish and my wife is Samoan; so our son overpowers people in sports, but then feels really guilty about it.)

+ The NYT shares readers’ reflections on being in a mixed-race marriage: Loving, 50 Years Later.

+ Last week, Bill Maher was rightfully taking heat for using the N word during his weekly show. There were calls to fire him. HBO didn’t do that. Instead, Maher had Michael Eric Dyson and Ice Cube on his show. Each of them led discussions on the topic that were endlessly valuable. Sometimes, firing does less good than talking. The admonishments Maher received from Dyson and Ice Cube were representative of an increasingly endangered species: Honest conversation.