Interracial Marriage response

I really enjoyed the NY Times article on interracial marriage. It is hopeful to see that it is becoming more widely accepted. It does, however, baffle me how some are so opposed to the idea. I came across this article: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04/08/46-percent-of-mississippi-republicans-want-interracial-marriage/
This article states that a poll conducted recently unveils a shocking statistic: 46% of Mississppi Republican voters want interracial marriage banned. This is just completely unreal. I do not understand why anyone thinks they have a say in who can marry whom. We have a biracial president, and the census shows that interracial marriage is increasing; therefore, I assumed our nation was headed in the right direction...I guess I was wrong..