Interracial Marriage, Essay Example

When Black Men Choose White Women

In modern-day popular culture, there has been a long-held belief that when African-American men marry outside of their race, they are doing so because of a variety of psychological reasons, many of them considered to be dysfunctional and related to the person’s low self-esteem or ambivalence about his own racial identity.  Only 30 years ago, the issue of interracial marriage between African-Americans and whites was such a taboo that Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, an African-American, and his wife, who was of Asian descent, were unable to lawfully purchase and live in their desired dream home because Virginia state law prevented the interracial couple from living together ⁱ.  Although the Marshalls were ultimately able to move into their desired home, the problems that they encountered represented the prejudices of the vast majority of white Americans, who wanted an outright ban on interracial marriages.ⁱⁱ In addition, up until and including recent times, many people still persisted in believing that the driving force behind a man of color marrying outside of his race had to be based on a wish to escape from his racial identity.

An example of this view of racial politics appears in the book, Why Black Men Love White Women: Going Beyond Sexual Politics To The Heart Of The Matter.ⁱⁱⁱ The book examines the issues that it considers to be the basic issues regarding the reasons that African-American men are attracted to white women, which largely involve racism and sexism rather than mutual attraction.  The book describes the major driving force behind such relationships as one of power; in addition, it views the ultimate prize for the black man as “winning” the white woman in response to a sordid history in which white man raped and abused black women who were their slaves.  This author expressed the notion that black men seek to connect with white women either out of revenge or out of curiosity.^iv

A more modern approach to this issue, however, is that African-Americans as well as other people of color decide who to marry based on being in love with another person, regardless of that person’s racial or ethnic identity.  This point of view is supported by many factors pertaining to the modern day realities of life in our current society, including such issues as where we meet the people we marry, the sheer numbers of majorities of the population and the chances that one is more likely to meet and fall in love with someone from the majority based on sheer chance.  This paper will provide support for this latter point of view and the factors involved in taking such a stance.

In an article appearing in The Atlantic in 2010, Ta-Nehisi Coates refers to an article by Jill Scott, another writer who expresses the point of view that black men marry white women for a variety of political reasons.^v In her article, which appeared in Essence magazine originally and then was discussed on the website www.Jezebel.com, Scott discusses the history of black women, racist degradation and the standards of beauty that she believes have been internalized by black men and women alike.  Hence, the black man’s choice of a white woman is guided by the standards of what is traditionally regarded as beautiful.  Coates, however, disagrees with Scott’s painting black people with such a broad brush, arguing that African-Americans cannot be regarded as any more homogeneous than any other population.  This leads to his strong belief that it is only individuals, not members of an ethnic group, who will become involved in relationships.^vi

In addition, Coates takes a very strong stand in defense of the strength of black women, arguing that the choice of some black men to marry white women is no reflection on deficits of the black women.  He simply makes the point that people are people, and no one racial group has a monopoly on positive or negative traits.  In fact, he expresses the point of view that when people focus on the racial differences between married couples, they are selling themselves short, exaggerating their ignorance, and violating boundaries by intruding on the motivations of other people without knowing anything about the specifics of any relationship that they’re not involved in.

Another portrayal of the issue of interracial relationships between black men and white women occurs in Spike Lee’s 1991 movie “Jungle Fever.”  In this film, the relationship occurs between two people who work together and are quickly attracted to each other, causing them to engage in a torrid affair despite the fact that the actor Wesley Snipes plays a married man who is actually relatively happily married.  The motive for his affair appears to be his intense attraction to his co-worker, although it is not as cut and dried as that, in fact, because his wife is a relatively light-skinned woman who is hurt by his affair and wonders if his attraction to her was based on her light skin, and now the motivation for the affair is with a woman who has even fairer skin.  Still, the movie presents the motive for the relationship as one of attraction as well as lust, and does not focus at all on the psychological motivations regarding race of either party.  Instead, the racial issue is presented as much more of a complication for the people around the couple, such as the betrayed wife, Snipes’ brother who is a crack addict, and the extreme disapproval of the woman’s extended Italian family.^vii

Interracial relationships and marriages, which are increasing and involving virtually every ethnic and racial group, are more likely to occur during these times because of the diversity of people that we encounter at our workplaces and in social gatherings.  When life was more segregated and people attended schools, worked and socialized mostly with members of their own ethnic group, they were naturally more exposed to people that were familiar to them and therefore more likely to choose them to engage with.  In modern times, neighborhoods, workplaces, educational facilities and virtually every aspect of modern life exposes ethnic and racial groups to each other.  As a result, there is a greater chance that when one is fortunate enough to meet someone and fall in love, then that person is a member of the different racial or ethnic group from their own.

The traditional point of view that indicated that an interracial relationship was the result of psychological dysfunction and identity issues on the part of the African American male is a rather racist perspective in that a completely discounts the person as an individual who is attracted to other people for a variety of reasons and not necessarily based in any way on racial issues.  This perspective made it possible for white and black people to view interracial relationships in a negative way that confirmed their stereotypes about the other racial group.  It further stereotyped African-American Males as only being interested in white females because of status and power issues.  Instead, the more modern view allows for each individual to make decisions, both rational and irrational, based on matters of the heart rather than the intellect.  To quote Woody Allen, although he is not necessarily the best role model or expert on appropriate relationships, “the heart wants what it wants “.

In conclusion, the viewpoint that black man are interested in connecting with white women as a result of some dysfunction, low self esteem, or rejection of their own self identity is no longer a likely scenario.  Instead, because of the growing populations’ exposure to different groups, there is a greater chance that someone will fall in love with a member of another group.

Endnotes

ⁱ Steve Sailor, Is Love Colorblind? (available on-line)

ⁱⁱ Ibid.

ⁱⁱⁱ-Rajen Persaud, “ Why black men love white women: going beyond sexual politics to the heart of the matter.” (New York: Simon and Schuster,2004), p.20.

^iv Ibid.

^v Ta-Nehisi-Coates, Jill Scott on black men who marry white women,(available online)

^vi Ibid.

^viiSpike Lee. “Jungle Fever” (1991)

Bibliography

Claudine C.O’Hearn, ed. Half and half: writings on growing up biracial and bicultural. Toronto: Random House, 1998.

Coates, Ta-Nehisi. “Jill Scott on black men who marry white women.” The Atlantic. March 29, 2010. (accessed August 22, 2010). http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2010/03/jill-scott-on-black-men-who-marry-white-women/38140/

Lee, Spike “Jungle Fever,” Universal Home Video, 1991, trt: 132 minutes.

Persaud, Rajen. Why black men love white women: going beyond sexual politics to the heart of the matter. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004.

Sailor, Steve. “Is love colorblind?” National review. March 16, 2003. http://www.isteve.com/IsLoveColorblind.htm (accessed August 22, 2010).