Mahound
2011-05-18 14:05:23 UTC
White Reactions to Interracial Unions Between People of Color
Many people react negatively to seeing a member of their ethnic group
with a member of another ethnic group. To play devil's advocate, let's
claim the "what is one of our women/men doing with an outsider?"
reaction is almost "natural". Hold your flames. I am NOT against
interracial unions. I am just stating that it is not incomprehensible
that people (of any race) might feel, rightly or wrongly, that they
should stick with their own kind.
The strange thing is, for some whites, this negative reaction to
interracial unions extends beyond white/non-white couples. For
example, I had a conversation with a man who was 3/4 white and 1/4
Amerindian. He is very proud of his heritage. He looks white. He
remarks that his siblings look more Indian. I mentioned that I had a
friend who was 1/8 Indian. He asked, "So what does she look like?"
I said she looks more like her father's family, and the Indian blood
is from her mother's side. As I described my friend, it became
apparent to this guy that my part-Indian friend is also black. He
suddenly became silent and appeared uncomfortable.
I was somewhat surprised at this response because he was so
enthusiastic about this topic just a moment ago. I could only surmise
that he was uncomfortable with the idea of a black-Indian hybrid, and
by extension, unions between blacks and Indians. This is ironic
because he himself is a white-Indian mix, so why should he not be as
excited about a black-Indian mix?
If there had only been one such incident, it would not have registered
with me. But since then I've encountered multiple incidents like this.
For example, I hear whites say stuff like, "It is strange to see a
black man with an Asian woman," but the same whites NEVER say, "It is
weird to see a white man with an Asian woman." In fact, some of the
white men who make these remarks date Asian women themselves. So why
do they regard themselves differently from those black men who date
Asians?
I have not personally witnessed it, but I have heard of black-Asian
couples encountering more explicit forms of white disapproval. This
disapproval is incomprehensible to me because what has a black man-
Asian woman couple got to do with white people anyway? Nothing! The
'purity' of the European bloodline is not at stake here. The 'usual'
excuse of "We disapprove of this couple because the white person is
not sticking with us" clearly cannot apply in this case. So what could
be the reasoning behind these whites who disapprove of black-Asian or
black-Amerindian couples?
This is why I read with interest the comment "the yellow woman is
considered the white man's exclusive toy, and he is not willing to
share this toy with other men of any color" in this site's review of
The Art of War. So by inference, some so-called open-minded whites who
"approve" of interracial unions really only approve of specific
interracial combinations that suit their sexual fantasies? That
article has shed light on some of the questions I had been asking.
I have often wondered at the reactions of white people to certain
interracial couples. I did notice white men who seemed uncomfortable
with the idea of white women dating Asian men. The interesting thing
is, some of these same white men date Asian women.
For example, a white boy J. was excited telling me about the movie
Romeo Must Die. He said there was one scene he found hilarious - the
part where Jet Li unmasks an assassin and exclaims, "You're Chinese!",
to which the lady assassin replies, "No shit!". Now I knew some things
he didn't because I have many friends from Hong Kong who fill me in on
Hong Kong movies and actors. The actress who played the lady assassin
in Romeo Must Die is Francoise Yip, daughter of a Chinese Canadian man
and a French Canadian woman. I thought it was amusing (not in a
derogatory way) that she plays the "quintessential" Chinese in that
particular scene in Romeo Must Die. So I thought I'd share this detail
with the white boy J., thinking it would enhance the joke he already
apparently enjoyed so much. I said, "Actually, that Chinese actress is
half-French, her mother is French." Instantly, the smile receded from
his face and he fell into silence. He is usually such a garrulous
talker who likes to go on and on about how much he "loves
international people". I was surprised at his sudden change in
attitude. I can only surmise that he was bothered by the thought that
a white woman had made a child with a yellow man, a fact of which this
biracial actress was the living proof. The odd thing is, J himself at
that time had a Chinese woman as sex partner/girlfriend. It is typical
that white men want to enjoy the bodies of yellow women, but do not
want yellow men to date white women.
I also suspect some white men who like Asian women are displeased to
see non-white men being with Asian women (even in a movie) because
they cannot identify with the male character. Like the article posted
on your site said, they considered the yellow woman their exclusive
toy which they will not share with other men. At the same time, they
don't like to see white women being with other men because they still
consider white women their property.
This double standard in interracial dating is something that we should
be ashamed of holding. If we are going to pretend to be "open-minded"
and "love diversity", while in reality encouraging only the kind of
interracial unions that suit our stereotypes and exotic fantasies (or
at least not threaten our fantasies), I think we are better off not
having interracial unions at all. Again, I repeat I am NOT against
interracial couples. I just believe that white men (or anyone for that
matter) who pass themselves off as "racially open-minded" when they
really just want an "exotic" partner do greater disservice to
interracial relations than those who don't date interracially.
D.F.
Many people react negatively to seeing a member of their ethnic group
with a member of another ethnic group. To play devil's advocate, let's
claim the "what is one of our women/men doing with an outsider?"
reaction is almost "natural". Hold your flames. I am NOT against
interracial unions. I am just stating that it is not incomprehensible
that people (of any race) might feel, rightly or wrongly, that they
should stick with their own kind.
The strange thing is, for some whites, this negative reaction to
interracial unions extends beyond white/non-white couples. For
example, I had a conversation with a man who was 3/4 white and 1/4
Amerindian. He is very proud of his heritage. He looks white. He
remarks that his siblings look more Indian. I mentioned that I had a
friend who was 1/8 Indian. He asked, "So what does she look like?"
I said she looks more like her father's family, and the Indian blood
is from her mother's side. As I described my friend, it became
apparent to this guy that my part-Indian friend is also black. He
suddenly became silent and appeared uncomfortable.
I was somewhat surprised at this response because he was so
enthusiastic about this topic just a moment ago. I could only surmise
that he was uncomfortable with the idea of a black-Indian hybrid, and
by extension, unions between blacks and Indians. This is ironic
because he himself is a white-Indian mix, so why should he not be as
excited about a black-Indian mix?
If there had only been one such incident, it would not have registered
with me. But since then I've encountered multiple incidents like this.
For example, I hear whites say stuff like, "It is strange to see a
black man with an Asian woman," but the same whites NEVER say, "It is
weird to see a white man with an Asian woman." In fact, some of the
white men who make these remarks date Asian women themselves. So why
do they regard themselves differently from those black men who date
Asians?
I have not personally witnessed it, but I have heard of black-Asian
couples encountering more explicit forms of white disapproval. This
disapproval is incomprehensible to me because what has a black man-
Asian woman couple got to do with white people anyway? Nothing! The
'purity' of the European bloodline is not at stake here. The 'usual'
excuse of "We disapprove of this couple because the white person is
not sticking with us" clearly cannot apply in this case. So what could
be the reasoning behind these whites who disapprove of black-Asian or
black-Amerindian couples?
This is why I read with interest the comment "the yellow woman is
considered the white man's exclusive toy, and he is not willing to
share this toy with other men of any color" in this site's review of
The Art of War. So by inference, some so-called open-minded whites who
"approve" of interracial unions really only approve of specific
interracial combinations that suit their sexual fantasies? That
article has shed light on some of the questions I had been asking.
I have often wondered at the reactions of white people to certain
interracial couples. I did notice white men who seemed uncomfortable
with the idea of white women dating Asian men. The interesting thing
is, some of these same white men date Asian women.
For example, a white boy J. was excited telling me about the movie
Romeo Must Die. He said there was one scene he found hilarious - the
part where Jet Li unmasks an assassin and exclaims, "You're Chinese!",
to which the lady assassin replies, "No shit!". Now I knew some things
he didn't because I have many friends from Hong Kong who fill me in on
Hong Kong movies and actors. The actress who played the lady assassin
in Romeo Must Die is Francoise Yip, daughter of a Chinese Canadian man
and a French Canadian woman. I thought it was amusing (not in a
derogatory way) that she plays the "quintessential" Chinese in that
particular scene in Romeo Must Die. So I thought I'd share this detail
with the white boy J., thinking it would enhance the joke he already
apparently enjoyed so much. I said, "Actually, that Chinese actress is
half-French, her mother is French." Instantly, the smile receded from
his face and he fell into silence. He is usually such a garrulous
talker who likes to go on and on about how much he "loves
international people". I was surprised at his sudden change in
attitude. I can only surmise that he was bothered by the thought that
a white woman had made a child with a yellow man, a fact of which this
biracial actress was the living proof. The odd thing is, J himself at
that time had a Chinese woman as sex partner/girlfriend. It is typical
that white men want to enjoy the bodies of yellow women, but do not
want yellow men to date white women.
I also suspect some white men who like Asian women are displeased to
see non-white men being with Asian women (even in a movie) because
they cannot identify with the male character. Like the article posted
on your site said, they considered the yellow woman their exclusive
toy which they will not share with other men. At the same time, they
don't like to see white women being with other men because they still
consider white women their property.
This double standard in interracial dating is something that we should
be ashamed of holding. If we are going to pretend to be "open-minded"
and "love diversity", while in reality encouraging only the kind of
interracial unions that suit our stereotypes and exotic fantasies (or
at least not threaten our fantasies), I think we are better off not
having interracial unions at all. Again, I repeat I am NOT against
interracial couples. I just believe that white men (or anyone for that
matter) who pass themselves off as "racially open-minded" when they
really just want an "exotic" partner do greater disservice to
interracial relations than those who don't date interracially.
D.F.