A powerful article by Terence Blackett at Barbados Underground
In George Lamming’s debut novel – In the Castle of My Skin (1953), this famous Bajan son of the soil describe the psychic scars of racism in direct and powerful terms. In The Castle of My Skin he wrote, “No Black boy wanted to be white, but it was also true that no Black boy liked the idea of being Black. Brown skin was a satisfactory compromise, and Brown skin meant a mixture of white and Black… There was a famous family on the island which could boast of the prettiest daughters. Their father was an old Scottish planter who had lived from time to time with some of the labourers on the sugar estate. The daughters were ravishing, and one was known throughout the island as the crystal sugar cake.”
Grantley Adams, a British educated lawyer – who later rose to political prominence as the first Black Prime Minister of Barbados – had an English wife. ‘At that time’ Neville recalled, she was a member of the Aquatic Club in Bay Street and Grantley was not a member, he was a Black man, he wasn’t a member, but she… had that privilege as a white woman to be a member of the Aquatic. And Grantley would carry her to the Aquatic Club, drop her there and turnaround and come back down the road [laughs]. Tell me when you’re ready and I’ll come back and pick you up when you ready to go… He dropped her there. That is your thing. You belong to that club. I’ll put you there, you come back when you’re ready to come, call me and I’ll come back and pick you up.’
It is now 177 years since the Wilberforce Abolition Act of 1833; 147 years since the American Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and the 44th years of Barbados’ Independence from British rule and sovereignty since 1966.
A whole new generation has grown up across the geographical, geopolitical divide where overt acts of racism are outlawed and where the geo-spatial markers of segregation are now less obviously recognizable.
In Rajen Persaud’s book, ‘Why Black Men Love White Women: Going Beyond Sexual Politics to the Heart of the Matter’ is a fascinatingly funny, yet illuminating discourse on this critical issue of interracial dating and the identity politics which challenges our notions of “RACE” and it effects on the Black psyche today. We are forced to look at ourselves and our cultural intonations pondering matters of how celebrities from Michael Jordan to Bryant Gumbel to Tiger Woods – high-profile interracial affairs and marriages with no shortage of theatre, intrigue and controversy has played upon us as men. We must ask: Are Black men choosing white women – or rejecting Black women because of SEX? Does the issue of “Race” affect how white male insecurity is the key and at the heart of our understanding of structural as well as institutional racism? Is it more than love that brings interracial couples together? How is fear used to gain power, from sexual politics to global war? And finally, how movies and television keep Black men running to white women through the cultural machinations of the media?
Susan Crain Bakos in a NYPress article – ‘A White Woman Explains Why She Prefers Black Men’… begs the question: “How many white men can treat a woman like a lady and ravish her” all at the same time? She forcefully opines, “Black skin is thick and lush, sensuous to the touch, like satin and velvet made flesh. There’s only one patch of skin on a white man’s body that remotely compares to nearly every inch of a Black man’s skin. The first time I caressed Black skin, it felt like a luxury I shouldn’t be able to afford. I craved it more strongly than Carrie Bradshaw craved Manolo Blahnik shoes. That phrase, “Once you go Black, you never go back” is all about the feeling of the skin.”
She further contends that “I want Black men. They want me. We look at one another and exchange a visible frisson of sexual energy in the lingering glances. And our attraction is based first on race… that deliberate seeking of the specific other makes some people, especially Black women, damned mad… We are what they denigrate and castigate: white women and Black men who choose one another because of our racial differences. They resent our taking their men. Black men are two and a half times more likely to marry a white woman than a Black woman is to marry a white man. Black women can point to that statistic in justifying their wrath. But in truth, Black sisters, we’re after the sex, not the ring and these guys aren’t the marrying kind anyway. Yes, the sex!”
Moving beyond the gamut of romantic politics for a moment – what about the notional value of the education of the Black male or in this case, the re-education? In the United States, Black students account for 17% of public school students nationwide, but represent only 6% of the teachers. Black colleges enrol a paltry 16% of Black students, but they produce a mere 37% who since the 1954 Brown vs. Topeka decision to integrate schools has seen a 66% decline in Black teachers.
Black male teachers constitute only 1% of the teaching population. There are schools without one Black male academic teacher. They are employed as custodians, security guards and Physical Education teachers. Often, schools will hire a Black male to be an Assistant Head teacher which translates into being in charge of all male behavioural problems. So what really has happened to Black teachers in the American school system? This is a poignant question for all those who are researching the “HIP HOP Generation” and observing the smashing of cultural barriers.
On the other hand, the turnover of white female staff in the inner city schools system was 40% within a five year period. Is it practical to expect someone who has never lived in the Black community, attended a rural college, nor did their student teaching in that region, took few if any courses on Black history, culture, psychology, family, learning styles, Ebonics, etc. to be truly effective? Can one subsume then that gender, race and romantic politics is an epiphenomenon of late 20th and early 21st century construction emboldened and engendered by stereotypical portrayals of the white woman as both an object of sexual fantasy as well as a psychic mentor – now glamorized in HIP HOP music as an attainable fashion accessory? However for this luminous discourse, I turn to Lacanian psychoanalysis and, in particular, to Lacan’s contentious claim that “There is no such thing as a sexual relationship” – through an explication of Lacan’s position on love, I conclude that love not only has a place within racial pedagogy but is necessary for it as the boundaries of race and sexuality morph into a supposed cogent whole.
Some continue to argue vehemently that the continuum line of social and interracial interactions amongst Black & non-Black individuals that were curious about or harbouring a belief in a racist stereotype related to Black sexuality centres squarely on the mythology of the Black penis and the anthropomorphosis of the Black male as a savage, virile beast of a lover – hence the mythology of beauty and the beast.
Sadly, many white Caucasoid women who are taking advantage of these curiosities only serve to promote and perpetuate a form of covert reverse racism which posits a form of pseudo power to the Black male and denies the white female any real lasting psychic wholeness. But more importantly, these metamorphosed interracial interactions make it clear that race, or more accurately racism, often plays a role in the formation and promulgation of such interracial romantic relationships.
John Johnson, the author of “It Ain’t All Good: Why Black Men Should Not Date White Women” states that the removal of Black men from the Black dating pool may not make race relations worse, but it does contribute to male scarcity problems already present in the Black community. Johnson believes there is a ridiculously large and growing disparity in the number of Black men and women in the US population. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there are 1.7 million more Black women in the country than Black men. And if you account for incarceration rates, the numbers approach 2.7 million more Black women in the American Black population. Without question, the absence of Black men from the Black population creates its own collection of problems; particularly for Black women who face heightened levels of competition for mates and are often forced into dissatisfying relationship compromises. The siphoning of Black men out of the Black dating pool and into the interracial romantic marketplace only serves to make these existing problems worse. Meanwhile, Black men are cohabitating with non-Black women at close to 4 times the rate of Black female interracial cohabitation and they are interracially marrying at 2.5 times the Black female rate.
Isn’t it possible that the sexual mythology surrounding Black men and the constant celebration of the beauty of white women in the media are combining to create a disturbing, albeit common, racist romantic combination in this new multicultural romantic marketplace? Does a combination of Black female independence and the tormenting history of white male rape prevent Black women from seriously considering, or being considered for, interracial romance? I would think that these and many other questions would need to be considered before we create an environment for individuals to satisfy their interracial fantasies or even pursue “genuine” interracial romantic partnerships?
An article in National Review stated that when compared to white men, white women were 10 times more likely to report that their most recent sexual partner was Black – white women are also more likely to cohabitate with Black men more than any other non-white male group, which may not seem especially disturbing given the size of the Black population in the United States. Research is also looking at European trends. However, when you consider the fact that white women are more likely to marry a Bi/Multiracial man than they are a Black man, even though there are 4 times as many Black men in the population, one might begin to consider the possible influence of racism on romantic partner selection.
What is the logic behind a Black man intentionally seeking out a non-Black romantic partner, especially when you consider that more than 98% of the 55 million married couples in America for example involve individuals of the same race? What is the reasoning for a white woman seeking out Black men to date when in most interracial environments there are far more white men than Black men? Shouldn’t this race-specific romantic preference, at the very least, be questioned as an observable phenomenon?
Whatever the sexual politics is in the bedroom, boardroom or classroom – we recognize that the debate on “race” will continue to take center stage and will be a point of ongoing controversy and contestation across the ideological spectrum.
In the end, whatever the conclusion the racial map must be redrawn!
afrospear.wordpress.com 
In the end, whatever the conclusion the racial map must be redrawn!
Indeed.
The problem with the term “reverse racism” is that it implies racism is only meant to flow in one direction.
I taught a few years in public schools here in the States and most non-white teachers would tell you that native born black children prefer white teachers and many of them believe that white teachers are more capable than non-white teachers. I never saw this foolishness among immigrant children.
Also, black children behave much better with white teachers especially white male teachers . The ones who have it the hardest are black male teachers. Black children give them the hardest of times.
I really understand why black men do not go into teaching here in the States.I have seen black male teachers being treated with utter disrespect by black children here in the States.
And I am coming from a country where blacks are members of the educated elite. Black Panamanians have a tradition in education in my native country and black scholars, teachers and professors are respected by many over there.
I believe we should wait for the results of the new census before we imply that ” 98% of 55 million couples in America involve individuals of the same race” .
I believe there are more marriages between black men and non-black women here in in the States than many people want to acknowledge.
As a matter of fact, I frankly would recommend to black American women to marry non-black men or else their fate of remaining single is going to be sealed for good.
Too many have forgotten that interracial relations between black men/white women and even non-black women is a recent phenomenon.I do not even believe it is as old as fifty years.
Most of the black/white interracial relations of the past were between black women and white men especially in the Caribbean and Latin America.
In Latin America where racial mingling is encouraged black women along with marrying black men, often inter marry with mestizo, white and indigenous men.
Here in the States statistics say 70& of black women are single. In Latin America and the Caribbean, black women are married .
And I have seen black women move form lower class to upper class simply by marriage in Latin America, something that is hardly seen here, maybe only in the Caribbean or Africa.
In Panama we had a first lady who was black, her husband, the President at the time, was a member of the white elite.
We also had a law in Panama when I was growing up where any foreign business man who moved to Panama had to marry a Panamanian women in order to do business and hire majority Panamanians.
Many of the foreign men married black Panamanian women.
What I do not like and I am going to be honest here is seeing how black American women have been commissioned to carry this burden of resentment against white men and even other non-black men while black American men seemed to have the task of rebuilding their lost honor by mating white women and other non-black women.
I believe in this respect, black American and Caribbean women similar to my fellow Afro latina sisters need and deserve to live in the present, loving who they want without any flashback of the past lurking and disturbing the present when pursuing genuine love interest.
Saludos,
Ana
I don’t believe that at all. From my experience the presence of a Black male authoritative figure in the class has GREATLY reduced behavioral problems among black students, especially black males. They tend to show more respect for and support them for the simple fact that someone that looks like them is in charge. It encourages them letting them know they can come up too in the world.
I am convinced that many people you just say things because thery think it is the right thing to say or just to save face.Lol.
As a former substitute (Black male) teacher I find Ana’s claim that Black puzzling to say the least. Particularly the statements such “Black Children prefer white male teachers requires objective data not subjective anecdotes. I am not saying that it is impossible but only saying that I have found the opposite to be true but of course. Objective data is needed.
The poster Ana shows an unwillingness to review a problem using sober reflection of the facts. She states
“I believe we should wait for the results of the new census before we imply that ” 98% of 55 million couples in America involve individuals of the same race” . Yet she offers no reason to believe that the trend of Black men choosing Black women in the overwhelming majority of cases has ceased. She like most others who have opined on this subject ignore the fact that most Black men choose Black women. They also ignore the fact that middle class Black men of means nearly always choose Black women as do their working class brothers.
Ana and others like her point out that Black men are ten times as likely to choose a non Black woman. Yet the percentage of the total number of Black men who do is relatively small and it is understandable given that in this society men choose women. Furthermore given the near total white monopoly on determining and defining beauty it is the fact that white men are not choosing Black women that accounts for the disparity between the out of race marriages. If white men changed their minds as Ana notes that they did in Panama and as they did during the period of slavery and Jim Crow then you would see more white male/Black Female couples. Ana’s offering up this as a solution leads one to conclude she just wishes white men would pay more attention to Black women. This day dream distracts us from solving the real problem of too many Black men who don’t have the skill sets and education in a Post Industrial World to be effective husbands and providers.
I would agree with you up to the point that you said white male/black female couples are rare simply because the majority do not choose us. It takes more than a man choosing a woman to form a relationship. The woman has to ACCEPT his advances. Remember in the US black women are a minority while white men are the majority so even if a minority of white men were interested in black women (which I believe there is definitely a group that are) that would be sufficient enough to cause a significant shift in the black female dating pool. However, to be honest, I believe most black women have been approached by one or more white or non black males at one point in their lives, but many black women simply do not want to date interracially. From my experiences most of the black women I know have been approached (chosen) by a white man at some point and most have REFUSED him because they are hell bent on being with a black men. All you have to do is look a movies and magazines catered towards black women. They often emphasize the black woman’s struggle to get a good BLACK man. Interracial dating is usually an after thought, an option to take when all else fails and you can’t get that black man you want.
Thank God the majority of black and mulatto women in this world are scattered all over the globe and free to marry who they wish.
I was speaking about the women from Brazil, Latin America, Africa( these are the majority of Black Women in this World) whether they live here or in their native countries.
I have learned not to include myself in everything that I see and hear in this country.
But I wll enunciate my worldview, and as Guatemalan indigenous activist, Nobel prize laureate , Rigoberta Manchu would say:
Let me Speak.
I know many of you would want us to come here and join the baby mama club and drama, but alas, some of us have more sense than that.
Also, I am always amazed at some black men and women here who love to speak for the global and international women, even the ones they do not know.
I just wrote an article in Spanish on Princess Angela of Liechtenstein for a Panamanian online magazine and only a fool would think that Prince Maximilian ” was an after thought , an option to take when all else fails and you…”
Panamanian mothers tell their daughters to pick a man who loves them a whole lot, and one who would make a good husband and a good father to their children.
Panamanian mothers also tell their daughters to have a long check off list when looking for a mate and to make sure the suitor passes many tests before he is taken seriously.
And I will tell you that as a custom, wishy washy, foolish men who try to woo their daughters are run off by all the men in the family.
Isn’t this what sensible mothers should be teaching their daughters?
Maybe we can get rid of the baby mamas once and for all here in the United States, and the high number of children born out of wedlock , simply if black women are taught to pick well regardless of the man’s race, national origins or culture.
Thank God interracial relations is not rare In Latin America and Brazil, because frankly,it is not offensive to the Creator. And if it does not offend God, it is fine with me.
Saludos…
“The problem with the term “reverse racism” is that it implies racism is only meant to flow in one direction.”
Since black racism/black supremacy has never existed, the implication would be accurate.
My white husband finds me beautiful. Obviously he wanted to be with me…not a white woman, or any other woman.
Me…with my light skin, thick curly hair, brown eyes, and unique sense of style. I’m biracial (both Black and White), but society tends to view me as a person of color.
I agree with the statement that most Black men seem to be with White women, not the other way around.
However, you WILL definitely see White men who will appreciate Black women and be open-minded about it. White men with this mindset will not treat a Black woman like an “exotic” pet. They will be sensitive, kind, loving, caring, and gentle with her. They will hold her hand. They will open doors. They will defend her when shit goes down. They will view her as worthy of love. They will value her for who she is instead of wanting her to be somebody else.
My husband expresses all of these traits very well. I still love and appreciate Black men, but the ones I’ve been involved with didn’t do the same. Now I’m with a white man who treats me better than I’ve ever been treated in my life. I didn’t fall in love with him because he is white…I fell in love with him because he made me smile.
Ana makes good points, but she fails to look at this issue from another perspective. I happen to be of a Caribbean background as well, but was born in the United States.
I am not African-American, but I’ve always been aware of the racism in this country. There are successful Black Americans, but there are also many who still struggle to survive. It seems a bit unfair to compare the success and marriage rate of Black Panamanians with that of Black Americans. Sayeed mentioned slavery and Jim Crow…I believe that these two issues had lasting effects on many Black Americans today.
I’m sure that Black Panamanians have endured racism in their respective society, but Black Americans have literally been hated since they were forcibly brought to this country in the 1600’s. Slavery and Jim Crow are over, but Black Americans are still being discriminated against. America is called the “land of opportunity”, but this obviously isn’t true for everyone.
But, Ana, I do agree with you…if a Black woman isn’t being treated right by her “brothers”, she should expand her options. As long as two people truly love and respect one another, I have no problem with anyone of any race or color being together.
Whew…I’m sorry this is so long-winded! Anyway, I will be checking out that 1953 novel. It sounds cool. That Susan Crain Bakos pisses me off. Why? Because she is objectifying Black men and treating them like stereotypes. Some guys probably don’t mind that, but it bothers me. I don’t like to see anyone being treated that way, because it reminds me of the Black men I know who speak disrespectfully of white women, perpetuating stereotypes about them being “submissive”, etc. She also seems to believe that Black women everywhere are jealous of her sexual encounters with these men. The truth is that yes, some Black women do care…especially if they are lonely. However, most do not.
It seems she was trying to be provocative when she wrote this…I believe most people are simply bothered by her blatant stereotyping and objectification.
Sayeed, I do not see how your refer to me as day dreaming if I come from and am the product of a world where racial intermarriage is the norm.
I cannot be daydreaming because this is my reality.White men have never changed their minds in Panama and Latin America. This is nothing new , it is an ongoing thing, because this has always taken place and Modern Panama is about 500 years old.
I stated very clearly that black women in Panama and across Latin America marry mestizo,indigenous,black, and white men. I do not understand this fixation on white men. You ignored all the other male groups that I mentioned.
The bulk of black Western women live south of the border. The numbers are much higher than the ones here in North America.
Brazil has the largest black female population, followed by Colombia then Cuba. I spoke from my reality.
And Sayyed you cannot tell a black latina or a black Brazilian woman that we wish white men would pay black women more attention. We already receive surplus attention from them.
You are daydreaming.
I live in NY city which is an immigrant city. I taught in NY city public schools for 10 years and I have seen black children treat black male teachers with disrespect.
As a matter of fact, black teachers here would tell you that black native children treat white teachers with great respect.
I have taught Arab,Chinese,white,Latino,Caribbean and black American kids. And I have been nominated for four different years to Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. I am humbly giving my observation.
Sayyed,today I tutor and mentor black children here in the States.
I sponsor children in Africa, helping them to attend schools.
I contribute to international Women organizations.
I have helped build schools in Ghana.
What are you doing?
Who told you I said :”black men are ten times as likely to choose a non-black women”
You said:” Furthermore given the near total white monopoly on determining and definimg beauty, it is the fact that white men are not choosing Black women for the disparity between the out of race marriages”
Let us forget our fixation on white men because black latinas and Black Brazilian women living in the States have continued to marry mestizo, white,indigenous,and black men.
One of my most lovely fixture when I was growing up was watching an elderly couple take their evening walk near the Atlantic Ocean in my home town. The husband was Chinese and the wife black.
This old couple would hold each other tightly and sway in singular motions so tight as if they did not ever want to lose the other. The old couple had become one, complete in love, spirit,thought and motion.
Many mulatto men from latin America like black American women but many African American women do not give non-black American men or other men the time of the day. My brother persisted and his lovely wife is African American.
One last thing, Che Guevara upon his early visit to this country said he found white American women to be some of the most unattractive and unfeminine women he had ever saw.
White Anglo Saxon monopoly on beauty may have affected you and yours but it has not affected many other men.
Muchos Saludos,
Ana
I’ve been there:
I am very much aware of American history. I believe some of the best and most formidable of Western black women live right here in the States.
I have seen too many black American women making statements like “EEEUUYY” or making up their faces whenever they are approached in a romantic way by non-black American men .
Sayeed knows this very well He is trying to spoof or gaff black women. It appears to me he is trying to confuse the issues here.
Amazingly he is talking about solutions and suggesting that I am distracting. I was only responding to the article from my own perspective and experience.
I have no power to stop anyone from coming up with solutions to ” solving the real problems of too many Black men who don’t have the skill sets and education in a Post Industrial World to be effective husband and providers”
Sayeed, the ball has always been in your court.
I’ve Been there:
I think you misunderstood me. I was not comparing the success rate with that of Panamanians and African Americans.
I believed that African American women have narrowed their choices too thin and this is the very reason why so many are unmarried. The narrowing of choices should be stopped.
And it is with respect that I give my comments. I do not want to be misunderstood here.
When I mentioned all the other groups of men, if black women from our region had only stuck to black men, the results would have been even more dismal for black latinas.
There is sharp racism all over the world, especially in Latin America.
Saludos,
Ana
One last thing. In the Western world, with all its freedom, real imagined, fake or whatever,men cannot and should never speak for women.
Stop speaking for black women.
Thank God I do not live in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan,Yemen, Pakistan,Egypt,Iran, Somalia or any one of those Muslim countries where men do all the talking, mumbling, and executing plans; and women just hide their faces gently behind the veil, silently, praying,waiting , dreaming, hoping and expecting kindness, goodness and justice to come their way by the grace of men.
Por la gracia de Diós , Yo soy una mujer libre. ( By God’s grace, I am a free woman).
Buenas noches.
“Stop speaking for black women.”
@Ana: In following this discussion, I don’t see where any male here has claimed to be speaking for black women. Everyone at this forum is allowed to express their point of view, in a respectfully manner, whatever the subject matter being discussed. No topic, here at least, is the exclusive realm of only men, women, Blacks, Whites, Christians etc.
One tactic used by those who don’t like their opinions to be challenged, is to try to discredit their opponent by claiming that they have no right to an opinion and/or expressing that opinion, because they are not a member of some group or sub-group. They attempt to misrepresent the issue. It appears to me that this is the basis of your above comment. In reviewing the comments I don’t see where you got the notion during this discussion that anyone was claiming to speak for Black women! If I missed it, enlighten me.
Also, I have previously taken you to task, well let’s say, “discussed with you”, your stereotypical and disrespectful rantings regarding Islam and Muslims. Once again, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but ignorance like your above statements needs to be challenged. Not all Muslim men or women behave in the way you describe. It’s like saying all men in African countries are lazy and crooks and the women are uneducated and whores. What I find most distatseful is that you make these demonizing statements in the name of God while indicating that you are some sort of Christian. By God’s grace you may be a “free woman”, but with this freedom, you have a responsibility to spread light, not darkness.
This is your second and final warning in regards to making these ignorant and demonizing statements concerning Muslims and Islam in this forum. If you wish to continue having the privilege to comment here, check yourself! Keep in mind, you don’t have to comment here. There are other forums where those statements will be welcomed or you can start your own blog.
One last thing. Regardless if you are a man or a woman, it’s better to remain silent and be considered a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.
Compassionately yours,
Asa
Dear Ana–There is a fight to be waged with oppression by men of women, but we women ought to never assume that because we dont have access to what women are thinking and saying in other countries, that they actually arent speaking or fighting! We have to have that basic respect for our black folks the world over. Remember that what we know of each other is through a media that not set up for us to communicate freely. I watch Christian TV and muslim women are fighting all the time. It’s underground. One fight that I saw was for literacy so there are underground schools where the women are learning to read and write their arabic language. These women risk their LIVES to learn to read, which we take for granted! Also from my basic research I found that Kenyan women are fighting for their environments. I assume that there are many many many more women fighting in each of the societies you mentioned. There may be women who “just gently hide their faces behind the veil” But I doubt that all do. There’s more than one kind of slavery–there’s mental slavery where we think we are superior to our brothers and sisters. Thank God, not all men are oppressors even in oppressor nations. I read a book many years ago about a man who, though living in a country where female genital mutilation is the norm, he refused his daughters to have that and made a point of educating them. He spoke for his daughters, and they were educated in his society, something that is not generally accepted back then. Thank God He SPOKE for them! He died before he was able to educate the last daughter and guess who wanted to drag her to the mutilation? The aunt. (So we see that oppresion is more complex than it’s the MEN’S fault) The story is about the girl’s escape to America and the struggle she endured.
http://www.pbs.org/speaktruthtopower/fauziya.html
So it’s very important to NOT make generalizations, based on your own or my own experiences only. If one wants to get a balance of the truth, it’s easier to do these days with the internet.
My spirituality is different from the Black Anglo protestant perspective where women are taught to sit back and accept the role of men as their spiritual superiors.
I come from a tradition where black women are spiritually the powerful ones and do not apologize for it. Afro Brazil, Afro Cuba, Afro Colombia, Afro Panama.
I abhor oppression in all its dimensions and I often see it within the ranks of those who claim to be fighting for poor black people , regarding their constant assertions of spitting out absolutes about black women.
Asa, I have learned a lot from the Afro Spear and with all due respect, I will not comment here anymore.
Truly, to be honest,I came here because of Africa and some of the commenters and guest writers who bring sharp critical analysis.
I believe that in these present times, God is looking for bold men and women to groom, with the ability to speak the truth, not victims with the same old tired lines , but carriers of a fervent love and understanding of the entire gamut of God given freedom and spirituality.
This is where complete and true liberation will lie, in the spiritual arena.
The work has already began
La lucha continua…
I have just found this discussion and am a little perplexed. This is the Afrospear, am I right? Do we expect to have the same opinions? Are we going to agree across the board? Will my opinion possibly upset someone else? Come on people. We ought to have a bit more strength to deal with each others differing opinions. I don’t live in Panama, but I worked with a Panamanian sister before. I can’t expect that she and I agree about the black experience. The black experience is too damn big for us all to agree about it. But I have space to allow you your opinion and you ought to allow me mine and she ought to allow him his, and we all can say what we think we know and we may be right from our own perspectives but not from the other’s perspective. Its real that Ana may have seen black children disrespecting black male teachers. But its equally real that I saw black male teachers being fully respected by black students. It’s real that white men fully love their black women, but its equally real that a white man may have disrespected his black woman or she disrespected him. For real though younguns! The problem we face is to think the world revolves around our own opinion! Is that not the problem of the world right now? This is a black think tank am I right? Well can we think here? My thought about the issue may be different from your thought about the issue may be different from her thought or his thought! A BLACK MAN CAN SPEAK TO A BLACK WOMAN’S ISSUE AND VICE VERSA!!! We are not in separate vacuums in the earth. We interconnect, people! Even when we disagree!
We can still be respectful of each other and gently try to INFLUENCE!! Que sera, sera! If we agree, so be it. But overarching it all should be a respect and a tolerance. I know what my little sphere is and I dont presume that because someone else is black that their little sphere is exactly the same as mine. Maybe this type of discussion is the proof that there can be no ONE BLACK AGENDA! We’re global people, and the issues are not exactly the same, globally for black people!! ANA, I’m an African American woman who have known Brazilian, latino and a host of “other” “black” people and believe me, if I wasn’t already married, I’d give them the time of day, and not go EEUUUY! As a matter of fact my husband is Nigerian. But I believe you saw some African American women do that. When will we stop overgeneralizing based on our own very extremely limited view?
@Ana, just when I was about to know you from your writings, you want to stop contributing to the Spear? Is it because of this little bang up? Come on sister, I know you are stronger than that!! A real black sister doesnt run when the men disagree with her!! Yes I said it! Stay in the mix and mix it up! Be open to learning and open to teaching too!!
Amen Anna… Amen!
Humans have the amazing capacity to rationalize just about everything. They make patronizng statements with good intentions that mostly stem from inexperienced or uninformed life perspectives. The conumdrum of race in the United States is way too big for any of us to absorb in our limited lifetime. With other professional and academic endeavors, history as a whole is the constant that is routinely looked at in order to define a current condition or state. But the issue of race in the United State is not one which will command a look at the peculiar convention of hedgemony. The social, political, and economic policies that were written approved and legislated to intentionally keep the black man in a degraded social position. History indicates that this happened and yet no politician or academic scholar has acknowledged that an apology is in order. But today websites like this are zealously speaking of interracial relationships between black men and white women as if their new. As a phenomenon related to the first black president in the United States. The fact is: black men and white women have been uniting for years even during the slavery period in the country. History indicates that such unions did exists, children were born, and prompted politicians to formulate miscegenation laws in the states to limit the upward social mobility of children born to these unions. The black man and white woman are the only two americans that had laws restricting their contact and lives up until 1967. These acts are crimes and have never been acknowledged. I suspect that the greatest fear the white male has is ” expected retribution for all the evil he has done”
I thought miscegenation was applied to both men and women. That’s why it was a black woman/white man (Mr. And Mrs. Loving) couple that ultimately put an end to that law. Let’s not forget that white men were putting their hands in their slave women’s cookie jars and these unions produced a lot of mixed offspring as well. The law wasn’t just made to bar the black man from the white woman both the other way around considering that it was common knowledge that white men were getting with black women.
In my 53 years, I have found non-black men to be sexually selfish and insecure in their own prowess. They are crushed at any hint that their wham-bam-thank-you-mam approach to lovemaking isn’t completely satisfying to their woman and refuse to learn how women work sexually. Many are even confused as to their true sexual nature and spend time considering whether they’re a “top” or a “bottom.” Begs the question….are they truely men at all anymore?
No man in my life ever gave me an orgasm until I took a black lover at 50. He not only did it once but gave me that gift every time we met, before he got any pleasure himself. He also was an excellent flirt and enjoyed teasing and inuendo that never failed to have me ready for him when we met. In my opinion, black men have a higher emotional IQ, are sexually more secure and skilled, and as a result are better lovers. It isn’t all about penis size.
I have had other black lovers since. While not all of them are the sex gods they think they are, most were WAY better lovers than their white counterparts. I will always choose black men.
Again, like the article stated, bm going after you and pleasing you sexually and making sure that you’re satisfied is reverse racism in some small form or other. Bm now boast about this and how much they actively disadvantage their own women.. Due to fascination with pale skin..
Two can play that game too! More smart bw will leave you and them to each other.. Latino men are the way to go, south/central american, or the Caribbean ones!
Spot on!! I cannot say more..
Bro. Asa, I’ve been quite stunned by the article and especially the comments. When I began blogging several years ago, Sister Anna Rene and the Afro Spear websites were by far the most interesting and closer to my worldview. Of course, given my Pan African leanings since the 1960’s; I must reconcile what I thought to be true and what my ever expanding universe continues to reveal. Still processing this for I’ve always thought that there are facts and then the truth. However, as I continue to grow and learn although I’m in the middle of my 6th decade, I read a quote by a writer that states: “A Truth is rarely pure and never simple”. That is ringing so clear to me as I ponder more on this article, the comments and how racial politics intersect with cultural and social beliefs and practices with the ever present sexual taboos and needs.
Peace and love to all of you….