httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j30aP2sg2ms
In the above clip, we discover that in 2000 roughly 95, 000 black women were married to white men. By 2006, the numbers had grown to 117,000 black women are married to white men. Anchor person Mara Schiavocampo of NBC poses the following:
“One reason for the increase in interracial relationships may simply be access. As black women continue to make strives in the workplace they often move into new social circles. Some black women say they have a hard time meeting black men who can match their professional accomplishments. That imbalance is foreshadowed in the classroom where 64% percent of black college students are women [, and] at some schools, they [women] out number black men seven to one.”
This clip serves as a very powerful example about social realities driving black women and GBT folks to engage in interracial dating.
ebony and ivory
Previously, we discussed that some folks feel the need to date outside their race due to some ‘lack’ within their communities, in this case the lack of educational attainment by black males. I would agree with black women and GBT folks that are interested in‘formally’ educated black men that there is a scarce supply of them. Frank Aikens of Smooth Magazine says it best, “It is a standard that a black woman wants and deserves, but there is [sic] not enough black men that are up to par.” I would add to Frank Aikens’ statement and suggest that many (if not all) college educated folks would want a black partner that has at least a bachelor’s degree.
Count Blacula
Interracial dating to find an ‘adequate partner’ makes sense to me. Can you imagine having your options controlled by the statistical misfortune of a particular group? I for one am not a fan of such limitations. As a black gay formally educated man, I desire someone (in addition to having a bachelor’s degree) that is at least making preparation for a professional (or hard science) degree. I place a higher premium on educational and professional attainment than race. This is not to suggest that one has to choose between having a black male partner or a formally educated one.
What has to be acknowledged is that black males make up significantly less than 50 percent of black college students at the time of the newsreel footage. One has to recognize that black women, white women, GBT, and etc are (to varying degrees) pursuing sexual relationships with this subset of formally educated black males. I admit to not knowing the numbers that this would generate, but I have a feeling that it means a very small pool of acceptable candidates for the different ‘consumers.’ At any rate, this leads me to understand and accept why some of my black female and GBT friends seek out interracially what they feel they can not get ‘in-house.’
