‘Something new isn’t necessarily something good’

That is the title of an article I stumbled upon. According to the author, since the release of the film Something New – a film about a black female in an interracial relationship with a white male – blogs have made a great effort encouraging black women to pursue relationships with white men. And the basic argument is that white men are the answer to all black women’s problems … white men can do no wrong. Have blogs really blown this out of proportion as the author feels?

“I find it all rather cringe worthy,᾿ the article goes on. “But in particular, I always wonder whether any of these women ever consider why – in a white supremacist society – would white men choose black women as partners. Why would people who have historically enslaved another people now want to be in relationships with them? Why would men who defiled and denigrated black women now consider marrying them?᾿

Well I do agree that we live in a color conscious society but does this mean that color does indeed drive interracial relationships?

As per this article, the author argues that some of the world’s worst racists are in interracial relationships. “I strongly suspect that in many cases “interracially-inclined᾿ men feel particularly comfortable in relationships with “out-group᾿ women who have a lower status in society. For some, it may be the need to feel special and important in relation to their low status partner; for others, the driving factor is perhaps very low self-esteem in the sense that they simply do not feel secure in relationships with women of their own status (in white supremacist society)᾿.

Well, personally, I don’t agree with the above analysis of why people are in a relationship with ‘out-group’ women as she puts it. According to the article, black women who rave about white men don’t stop to reflect on the reality of having a white partner. And it goes on …

“Do they ever consider that their partner will in no way appreciate what it means to be black in this society? Do they realize that he will never truly understand all the crap they have to go through. Additionally, the white boyfriend/ husband is very likely to expose his black partner to increased racism (through racist family and friends).᾿

But is it really wrong to actually consider ‘something new’ if what you have had hasn’t yielded any fruits? Is it wrong to actually try ‘something new’ when a white man or a man from any other race for that matter approaches you and you really like him?

So something new may not necessarily be something good but I feel that that decision should entirely be left to the person who is open and bold enough to taste the waters for themselves. And why would someone think that a white man gets involved with a black woman because he can’t handle women of his own status? I believe black women are women of class and status too. And what does status got to do with it anyway?
[tags]something new[/tags]