Ok, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say something about the latest crime to become a media circus. I’m sure by now most of you have heard about the murder of Jessie Davis, who was almost 9 months pregnant and was likely killed in front of her two year old child by the child’s father. Since Davis and Cutts were a black/white couple and I am someone who studies black/white interracial relationships and who is in a black/white interracial relationship, I know many people are wondering what I think about this case. I’m not here to offer any opinions on the particulars of the case1 , but I do want to talk about the media coverage of the case.
I went around to a few blogs, and I visited AOL Blackvoices and a couple white supremacist message boards to see what they were saying, and quite frankly it was horrible. Many people were saying that the victim deserved it; that she was “white trash;” that her child was ugly; and that she was a sleazy, homewrecking whore. Not surprisingly, the accused murderer, who is the poster boy for anti-black stereotypes, was also being trashed as a violent womanizer who lusted after white women. I can’t tell you how many racist and misogynistic comments I read; and not surprisingly the white supremacists were giddy over this case.2
Terrence Says has a reasonable post, which anonymous bigots tried to take over in the comment thread, and in his post, Terrence engages with the question that many folks are thinking–is the media circus surrounding this case about race? Terrence cites a recent case of a white man who killed his white wife and three children:
Today, like Bobby Cutts, Jr. who was arrested in Ohio, Christopher Vaughn was also arrested. Christopher Vaughn was arrested two hours prior to the funeral of his family in St. Charles County, Missouri (suburban St. Louis) where the family originated; yet, so far, there has not been a mention of Vaughn’s arrest that I have been able to observe on the weekend news shows.
As sad and tragic as the Jessie Davis story is, I can’t help but wonder if this story had involved a missing pregnant black or Latina woman if it would have the same media traction.
Well several of the anonymous commenters went crazy, saying that the case received so much attention because Davis was pregnant, because Cutts was a cop, because the child was left in the house alone, and everything but race. I certainly agree that all of those things make the story more sensational, but I really can’t fathom that it is much more sensational than the Vaugh family case mentioned above. However, I find myself having a slight disagreement with Terrence. I agree that white women victims get much more attention than Black, Asian, Latino, and American Indian women, and I agree that race is a big factor in the media attention the case has gotten, but I would be more specific than Terrence.
It’s about interracial sex. Interracial crimes make big sensational news stories, but crimes that involve interracial sexuality arouse the deepest passions of American bigotry. The OJ Simpson case, the Duke Rape, the Kobe Bryant rape case, and now this one–they all have tremendous sexual overtones. For a long time, I was surprised at how much attention the Duke case received, because I was focused on the fact that the accuser in the case was black, but I missed the mark. It’s more than the races of the people involved; if the crime is perceived as involving interracial sex, something snaps in people, suddenly they perk up.
The truth of the matter is that the US is a culture obsessed with interracial sex, but nobody will say this in polite company. During the slave era and the Jim Crow era, white people spoke with repulsion and disgust at interracial sex even though many white men were routinely engaging in sexual encounters with black women. In the colorblind era, people are still obsessed with interracial sex. However, they do not publicly say, “Wow, interracial sex is: bizarre, disgusting, exciting, adventurous, morally repugnant,” and so on. That’s part of the reason nobody in the mainstream polite media is going to openly say–“Damn that negro had two white baby mama’s. He must have really been packing some heat below the belt. Why else would those white women be interested in him?” 3 Nobody is going to say, “Those white women are white trash, whores for sleeping with this black guy. They probably only did it for his big dick.” Nobody is going to say, “Why can’t these black men just take care of their kids and stopping hopping from bed to bed. Only a white women with no self esteem will get with a guy like that.” They are not saying these dispargaing comments publicly, but when they get home to their families and friends, they are saying it. When they go on line to search for interracial porn, they are thinking it. When they can leave anonymous comments on blogs, they are expressing it.
I think my traffic at this site is evidence for the American obsession with race and sex. Within the last week here are a select few searches I have received:
- black men impregnating white women stories
- savages on blondes
- Biracial family pictures black and white
- BLACK ATHLETE MARRYING WHITE WOMEN
- Black men breeding white girls
- black negro slave woman naked pictures
- black women with white men in adult movies
- differences between white and black women’s breasts
- blacks in bed sexing
- george lucas in love black women
- how do you feel about interracial relationship
And this was a really slow week, I’ve gotten at least 100 searches over the past few months for “savages on blondes,” which was a popular racist pornographic website featuring black men who act like “savages” who want to have sex with white women. I mentioned that site exactly one time on this blog, and I still get people looking for it.
For some reason, people think interracial sex is exotic and daring, particularly when it involves Black men and white women and Asian women and white men. Numerous people, who clearly have no random sample to draw from believe that race is correlated with penis size. They believe race is correlated with a person’s level of sexual desire. They believe people who engage in interracial sex are deviant, rebellious, daring, gross, odd, oversexed, and ugly. But, most of them will not admit it publicly. Instead they go home and post horrible messages discussion boards. (Probably while masturbating to interracial porn.) They try their best to hide their discomfort, but most interracial couples can see how the stares they get in public often belie the facade of tolerance.
When it comes to interracial sexuality, the US is still not ready to come to grips with our racism, and the discomfort with the intersection of race and sexuality fuels the public obession with many interracial crimes.
NOTE TO READERS: I know this thread is going to be an ultra-sensitive subject, and white supremacist trolls will likely be coming out of the woodwork, so I am limiting this thread to anti-racists and racial abolitionists only. Moreover, this is not a thread to debate the merits of any of the cases mentioned in the text, so let’s focus on the larger issues. Finally, anyone who leaves bigoted white supremacist comments will be banned immediately.
Amending The Note To Readers to include feminist posters as well. So the thread is opened to anti-racists (or racial abolitionists) and feminists only.
- I also want to say that my heart goes out to the family of Jessie Davis and her child. I hope they are able to get justice in this case. [↩]
- I have a policy of not linking to organized white supremacist sites, but you can check out the big ones to see what they are saying. [↩]
- I don’t know if his wife is white or not, so I can’t comment on the third “baby mama.” [↩]
You nailed it. As an interracially married woman, I get sick and tired of the glances and attitudes that reveal people’s underlying assumptions that I am sex-crazed, sleazy, or whoreish. Mind you, nobody ever says these things outright, but their assumptions are revealed by idiotic comments like: “I didn’t know you liked black guys!” (I don’t. I like THIS ONE. That doesn’t mean I’d sleep with every single black guy who hits on me) or “Is it true that black men are, you know, BIGGER?” (This assumes that I’ve had partners to compare my husband to. In fact, I haven’t). And on and on and on. 7 years into this relationship (3 of which had been married), and it still continues.
It’s about interracial sex, for sure, but the class element is inextricable here. A family member who is a public health nurse and who makes home visits in mostly poor neighborhoods comments often on the white-trash-ness of the white women who marry black and latino men. The tie that binds in their cases is a shared poverty, at least in the sense that the couples seem to have run in the same circles and lived in the same neighborhoods. They’re bound so tightly by this, in fact, that often I can’t tell who’s getting the brunt of the criticism from said family member. The women for being race traitors? For throwing away perceived opportunities for respectable middle-class-dom by marrying outside the boundaries? The black and latino men for being black and latino men and lusting after (most often blond, in the retelling) white women? The black and latino men for ‘stealing’ or otherwise duping white women into marrying them? It’s impossible (for me, at least) to tell.
I don’t deny that there is still all sorts of wierdness surrounding interracial relationships, but I’m not sure how much of a factor this was in the case. I watch newschannels for my job, and as far as I can recall, this case was all over the newschannels for 24 hours before there were any pics or video of the cop involved. The hook seems to have been her mother’s incredibly gripping 9/11 call.
I agree with Jane. This was a huge story for days while she was missing, and it was getting all sorts of coverage, and I didn’t see anywhere that she was involved in an inter-racial relationship until her body was found and the man was arrested.
Now, the inter-racial aspect could certainly be a big motivating force going forward, but I think it is revisionist to say it was that way from the beginning, and I think the fact that it was big news even when “we” didn’t know about the black father will make it difficult to say what the primary factor will be going forward.
There’s also an availability heuristic at work here, as well, probably, as a person who thinks a lot about inter-racial relationships a lot would be more likely to check on reactions to this type of story.
Chances are, you weren’t following news stories as closely in, for example, the Scott Peterson case (which is an all-white comparable case here), and you weren’t checking out Neo-Nazi message board for their assuredly horrific views on the pressing issue of Phil Spector’s likely guilt or innocent.
I hope this isn’t too far offtopic, but I find it really depressing to see, “So the thread is opened to anti-racists (or racial abolitionists) and feminists only.”
‘Feminists’ who aren’t anti-racist also aren’t feminists.
I don’t have much else to add to this, except that I’ve been spared hearing such titliating, racist crap from fellow white folks. When I was a kid, my much-older family members were against interracial dating. They said that when I got older, I would understand why. Most of those folks are dead now (alas), but my surviving family members haven’t given me any grief about dating a(n interracial) black woman. It’s possible that their queerphobia is cancelling out their racism (i.e. the relationship doesn’t matter enough to condemn it), but my brother married a woman of asian descent and if anybody had a problem with it, I never heard about it.
I can’t speak for anybody else, of course, but I think the kind of blatant, crass racism described in this post is not common in certain social classes and regions with white folks. Any San Francisco Bay Area dwelling, NPR-listening, college educated, white person who said such things to their friends would become really unpopular really fast. Which is not to say that they aren’t talking around it in coded ways or aren’t following the story because of some subconscious fascination with race dynamics. The smug sense of superiority present in upper middle class white San Franciscans includes the assumption that part of the reason they’re smarter than upper middle class white folks elsewhere is partly due to their ‘anti-racism.’
Les, with all due respect this statement is a real contradiction, “I’ve been spared hearing such titliating, racist crap from fellow white folks. When I was a kid, my much-older family members were against interracial dating. They said that when I got older, I would understand why.”
Obviously you haven’t been spared racism talk.
This thread is opened to both anti-racists and feminists. You can be one or the other or both.
I think another factor was the cop factor. Several days of “Cutts is not considered a suspect” translated into “cops covering for another cop”–at least the men in my family were at first most interested in THAT angle. They wondered aloud if “cop” would trump “black”–and as we see, it didn’t.
But no question the 24/7 coverage is racist, particularly the constant refrain of “he’s got kids by three women!”–like white guys don’t? O’Reilly was going crazy on that fact last night, which made me wonder how many kids HE has by different women.
You’ve nailed it when you describe the level of racism still omnipresent but never openly talked about in the U.S., but I tend to believe the initial hook for the mainstream media was the fact the vicitm was 9 months pregnant. The MSM is obsessed with fetuses, and not just because of the Scott Peterson case. There have been a couple bizarre incidents in recent years where pregnant women were murdered by mentally ill women intent on kidnapping the baby, and each case received significant am0unts of air time.
Yeah, folks these things matter to the case, but I think it goes much deeper.
Part of the point I’m trying to get acrossed is that they are not going to make public proclaimations about race because they know it will look blatantly racist, so they are being underhanded.
If you want to get a sense of what much of white America is thinking about race and sexuality, read what they say when they think nobody is looking. Just look at Terrence’s thread.
Moreover, if you want to see the dramatic gap in how whites and blacks feel abou this, compare the responses on this thread to the ones over at at my Rachel’s Tavern site where most of the comments as of 6/26 1PM are from African Americans.
My white liberal denial detector is going off like crazy right now.
I did a small amount of work writing magazine articles. I think this can be a both/and situation, even one where racism is the deciding factor.
I mean, FETUS INTERRACIAL SEX CRYING MOTHER? It’s a bonanza! Why can’t they be hammering it for all those reasons, from fetus fetish-hood, to the fact that it really is useful to have gripping material you can slam on the TV without having to work yourself, to lots of scary and embedded racism?
(also, I completely haven’t followed this story, so I’m just going off what y’all are saying.)
Just noticed that rachel started her last comment with: “Yeah, folks these things matter to the case, but I think it goes much deeper.”
Which is more or less all I was trying to say. (as in: yes, fetus fetishization, but also it’s potentially simplistic to suggest that fetus fetishization somehow also precludes a racist element to the sensationalism)
…back to short story writing, sorry for the ramble. :)
Yeah, mandolin that’s a huge part of the problem. People forget that there are a multitude of factors at work in garnering atttention in these kinds of cases, and it seems like every time someone brings up race, they want to bring up all of those other factors. Of course those things, matter, and so does race.
I also think many of the people didn’t go over to Terrence’s and actually read some of the racist garbage. Since Terrence allows anonymous comments, the racism is really blatant.
Well, I hadn’t gone over either, and that shamed me to….
Yikes? Yikes.
I was particularly appalled by some of the “white women deserve it for getting with a Brother” sentiment, where the commenter seemed to be positioning hirself as a person of color? Am I unreasonable for suspecting that they lie?
I think most black people would put their name on it, if they said that crap. I think a few dumb comments are from blacks, but I think most of them are whites, especially the crime refrain.
The more reasonable people are people who came from my site.
I was particularly appalled by some of the “white women deserve it for getting with a Brother” sentiment, where the commenter seemed to be positioning hirself as a person of color? Am I unreasonable for suspecting that they lie?
Not unreasonable, but based on my experience probably wrong.
Two of my sisters (white, as I am) have black boyfriends. (They’ve been together for 5 years in one case, 7 in the other.) This is in the small-town South, so an area with a good deal of fairly open racism still. Both relationships get much more unfavorable attention (and more aggressively unfavorable) from black women than from anyone else.
“They wondered aloud if “cop” would trump “black”–and as we see, it didn’t. ”
NOTHING trumps “black” especially when it involves a black taking the life of a white.
And that even goes for black cops.
I can’t speak to the MSM attention to the case, but I will say that when the story first broke in OH it was posted on my mommy chat site. It never occurred to me that it was an interracial couple – I just assumed everyone was white (which in and of itself proves the normativity of whiteness and is problematic). Anyway, I didn’t know the suspect was black until I saw his picture in the CNN article yesterday and never really thought about the race of the mother.
I can say unequivocally that the attention it got on the mommy chat site was about the whole 9 months pregnant and that he more than likely killed her in front of their two year old and then left him there by himself for god knows how long (that type of thing tends to set off women with small children).
In short, I think the interracial sex thing at this point HELPS sensationalize the case, but that it probably initially got so much publicity because of the combo of factors. I’m not for one second denying the crap people are likely to add to the discourse now that the interracial aspect is well known.
george lucas in love black women
um…what??
“Both relationships get much more unfavorable attention (and more aggressively unfavorable) from black women than from anyone else.”
Yeah, that’s the thing.
I guess for a black woman I must be an aberration to that so-called “norm”. I have never ever run after a BM/WW couple spewing hateful comments at them; I have never looked at and rolled my eyes upon seeing a BM/WW couple; I have never stared in disgust at a BM/WW couple. I don’t know, must be something wrong with me. If anything when I am walking past a BM/WW couple or glance their way, the black man looks down in shame upon meeting my eye contact. Hmm. Go figure. Why any black woman would worry herself about who a black man was in bed makes no sense. For all she knows, no telling how that particular black man is treating that particular white woman. All is not always rosy behind closed doors.
But, I can understand where some black women who think that way feel the way they do.
This society devalues black women.
This society would rather see black men married to white women, rather than ANY MAN married to black women. (I know. Hard to believe, but true. The desire to see black women devalued is but one more form of white supremacist destruction of black people. Destroy the black woman, and you have completely destroyed the black race.) The media shows practically no positive images of BM/BW couples on TV or in films. Black women’s beauty is denigrated (“nappy headed hos”), and add to the fact the history of how white men have defiled and debauched black women for over 400 years, is it any wonder that so many black women fear the advances of white men? Could she be faulted for wondering if the white man is only interested in her for “perverted, wild animalistic sex”? Could it be that the black woman knows that she is rated less than in this society starting with all the lies and slander the white man has been telling on black women for centuries, for decades? Lies, stereotypes and slander started by the white man during slavery, and continued all the way through segregation for almost 90 years? Lies that some men of other races, along with white men, are all too ready to believe?
Many black women would like to reach out and allow white men and men of other races into their lives. But, if most, but not all, of the men they meet treat black women with disdain; look at black women as if they have no right to be at that particular workplace, treat black women as if they are only “Good enough to fuck, but, not good enough to marry”, treat black women as if they have no right TO BE in this world, then many black women will continue to have fear and trepidation in seeking out IRs.
Most black women do not have utter hate for the white woman.
Most black women see daily how black women are discarded, ignored and left out of life in this country, especially in the dating/marriage aspects. Many black women know that no matter how beautiful, decent and marriageable they are, they will never be accorded respect and adoration that they are due as women. Many black women know that no matter what we do, it will never be enough in many people’s eyes, especially those men who have bought into the belief that black women are not to be cherished, not to be treated with love and adoration.
And that is the cruelest and most unkindest cut of all.
Oh, absolutely. I think that’s a brilliant summation, Ann.
The commenter in question seemed, to me, to be positioning himself as a black man (although I might have been doing that default-to-male thing mentally), which was why it was so striking to me. But probably not legitimately, and I withdraw my comment.
I undewrstand why there is so much tension along the lines of interracial dating. From some positions (frex: what Ann outlines above) it makes more sense than from others (frex: white men who want to see “savages on blondes”). I think it’s one of the places where intersections of race and gender are most clear and bizarre…
I went around to a few blogs, and I visited AOL Blackvoices and a couple white supremacist message boards to see what they were saying, and quite frankly it was horrible.
Rachel, you select the most extremist minority viewpoints available, see them say what they always say, and from there extrapolate that the reason this became a media circus was because of the interracial sex angle? We’ve got CNN or Fox News (depending on who last got their hands on the remote) on here where I work all day, and it was 4 days before I found out these two were an interracial couple. If anything, the interracial sex angle was deemphasized. The notoriety of this case was due to the horrific nature of the crime (killing a full-term pregnant woman, probably in front of her 2-year old) and the fact that the perpetrator was a cop.
Understand I’m not arguing that there aren’t nutballs that have a problem with interracial sex and marriage and all that. But it’s not really credible to cite the reactions of radical white supremacists to this case as support for why mainstream media and the general public have an interest in it. 99.99% of the American public couldn’t name a white supremacist blog or website for money. If CNN and Fox and the rest had played that aspect of the case up then you’d have more of an argument, but I don’t see where that happened at all; just the opposite.
Ron, if you going to take that line of think you need to explain to me why the Vaugh case is not as horrific, and does not deserve equal attention?
Ron F said, “Understand I’m not arguing that there aren’t nutballs that have a problem with interracial sex and marriage and all that. But it’s not really credible to cite the reactions of radical white supremacists to this case as support for why mainstream media and the general public have an interest in it.”
But Ron I’ve talk with many interracial couples, and it is not just nutballs who have trouble with interracial relationships it’s most of America, especially white America. When I interviewed interracial couples, almost to a person everyone said their relatives would have preferred them marrying someone of the same race.
You need to explain to me why I get numerous searches from these nutballs. You need to explain to me why I woke up yesterday morning to have some idiot leave 3 comments over at my site, calling himself Bobby Cutts.
AOL Blackvoices and Yahoo message boards are not white supremacist sites or nut ball sites. That doesn’t mean that nutballs don’t hang out there, but…..
Kate said, “I can’t speak to the MSM attention to the case, but I will say that when the story first broke in OH it was posted on my mommy chat site. It never occurred to me that it was an interracial couple – I just assumed everyone was white (which in and of itself proves the normativity of whiteness and is problematic). Anyway, I didn’t know the suspect was black until I saw his picture in the CNN article yesterday and never really thought about the race of the mother.”
I agree that the initial coverage focused on the missing pregnant woman angle, but it is the subsequent coverage where the colorblind racism is much more apparent. The AP, has not been terrribly sensational, but as usual the cable news stations are blowing this up like some other well known cases. One show last night dedicated almost an entire hour to the case.
I’ve never seen a missing black woman case get a whole hour, and the fact that this guy fits so many racist stereotypes of black men further feeds into the subsequent frenzy.
I think it’s entirely possible that the reason that the coverage has gotten blown up so to speak is probably the salacious angle – where they can use the suspect to meet all the negative stereotypes, but I think I would agree that the initial frenzy over the case had more to do with a missing pregnant woman and on trying to find her.
Would there be the same frenzy of a missing black pregnant woman? I’m doubtful. But initially, I think it lends itself well to the fetus fetishism type of thing.
continuing coverage will absolutely be tainted by the interracial/stereotyping of the case.
Also, since i don’t have cable and most of the news I get is from AP on places like cnn.com it may explain why I’m not seeing what you are seeing.
Ann that was very well put. I think people have the mistaken notion that black women hate interracial relationships btw BM and WW, but as Ann said black women hate being denigrated and put last in line when it comes to desirability as mates.
I personally get very little opposition from black women, and much of that has to do with how my partner and I interact with the black women we know and encounter. I know white women in IR’s who make derogatory comments about black women, and are afraid of black women. That subtle fear show through in their interactions, and I think that makes black women upset. Also, many black women get upset when black men accept racist stereotypes about attractiveness or date white women who do so. (This is not speaking to Sam’s sisters mentioned above. I’m talking about people I know.)
This is for Ron F….Ron go to technorati type in the word interracial, and see what comes up. I just typed in the word to see if this post was on the list, and to help people with searches technorati gives related terms, which are based on the data they gather from searches. Here are all of the related words that came up– hardcore, anal, pussy, lesbian, group sex, ebony, fucking, black, amateurs, and blow job.
If just a small minority of people have these opinions why does technorati use those companion search terms.
This is the point I’m making….the sensationalism is not going to be clear from watching the mainstream media because colorblind racism is such that white Americans don’t openly admit to believing those types of things, but when nobody is looking and they go over to technorati (or poor Terrence’s site), this is what they are thinking about.
Don’t take my word. Go do the search for yourself……
It seems I ought to follow up and make two points.
Both my sisters would say that black women are overwhelmingly supportive of them and their relationships. Of the small group of people that noisily oppose their relationships, black women are an large majority–but that’s a majority of a quite small group.
There’s a key word in the paragraph above–did you notice it? That word is noisily. The person who yells at you randomly on the street is noisy, and easy to identify–but fairly ignorable. The person whose rental property is no longer available because he dislikes the fact that your partner is black is not as identifiable, and not as noisy–but is much more damaging.
Sam, I think the point you are making is similar to the one in Mandolin’s now famous post.
FWIW, I think blacks tend to be much more open and honest about their prejudices than whites, which could also be a factor in the mistaken perception that blacks are equally opposed to interracial relationships.
I’m apparently bad at making my points clear.
I like Mandolin’s point in her post, but (I think) mine is somewhat different.
My point is that “people who noisily dislike your interracial relationship” does not necessarily include most of “people who harm you because of your interracial relationship.”
Sure, that’s a fair point…
I’ve never seen a missing Black woman get an hour either. Here, there were two hit and run killings of women on bicycles. One was a Black female college student. The other, a White female college student.
One case got the minimum of two detectives from homicide assigned to it. The other got eight detectives, the sergeant and an extra evidence technician. Guess which was which. Guess which one was cleared in 36 hours.
The other? It’s never been solved, probably never will be unless someone decides to reopen a “cold” case and try again.
The amount of attention it got from media certainly, and also from police(since the majority of homicide detectives are usually White men)means she’s White or at least strongly assumed to be White in a normative sense of default.
Her boyfriend wasn’t immediately suspected at first(though in many cases, it is someone close to the woman) and especially when his photo(not sure where it was taken) was shown, then it seemed like she was a bit less of a “victim”, her boyfriend was an inhuman killer and every other racist and sexist stereotype and the case has attracted more attention than it would have otherwise. And racist posting and speech like has appeared on Terrence’s thread.
This is probably not related but I’ve heard the response, “oh my gosh, a cop did it” like it’s some amazing, ironic detail but in actuality, police officers have a rate of domestic violence that is four times higher than the rest of the population. Some departments employ officers convicted of domestic violence including a police chief in Maywood, California. Some high-profile domestic violence/killing cases like Chief David Brame killing his wife Crystal Judson in Tacoma have gotten a lot of attention.
Maybe that’s another use of a stereotype that causes that kind of surprise that a case involving a police officer killing his girlfriend or wife could actually happen. People seemed amazed that I talked to, but it’s not amazing at all. It’s a disturbing trend.
“The person whose rental property is no longer available because he dislikes the fact that your partner is black is not as identifiable, and not as noisy–but is much more damaging.”
And how many black women are in that category who are in the position to deny white people rental property, housing, a good job, a better education?
What Rachel said is true.
How white women in relationships with black men treat black women sends the message to black women what that white woman thinks of black women. And yes, many white women are afraid of black women. They know that in addition to the hateful way that white men mistreated black women and girls (yes, little girls, when white men committed acts of pedophilia on little black girls by raping them during slavery and segregation), during America’s extreme racist history, white women also see how this society degrades and devalues black women in present-day America.
Tell me, when was the last timeyou saw on TV stereotypical, insulting images of Mammy, Sapphire, Slut/Jezebel/Whore, Welfare Queen stereotypes that constantly disparaged the gender AND race of white women? When was the last time, if you hear it blasting from some human beings car stereo, “Bitches…hos….suck my d++k!” directed at white women? When was the last time you saw ad after ad after commercial that celebrated the beauty of a black woman’s features with a black actress/model who had very black skin, natural hair, full lips? Where have you seen commercial after commercial, magazine spread after magazine spread, where you saw ads of dark-skinned black women in over 50% of the ads?
If you are like most Americans, practically none, unless you subscribe to a black publication.
And I will echo, Rachel.
It is hellish enough that white men through the media, through films and through their distorted lies of history, have done all the damage they could to destroy the image of black women. I expect that from them. They are the ones who have left this legacy of hatred of black women. They are the ones who have polluted and poisoned people’s minds against black women. White men have been trying to destroy black women ever since we have been in this country, and they still have not let up. Yes, they can no longer fuck over us the way pappy and grad-daddy could a few decades ago, but, the mistreatment has only morphed into a more subtle attack with the use of the media.
It damnable enough that there are many white women who hate that black women have been able to survive all of the sick, twisted, perverted shit that white men did to black women and that we came out better humans than all the filth through the many years that sought to destroy us.
But, it hurts even worse, when it hits close to home. It hurts when the men of your own race in trying so desparately to curry favor with Massa are more than ready to tear down the women of their race.
It is bad enough when black women have to fight a battle on two fronts (the hatred and venom of white men and white women); it’s doubly painful when some of the black men of your own race join in on the attack. Men who have internalized racist, sexist hatred of black women.
“Both my sisters would say that black women are overwhelmingly supportive of them and their relationships.”
Good to hear that.
But, the majority of white women behave coldly, nasty (rude, snappy comments), indifferent and in many case just plain hostile to black women. They know in what they see and hear, that this society beats black women down every chance it gets. They know that this society hates that black women have survived and shown that no white man, white woman or anyone else could destroy us. But, on the other hand, this continued barragement of anti-black woman treatment from the general society (i.e., anyone who is not a black woman) can, and does, take its toll.
And as for those few black women who “noisily” berate your sisters in public, think of what must have happened to them at the hands of white men, black men, and men of other races.
(“And the less privilege the person who’s making the criticism has, the more it feels like an attack. In this post, Ginmar quotes Amanda Marcotte: “The less right you have to talk in the eyes of the hierarchy, the louder you seem. Which is probably why black women are seen as the loudest people ever.”* from Mandolin’s post)
Black women have been through some vicious hells in this country. We have never been worthy of having our bodies, spirits and minds treated with overwhelming respect and consideration. We have never been worthy of having our voices heard through all the hate and disrespect that has been shown towards us. We HAVE to speak up vocally for ourselves, because no one (save a few people who care about us) else will do it for us. We speak up for ourselves the most. We’ve had to. America has never wanted to listen to the voices of black women. America still does not.
The truth still stands.
Black women get the shitty end of the stick in this country.
We always have.
We all know missing black women (or other non-white women) get no legit coverage in the MSM, and yes, that’s shameful and absurd and a bone worthy of picking; but to extrapolate off that this idea that this case was so sensationalized because of the interacial aspect simply flies in the face of all logic.
Look, some missing white-girl cases get saturation coverage and some don’t – there’s some randomness to what breaks through. Maybe it’s about how hard the family pushes (that seems to largely be the determining factor)… I don’t know. Maybe it’s just time now and then and the case that comes along is the one that gets covered. Regardless, it’s pretty simple, if you look at the bigger picture, that not every white girl case gets covered: some fall by the wayside and some become *the biggest story ever*. But again, to suggest this one was unique in its coverage and sensationalization because of the interacial angle doesn’t make any sense unless we are willing to ignore so many simple facts and past media experience with just these sort of cases–pregnant white women gone missing and turning up dead by their partner’s hand.
How can you suggest that any part of this saturation coverage (any part of it!) is any different than the Scott Peterson nonsense? This is about an articulate, pushy mother and some other “juicy” details (9 months pregnant white woman, generally sketchy partner, “sympathetic” girl victim, etc) coming together and breaking through. Period.
This case would clearly not have gotten the same coverage if it had been a black or latina woman. We all agree on that. And some news about white dudes killing their families don’t happen to break through. Using the Vaughn story, or lack thereof, in the way you are is totally random. It proves nothing. White men kill their whole families all the time — they can’t all be news. Neither of those two things lead to the conclusion that there was a racial aspect driving the media coverage of this case. Unless now 2+7=4. These are two divergent points! How you’ve combined them as evidence of *anything* is beyond me, I’m sorry.
Rachel,
fwiw the related tags for Teen at technorati are
* amateur,
* hardcore,
* blonde,
* brunette,
* mature,
* nude,
* celeb,
* ass,
* thong,
* tits
I think this has more to do with the net’s role as a porn delivery device than anything societal about the teen years.
no idea if your broader point is correct or not.
Wow, Sara. Invalidate much?
But when practically all news about black men doing everything from receiving tickets for noise violation (I’m not kidding; they actually wasted air time on that one) to murder goes through, there’s definitely a media bias.
Ron, if you going to take that line of think you need to explain to me why the Vaugh case is not as horrific, and does not deserve equal attention?
As far as I can see the Vaugh case has gotten equal attention – in fact, more. But then, I live in Illinois so it’s a local story here. I can’t speak to the level of attention that the Vaugh case has gotten nationally compared with this.
But Ron I’ve talk with many interracial couples, and it is not just nutballs who have trouble with interracial relationships it’s most of America, especially white America. When I interviewed interracial couples, almost to a person everyone said their relatives would have preferred them marrying someone of the same race.
The second sentence does not necessarily establish the first. I say that because people who don’t give a damn if a white someone they don’t know married a black someone they don’t know all of a sudden might care a great deal if one of the two people is someone they love rather than a stranger. “I don’t care what their spouse’s race is, but I don’t want my son/daughter to have to deal with crap from predjudiced people.” And that doesn’t have to mean that there’s a lot of predjudiced people out there; even one nutball in a 1000 or 100000 can be trouble enough. So if you’re saying that because interracial couples had problems with their relatives means that there are a lot of people in general concerned about interracial relationships in general, I’m not sure I accept the relationship between the two statements.
No Ron they don’t usually say, “I don’t care what their spouse’s race is, but I don’t want my son/daughter to have to deal with crap from predjudiced people.”
What they usually say is something like. “You’re life is going to be harder if you marry a black man, and is it really worth it to you.”
or
They say, “Well I don’t have any problem with IRs, but I do think the kids will suffer.”
or
They say, “You and your kids can come over to my house, but ____(the black spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend) cannot.”
or
They say, “I know _____ is a nice guy, but you are really hurting your reputation.” (or the family’s reputation)
Or they do things like
Not inviting the intermarried person to family events.
Disowning the interrmarried person
Not talking to them for years.
Giving their white grandchildren more or better gifts than their mixed race grandchildren.
Making derrogatory comments about blacks (or other people of color) to their white relative when their black partner is not around.
Refusing to drive to the home of neighborhood of the intermarried couple.
Most white partners in interracial relationships experience one or more of those things from one or more of their families members. And of course, then their is the phenomenon of well I’m not going to say or do any of those things myself, but when someone else does, I’m not going to challenge them.
Now, this business of missing blacks not getting equal coverage and such; yeah, the all-time all-stars for this are young white women or girls. Missing black kids hadn’t nearly gotten the coverage.
I say “hadn’t” because after that one case where the little white “beauty queen” went missing and there was this huge coverage about it (and of course, a lot of that was that the parents were suspected), there was a lot of complaints about the differences in covering missing white kids vs. missing black kids. After some open soul-searching by the media (here in Chicago at least) change has occurred. Nowadays, black kids who go missing in Chicago show up on the local news outlets with attention equal to that of white kids as far as I can tell without actually going out and measuring it.
I’m pretty sure Rachel S. wrote a whole article (or several) on here about people’s attitudes toward IRs. They were pretty interesting. You might want to check them out again, Ron.
“as far as I can tell without actually going out and measuring it.”
Well, that sounds reliable.
But other people have measured it, IIRC. So, since astudies have previously shown bias (and since you admit that was the starting point), perhaps you have one showing the newfound equality you claim?
BTW, Ron, that Vaugh case is not getting even close to the same amount of coverage nationally.
The first two statements seem to me to be equivalent to what I’m talking about. OTOH, the rest of it is blatant predjudice. How often do things like those happen? And is the group of interracial couples you talk to a representative sample of interracial couples, or do you only end up talking to the ones that are having problems?
I’m not accusing you of trying to stack the deck to further an agenda with that question. I’m not familiar with your site. If you are talking about interracial problems, then it stands to reason that people who have problems are more likely to get on a blog and talk about them than people who aren’t and you would see a disproportionate number of people with problems. OTOH, for all I know you have taken pains to select a representative sample and there really are a huge number of such couples that have these problems with their families.
You know what Ron, you are doing the typical white people double speak on IRs.
When you first commented you said, “Rachel, you select the most extremist minority viewpoints available, see them say what they always say, and from there extrapolate that the reason this became a media circus was because of the interracial sex angle?”
Then in trying to justify families “concerns” (which are occasionally real concerns, but are generally expressions of oppositition to the interracial relationship) you said, “And that doesn’t have to mean that there’s a lot of predjudiced people out there; even one nutball in a 1000 or 100000 can be trouble enough. So if you’re saying that because interracial couples had problems with their relatives means that there are a lot of people in general concerned about interracial relationships in general, I’m not sure I accept the relationship between the two statements.”
Ron buddy you can’t have it both ways…if I am an alarmist for mentioning “so called extreme views” then families are alarmist for appealing to the nutball in a thousand. If my concerns about white supremacists (and others because I did say I read blogs and AOL blackvoices, which people seem to be conveniently dropping), are not legitimate, then families concerns about these people are also not legitimate.
Or you could believe that my concerns about white supremacists are legitmate and relatives conerns about nutballs are legitimate.
And again, having studied this pretty thoroughly, I can tell you that some families have concerns about a relative being hurt by an extremist, but most of the time they are more concerned about their own prejudices and reputation. And if they were so against prejudice they would speak out against the bigots rather than saying things like: “the kids will suffer don’t do it” “your life will be harder don’t do it.” Instead the prefer to speak out to the relative, and stay silent about real bigots.
Ron dude. You’ve been reading Alas for a while. I’m surprised you didn’t read my posts. I posted several articles from my dissertation, which is on family approval of black/white heterosexual relationships.
Ron,
Let me explain to you why those first two statements are racist.
Let’s start with this one: “You’re life is going to be harder if you marry a black man, and is it really worth it to you.”
One question would be is this factually true. I would say that typically it is fair to say whites (especially women) who intermarry are going to be on the receiving end of racism, and it is going to be overwhelmingly from other whites. So what the family would be identifying racism, right. However, they rarely connect it to racism, which your initial statement did BTW. They connect it to interracial relationships–so they think the white partner’s life will be harder because of some sort of problem with interracial relationships, not because racists oppose interracial relationships. SO rather than placing the blame on racism they place the blame for alleged difficulties on the couple and on interracial relationships. And in asking these questions and other related questions, they are often undermine the relationship and end up being part of the reason interracial relationships may be harder.
Now let’s turn that question around and think about it from a black perspective. Black families don’t say this very often at all. They may say things like the white family won’t accept you, but they do not say your life will be harder you should reconsider. Well, black families don’t say this because the black partner’s life is not likely going to be hurt by marrying a white person. The black partner can’t opt out of experiencing racism–they will face it with a white partner or a black partner. In fact, black families will often show disapproval of IRs by saying things like this black partner is anti-black, acting white, a sell out, and thinks their life will be better by marrying a white person. Some black families actually worry that biracial children are going to be treated better because they are lighter. So this opposition is often rooted in the idea that a black person has advantages when they marry a white person. Thus, you don’t hear black people saying an IR is going to ruin their relative’s life.
The underlying meaning of the question is about white privilege. Many of those same white parents who say their child’s life will be harder would never admit that whites have privilege, but what are they really worried about: The loss of white privilege.
I don’t have time to write about the second question, but you can read my old post called “What about the children.”
Rachel, you lost me in that last post.
I agree that there is “white privilege.” (Although I think it is much more class-based than I expect you would.)
I agree that a white woman who marries a black man loses some of that privilege.
What I’m not seeing is how stating that to be the case (as in Ron’s hypothetical, “Your life is going to be harder if you marry a black man, and is it really worth it to you?”) is racist.
It’s racist because the families are saying this because they really are trying to hold on to their family’s white privilege. The underlying message is, “Please dont marry a black person because you and I are going to lose privilege.” There are some cases where people are genuinely concerned about racism, but from the interviews I conducted I would say most of the time the parents and relatives other actions that it is not a genuine concern.
And generally, it is not about class because the vast majority of black/white interracial couples are married couples where partners are of the same class. Moreover, black/white couples on the average earn even more than white/white couples. In fact, black/white couples are more likely be upper middle class than same race white or black couples.
So it is not the statement itself that leads me to this conclusion, but the totality of behaviors/statements surrounding that statement.
That makes sense–thanks.
“What I’m not seeing is how stating that to be the case (as in Ron’s hypothetical, “Your life is going to be harder if you marry a black man, and is it really worth it to you?”) is racist.”
I don’t think it is necessarily racist. It all depends on whether the family alleviates or adds to that hardship.
What I find interesting is that it is impossible to oppose IR without admitting that white privilege and racism exist. If being a member of a minority is a net benefit in Politically Correct America, shouldn’t being in an IR make life easier? In that narrow sense, shouldn’t it be encouraged? Interracial children would rock! They’d benefit from affirmative action and the government will take care of them their entire lives.
Just for the record, though, why are assuming that white/black IR = BM/WW? I realize that this is statistically more prevalent, but taking what is more common and normalizing it carries with it its own baggage. Because I think by most racists’ scales, black men are destroying Western Civilization at a slightly slower clip than black women are. Even Archie Bunker types admire black male athletes. When it comes to black women, at best they secretly watch Oprah.
Just for the record, though, why are assuming that white/black IR = BM/WW?
Well, for me, it’s because that’s the form I actually know something about.
sylphead, The focus on BM/WW is, for me anyways, related to the nature of the original post.
Lee, I grew up in Northern California amongst educated, liberal, vegan, environmentally aware people. I got some unkindness when I started dating a rather attractive white man. That is when I found out the narrative about black women. We are: A) Ugly. B) Whores C) Nappy/Crack Headed. D) Stupid. E) Have 10 kids by as many men. On the list of desirable races, we are at the bottom, with white women occupying the rarified atmosphere at the top and Asians somewhere in between.
So even really nice liberal people with whom I protested nuclear proliferation and U.S. support of South American fascists were puzzled as to why a guy who could get ANYONE would want to date ME. Now I am no Halle Berry, but I am no dog either. But I am black, therefore, automatically ugly (or at least less attractive than the nearest white woman).
Similarly, the narrative with this murdered woman is that she definitely had some emotional or mental problems…why else would she go out with a black guy? She was a nice looking girl, she could have gotten ANYONE. Why HIM? The blogs and the commenters are not-so-subtly saying that she must have been white trash and therefore was asking for it. After all she was having it off with a black guy…no better than a farm animal, right?
It is really hard to shake the script that gets written for a group of people. Even though we like to think that our assumptions about people dont come from such a wretched place, when a case like this makes the news, it proves that to be a lie.
Rachel:
We are talking two different things here. The first point was talking about the issue of whether or not the media circus surrounding this case was due to the interracial aspects of it. The second was referring to the reactions of a family to a specific instance of an interracial relationship involving someone they know/love. The existence of a finite but very low number of extremists is not what drove the coverage that this story got, but it could (unjustifiably or not!) drive a family member’s concern for another family member.
What is/are AOL Blackvoices?
I don’t know that I agree with your original thesis, Rachel. I don’t know that I disagree, either — I’m still not sure what I think of this one, especially because, as is my practice with all sensational news stories, I’ve been trying hard to ignore the coverage.
I compare this to the Laci Peterson case, though, which after she was found had screaming coverage for what seemed like centuries on end, and I’m really not sure how much the interracial aspect is driving the coverage. I’m unfamiliar with the Vaughn case (I think I saw one headline on cnn.com and ignored it), but was that the one where a guy killed his wife and two kids? (Not the wrestler in Florida, the other guy.) Pregnancy makes a huge difference.
I think your point about IR marriage = loss of privilege is excellent.
Excellent post. I do think, however, that even if people didn’t make the assumptions they do about penis size, they’d still be averse to interracial sex. The aversion is overdetermined. And although the aversion to interracial sex clearly explains a lot or most of people’s aversion to interracial relationships, there’d still be a residuum of contempt even if the relationship involved no sex. Altogether, one of the most hateful aspects of human behavior, & very wearying for those of us in interracial relationships.
(I’ve been in a white/Hispanic relationship for long years, & I have the distinct impression that lately the atmosphere has been getting a lot more unfriendly for relationships like ours, due the current festival of anti-immigrant & anti-Hispanic hate. Still, though, hostility to white/black relationships remains far & away the gold standard of hatefulness.)
Rachel, I thought you were talking about posts you had made on your own blog, not on here.
Rachel:
“Then in trying to justify families “concerns” (which are occasionally real concerns, but are generally expressions of oppositition to the interracial relationship)”
SamChevre:
“What I’m not seeing is how stating that to be the case (as in Ron’s hypothetical, “Your life is going to be harder if you marry a black man, and is it really worth it to you?”)”
No, that would not be “trying to justify family’s concerns”, that would be “in trying to understand family’s concerns”. And Sam, you’re quoting Rachel, not me. Rachel, just because I listen to someone and try to understand why they’re saying it doesn’t mean I agree with them.
Rachel:
“So what the family would be identifying racism, right. However, they rarely connect it to racism, which your initial statement did BTW. They connect it to interracial relationships–so they think the white partner’s life will be harder because of some sort of problem with interracial relationships, not because racists oppose interracial relationships. SO rather than placing the blame on racism they place the blame for alleged difficulties on the couple and on interracial relationships.”
Well, hm. I have little experience in this, and you apparently have a great deal. All I can say to this is that I am very, very surprised. I would think that if a parent or sibling was talking to their child or sibling about a matter like this that their main concern would be their loved one, not themselves. I find your assertion at best hard to believe and at worst quite disturbing.
Pingback: It’s About Interracial Sex Folks « world news
And again, having studied this pretty thoroughly, I can tell you that some families have concerns about a relative being hurt by an extremist, but most of the time they are more concerned about their own prejudices and reputation. And if they were so against prejudice they would speak out against the bigots rather than saying things like: “the kids will suffer don’t do it” “your life will be harder don’t do it.” Instead the prefer to speak out to the relative, and stay silent about real bigots.
The fact that people make statement “A” but have racist motive “B” behind it does not make statement “A” racist; it just means that the speaker is lying. And while speaking out about bigots is everyone’s duty, it’s not going to change things for one’s loved one short term.
You do have a point. If someone says, “You know, you’re going to run into a lot of trouble with this” and then pursues the conversation from the viewpoint of “what’s the best way to deal with that”, it’s a different direction than pursuing it to the point of “perhaps you ought to reconsider this relationship.” And yes, I realize that the former might be being used as a mask for the latter. But it’s a matter of intent and action; the initial statement itself is not racist, it’s a matter of fact.
Rachel and RonF –
Regarding RonF not understanding/believing Rachel’s assertions on the intent AND effect of “Your life is going to be harder if you marry a black man, and is it really worth it to you?” has on the receiver of that statement.
RonF, the speaker may feel they are looking out for the listener, but mostly it’s about the speaker’s fears and a projection of the speaker’s fears onto the listener. It is racist because it isolates the listener from the speaker, and makes it a problem for the listener, which is a primary effect of racism (that is, it creates an environment which puts the burden on individuals, instead of society as a whole). It puts the burden on the listener to justify their feelings, and it undermines the relationship by implying the listener hasn’t already determined any amount of priviledge loss is worth the bond and love the interracial couple share.
If the speaker truly wanted to be supportive and was concerned about the listener, on the listener’s terms, then the speaker would say something like this: “What steps can I take to learn/continue modeling anti-racist behavior so I can support you and your fiance?”. If the speaker isn’t able to speak to the issue that directly, a simple assertion of “Good for you, how can I help?” also does a lot to tell the listener they aren’t being judged, doubted or isolated.
Rachel,
Whether the story highlighted in this post started out about race is immaterial, in my humble opinion. It certainly is about that now. Calling the media on their shit is hard work, particularly this type of shit.
I really appreciate the time and energy you put into articulating interracial relationships, as I get a lot out of it. I hope you do, too.
First, I want to say that I’m not a feminist (though I fully support total gender equality), but that I think racism is stupid – does that make me anti-racist? (To qualify for posting, that is).
As far as the subject of the thread itself, I don’t doubt that race is now an issue with this case (for some), but I don’t think it was what originally gave it its “draw” as a story because, as many have pointed out, in all of the initial reporting (at least that I saw) there was no indication about the race of the father/boyfriend at all. I had no idea he was African American until after the “mystery” was resolved and they found the body and arrested him, though I admit I did not follow the case too closely. It is difficult to argue that the first week of the story was about race when the racial element to it was not mentioned in the coverage. At the time I assumed the story got so much attention because it was a pregnant woman who was missing and might yet be found alive, taken in suspicious circumstances. In other words, a mystery with a ticking clock, something the media always loves. It also reminded me of the Peterson murder, which is yet another hook for the MSM to sink into.
And now, again, I confess I’m not exactly following the story, but I have seen snippets of it since the arrest and I’ve seen no mention in the MSM about anything involving race. The “mug shot” that revealed the father’s race was shown without any comment on the matter.
Personally, I think the interracial factor simply isn’t interesting or novel enough for the MSM (MainStreamMedia) to see it as much of a “hook” simply because, while plenty of prejudice and racism exists, interracial couples are old news.
“sylphead, The focus on BM/WW is, for me anyways, related to the nature of the original post.”
I understand that, in that the black cop in question was male, not female. But the nature of the original post also speculated on why some types of relationships get more coverage than others. Surely, you’ve noticed that when talking about white/black IR the default language used is that of BM/WW?
“Lee, I grew up in Northern California amongst educated, liberal, vegan, environmentally aware people. I got some unkindness when I started dating a rather attractive white man.”
Likely, they would not have objected as much if he was black and you were white. They would have preferred each race keep to itself even more so, of course, but that hierarchy of acceptability is still there.
“On the list of desirable races, we are at the bottom, with white women occupying the rarified atmosphere at the top and Asians somewhere in between.”
Hmm. I see where you’re coming from, but it’s a general rule that anyone who tries to dissect race using a Black/White/Asian triumvirate – especially if ‘Asian’ refers only to East Asian, and pale East Asians at that (Polynesians, Filipinos, and Pacific Islanders notwithstanding) is spouting a whole lot of nonsense.
“Similarly, the narrative with this murdered woman is that she definitely had some emotional or mental problems…why else would she go out with a black guy? She was a nice looking girl, she could have gotten ANYONE. Why HIM? The blogs and the commenters are not-so-subtly saying that she must have been white trash and therefore was asking for it. After all she was having it off with a black guy…no better than a farm animal, right?”
Emphasis on that second last word. In my experience, white women who have it off with a black guy are usually considered sexually loose, or something along the same lines. Because he’s obviously a sexual animal with no control, she must be as well.
“It puts the burden on the listener to justify their feelings, and it undermines the relationship by implying the listener hasn’t already determined any amount of priviledge loss is worth the bond and love the interracial couple share.”
I think this is true for about 80% of all relationships we have as far as our meddlesome relatives are concerned, but you’re right in that listing the problems a couple is going to have is not being some sort of neutral fact-relayer. It’s being adversarial. You’d see the same thing if he didn’t have a steady job, she had kids in a past marriage, etc.
The ‘classic’ case of racism injecting itself into the process is the trial of Clarence Brandley in Conroe TX. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Brandley
“Suspicion immediately fell on two of the custodians, Brandley and Henry (Icky) Peace, who had found the body. During their joint interrogation — as Peace would recount — Texas Ranger Wesley Styles told them, “One of you is going to have to hang for this” and then, turning to Brandley, added, “Since you’re the nigger, you’re elected.”“
Also, Christopher McCowen was convicted on Nov. 16 of killing Truro (Cape Cod) resident Christa Worthington. Two jurors have now testified that the jury proceedings were replete with racist comments. See http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/06/10/judge_to_hear_race_bias_claims/
I have now been in two interracial marriages (but not both at the same time). , Both marriages were/are to asian women who were/are also immigrants. My first wife was a dark-skinned filippino who cold be confused for a variety of races, including African-American. My present wife is native Chinese. If it makes any difference, I am native-born American caucasian.
Through both marriages, I have had my share of negative reactions, comments, and shared the hostility my wives experienced from native-born caucasian Americans. I’ve also shared the hostility they experienced from members of their native commuity, although I think the Filippino communty was far worse to my first wife, than the Chinese community is to my present.
Over the years; I’ve picked up on people thinking my wives married me only to better their lives and gain American citizenship. I’ve picked up on native-born American “white women” wondering why I don’t find any interest in “them.” I’ve picked up on native-born Americans acting as though I married immigrant women because I couldn’t attract an American-born wife. Or that I somehow needed to “buy/bribe” a woman into marrying me.
The stereotypes go on, and on, and on. Now, the open hostility we’re getting from locals about immigration is getting very tiring, in a way that the hostility from just being an Interracial Couple never has. It just seems as though so many people in this country need someone to hate so they can feel good about themselves.
Pingback: Noli Irritare Leones » Blog Archive » Jessie Davis, Bobby Lee Cutts, and Rachel’s take on the racial aspects of the case
Our shameful history of miscegenation carries deep cultural significance on many levels. For males, associating sexual performance with penis size reinforces the belief that an erect penis, the larger the better, is a sine qua non of any successful hump. Combine this with the racist myths of the black male’s unlimited sexual prowess and his concupiscence for white women, and one can begin to fathom the emotional weight associated with interracial sex.
“Our shameful history of miscegenation carries deep cultural significance on many levels. For males, associating sexual performance with penis size reinforces the belief that an erect penis, the larger the better, is a sine qua non of any successful hump. Combine this with the racist myths of the black male’s unlimited sexual prowess and his concupiscence for white women, and one can begin to fathom the emotional weight associated with interracial sex.”
True.
But, you leave out a very important factor in racist miscegenation.
In order to get to the “black savage brute” who would violate any white woman, you cannot leave out the most important aspect of this dynamic:
white men’s mistreatment of black women during slavery and segregation.
You cannot leave out this very important part of this dynamic. You cannot talk about one (WW/BM) without speaking of the other (BW/WM). Because this is what set into motion the white man’s fear and digust of white woman/black man sex. It was what was done to black women by white men that set into motion the position and condition we are in in this country today.
Because of the massive gang rapes committed by white men during slavery and segregation, the white man had to justify his defilement of black women. He knew that his wanton degradation of her was seen by the black man, daily, monthly, yearly. The white man fathered tens of thousands of children with the black woman, children he denied. Because the white man raped and debased the black woman he knew in his guilt that he had created a race of people raped into existence and therefore, he feared that the black man would do to the white woman what the white man had done to black women for over 400 years.
Four hundred years is a very long time.
Rape. Pedophilia. Acts of outrages and sexual excesses that would shame a rabid dog were done to black women. And the white man saw that the sexual cruelties done to black women and girls and the resulting progeny were a daily reminder of his psychotic mistreatment of an entire race of women.
Knowing that the result of his actions (his mixed-blood children) walked around as living reminders of his cruelty, he began to fear the black man’s vengeance. He began to fear that what he did to the black woman things that were so shameful and hateful, that words could not begin to describe the unspeakable acts of the most grossest abominations that he did—–then and there the white man began the act of “projection” against his perceived fears of the black man:
“If I have degraded the black woman so, when will the black man eventually start to do to my “women” what I have done to his “women” for centures?”
Then and there the die was cast.
Because of the white man’s guilt, and fear and rage, he projected onto the black man the image of bestial beast, of savage brute, when in reality it was the white man who was the bestial beast, savage brute who caused an entire race’s bloodline to be polluted.
Then in the late 1890s, the vicious lynchings started.
The “over-sexed, hung like an ape, walking life support system for a huge insatiable penis” image of the black man was born. The savage “can’t wait to lay up with a white woman brute” black man was born. The “we must protect, defend and honor our white woman” psychosis was born. And soon, black men’s (as well as black women’s bodies) were hanging from Southern trees; black men’s bodies were tortured and burned; black men’s bodies had sex crimes committed against them ( for what is castration if not a sex crime?)
And the savage lynching bee spectacles that lasted for nearly 100 years occurred.
The white man projected onto the black man all his sexual transgressions that HE had commtited against innocent black women and girls.
Then and there the black man as “Brute” as “Black Beast” was born.
Therefore, the white man was punishing the black man for the transgressions HE had committed against the defenseless black woman.
And the more he raped the black woman, the more he put the white woman upon that pedestal.
The more he creeped down to the black cabins during segregation, the more his guilt grew.
And the more his fear grew.
To even think of a white woman being with a black man sent him into a rage. No white woman in the white man’s mind could possibly love a black man; no white woman could possibly find a black man as having any humanity. No white woman could possibly desire a black man.
Therefore the white man greedily kept the white woman away from the black man and constantly told her, (and himself as well) that no sane, pure white woman could possibly have anything whatsoever to do with a black man. And the white man set about to destroy the “beast” he had created in his sick, demented mind. No white woman was safe around a black man, so the slightest look at a white woman brought with it death.
The legacy of that twisted perversion of sex by the white man still lives with us today:
*Black man as brute beast rapist (no white woman could possibly want anything to do with him. If she does, she is the lowest of the low, insane, demented, trash)
*Black woman as animal, “good enough to fuck, but, not good enough to marry”; insatiable “Whore/Jezebel/Slut” not worthy of having her humanity validated.
Even today, when a WW/BM couple is seen it illicits rage and torment in the white man. Since the white man can no longer castrate and lynch the black man physically before the white woman’s eyes, he feels he must “lynch” the black man in her eyes by not hiring the black man for high positions/careers, by economically tearing him down; allowing in many instances the black man only obtaining employment in certain low-paying jobs. He can no longer physically tear the black man apart, but, he constantly strives to tear him down economically and socially in the white woman’s eyes. But, on the other hand, the site of a BW/WM does the opposite because it is still acceptable in this scociety, this country that a black woman is to be given no human regard and is to always be used, not just by the white man, but, by ALL men. Make no mistake, the white man has not stopped working on destroying the black woman either. He disparages her beauty. He negates, marginalizes and erases from people’s psyche’s her womanhood—–he in essence renders her INVISIBLE. Not worthy of love or respect.
Whereas on the other hand, the white woman is to always be accorded the utmost respect and to always have her humanity validated.
That is why many people look at a white woman and question “Why should she be with him?”
On the other hand, a black woman is seen as having no right to have the love and adoration of ANY man, and that her womanhood has to constantly be impugned and assailed every chance anyone gets to do that to her.
So, you see, you cannot speak of the BM/WW aspect without mentioning the BW/WM aspect of this dynamic, the residue of which is a holdover from the depravities of slavery and Jim Crow segregation.
It did not start with the white woman/black man.
It started with the black woman/white man binary where the debauchery of black women set this dynamic of black sex/black privates/black bodies were vile, evil, filthy, perverse into motion.
But, it also set into people’s psyche’s the dynamic of white bodies/ white sex/white privates as pure and normal.
It is the white man’s perversion of interracial sex that has left a damnable and twisted sexual fabric in ths country that exists to this day.
And it started with the white man’s subjugation and defilement of the black woman.
Which is why the white man feels that he is to always have all the women he can greedily get his hands on; the white woman is not to have anything to do with the black man; the black man is to be looked upon as a sex beast; and the black woman is to be looked upon as a mule, as an animal to be worked to death, fucked to death, kicked to death both figuratively, and literally.
Pingback: My Internal Dialog by Salvia
I think the media attention is really quite random, but the pregnancy angle is a big factor. Scott Peterson was white, after all, but Laci was pregnant. I do think Bobby Cutts’ race has given this story some momentum, but Jane way up the thread has a point. The initial coverage that I saw was all about the pregnancy, the bleach, and the toddler’s remarks. Only later did I learn that Cutts was black.
The US Civil War goes on and everytime something like this comes up, it’s proof that it continues and until this country deals with it’s racism it will never be a real country and the Civil War will continue
Pingback: MISSING PRETTY WHITE WOMAN SYNDROME, PART 1 « BEAUTIFUL, ALSO, ARE THE SOULS OF MY BLACK SISTERS
I think your language here is problematic. Although you are right interracial sex is a huge subject of repulsion/fascination in our society, rape is not sex. Many of the stories you are referring to are RAPE cases, yet you choose to label them “sex.” This type of language is what allows sexual violence by men against women to continue. Rather than calling it violence, rape and assault, it is “sex gone wrong.” Please rethink!