How ’bout some cream with your coffee, ma’am?
on August 7th, 2007 at 4:04 am
RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) — For years, Toinetta Jones played the dating game by her mom’s strict rule.“Mom always told me, ‘Don’t you ever bring a white man home,”‘ recalled Jones, echoing an edict issued by many Southern, black mothers.
But at 37, the Alexandria divorcee has shifted to dating “anyone who asks me out,” regardless of race.
“I don’t sit around dreaming about the perfect black man I’m going to marry,” Jones said.
Black women around the country also are reconsidering deep-seated reservations toward interracial relationships, reservations rooted in America’s history of slavery and segregation.
They’re taking cues from their favorite stars — from actress Shar Jackson to tennis pro Venus Williams — as well as support blogs, how-to books and interracially themed novels telling them it’s OK to “date out.”
It comes as statistics suggest American black women are among the least likely to marry.
“I’m not saying that white men are the answer to all our problems,” Jones said. “I’m just saying that they offer a different solution.”
She reflects many black women frustrated as the field of marriageable black men narrows: They’re nearly seven times more likely to be incarcerated than white men and more than twice as likely to be unemployed.
Census data showed 117,000 black wife-white husband couples in 2006, up from 95,000 in 2000. (more…)
Ahh, dating/relationship issues. One of my favorite subjects.
. This especially holds true for interracial relationships.
You know, I think that this whole issue reflects some of the binds we place on ourselves. For example:
1 - If you move out the inner-city, you are ‘leaving behind’ your people.
2 – If you vote anything outside of the Democratic party, your ‘Blackness’ is at stake.
3 - If you belong to a megachurch, you are out of touch with the real needs of the Black community.
4 - If you speak good English, you are ‘acting White’.
5 – Once you have reached a certain economic status, you must ‘give back’ (as defined by every other Negro)
6 – Keep your criticisms of Black people ‘in-house’
And I am sure that many of y’all can think of others.
When I think about this particular issue, I must say that I really feel for sistahs who feel that they must hold out for a ‘eligible” Black man in order to maintain balance in the (Black) force, so to speak. According to this article, ” Nearly three quarters of the 403,000 black-white couples in 2006 involved black husbands.” So I think that it is safe to say that many Black men do not feel the same obligation. So why should our Black women? Holding our women to a ‘standard’ that numbers of Black men have not held I think is just ridiculous.
Sis. , if there is someone out there who will love you and take care of you, don’t be a dummy and pass that up! Otherwise you would have grown old without something you really wanted all because the criticisms of a few folks: a good husband.
Healthy marriages usually beget healthy marriages. If you ask me, I think much of this points right back to the marriage models we have or have not seen over the years within our own community. If Papa was a rollin’ stone, that is typically going to have an adverse affect on their children and how they view men. If mom was always the one who sacrificed and took care of everybody in the house, that too will play into the expectancies of men and women. To me, these are the issues that need to be addressed and not all of this crap about ‘betrayal of race’ if one chooses to date outside the camp.
I have already settled the question whether or not if I would be comfortable with either of my Black children bringing home someone outside of their race. For my daughter, as long as she is happy and convinced that the man she has chosen is going to love her and take care of her (with my approval, of course), it is her life. Same goes for my son. He comes from a long line of men who did not see their wives as ‘status symbols’, so I do not anticipate that he will see the need to think differently.
So I guess I have broken two of those ‘cardinal rules’ in this post: A – some criticism of Black folks in an open forum and B – Not having a problem with Black folks dating outside of their race.
Oh darn. So sue me!
Interesting related links
Black female interracial marriage: E-Zine on black women and interracial marriage options
