[K.N.]

The problem with generalizations and stereotypes, positive or not, is that they reduce people to caricatures. It’s dehumanizing when a group of people are stripped of their natural human complexity to fit into a simple ideal (blacks are the best athletes; Asians are great students), even if the comment is meant to be a compliment. Buying into stereotypes indicates the willingness of a person to accept preconceived notions about people who are different from themselves, and just as some expressed are positive, others will be negative.

User Detail :  

Name : K.N., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Catholic, Age : 22, City : Atlanta, State : GA, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[K.N.]

Black-white dating, for black women especially, is a very sticky subject. To the first part of the question of would I as a black woman date a white man, the answer is that I would not date a man because he was white. What I mean by this is that while I would not refuse to date a man who was white if I found him appealing, I am much more cautious when these situations arise. I have dated a few white men over the past several years, and it has been my experience that there are certain motivations for these relationships, not all of which are ‘pure.’ I’ve noticed that there are five types of white men who date black women: those who are interested because they’ve bought into the idea of black women being overly sexualized creatures with a carnal knowledge that white women don’t possess; those who do it because they view it as ‘trendy’; those who do it to try and prove that they are not racist; those who are simply more attracted to black women in general; and those who fall for a woman with little regard to skin color. The difficulty is weeding through it all and trying to figure where a man is coming from. But overall, I believe that in this life, finding someone who you click with, that you can love and who can love you in return is extremely difficult, so when you find that person you should go for it, and color shouldn’t be a factor.

To the second question, it doesn’t bother me when I see a black man with a white woman if it seems they are together because of love, and not because of status. Often black women become upset at these relationships because of the tendency of some black men to view white women as prizes. It happens sometimes that when black men make a great deal of money, or become famous, they will become involved in relationships with white women because they view these women as part of a package of success (nice job, big car, white woman…). At the same time, the men will view black women as ‘less-than’ white women, which of course, inspires anger and resentment in black women. In addition, some black women view black male-white woman relatioships as cutting into the (limited) supply of successful black men, which only increases feelings of hostility.

User Detail :  

Name : K.N., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Catholic, Age : 22, City : Atlanta, State : GA, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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