The Race Issue

When I was in my sophomore year at the University of the District of Columbia I met a guy in one of my business courses. He was a southern gentleman who had just come home from the navy and his name was Cody.  I thought he was the sweetest thing ever and I couldn’t wait to tell my parents about him. My mother was happy that I had found someone that shared my values and intellect. I gushed when I showed her his picture that was on my phone. I also showed it to my father as he walked passed me. “I hope you’re not planning on bringing that white man to this house,” he scoffed as he walked into this kitchen. “One day you’re going to find a nice BLACK man to marry.” I’ve never looked at my father as a prejudiced man. He never made any bigoted comments and my schools and, as a result, my friends were widely diverse. And yet still the topic of interracial relationship was a sore was a tender subject. Even after all these years interracial dating is still considered taboo. When most people think of interracial relationships they think of black men running off with white women. We think of comments like Terrence Howard, saying that black women are no good and only bring you down. Black women, especially those in the older generations, still believe that black men who gain success will leave their black girlfriends or wives for more desirable white women. And then when do look at men like Terrence Howard,  Tiger  Woods,  Robert Griffin III, and even Kobe  Bryant who are supposed to be role models within the black community and either only date or cheat on their  black spouses with women of different races. It would seem that this would no longer be an issue and that people should be able to have a preference and love who they choose to love. But when we live in a society when light skin is valued over darker skin, when the black race is even divided between “team light skinned” and “team dark skinned,” when black women are still over sexualized in media and deemed unworthy at home, when a black man, when trying to pick up a black woman, refers to her as “exotic looking” instead of acknowledging her beautiful African roots, we know that it isn’t possible. When a black woman is told that she should straighten her hair because “it doesn’t look,” or that she needs to find herself a white man because at least he will have good credit, when black men are constantly berated by black women on television, we know it is not possible. And as long as we place a  bandage on society’s wounds we  will continue to feel uncomfortable instead of healed.