More Black Women Consider ‘Dating Out’

“They (black males) don’t want a dark chocolate sister laying around their swimming pool”

By Dionne Walker
 
RICHMOND, Va. – 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.

Full Report

We’re still waiting for the black women the author of this article and the AP to be called ‘racists’ for pointing out the exact same observations most racially aware European Americans have in regards to black males. — Ed

2007-08-05