Chilli and the Dark-Skin Division

 

                                                      
         

 Channel surfing the other day, I caught about 2 minutes worth of  What Chilli Wants, a reality show about the dating life of Rozanda "Chilli" Thomas from the group TLC. In the scene, a girlfriend of Chilli asks her why she doesn't like dating black guys. Chilli responds by saying that she likes to date men of all races and nationalities. Then she goes into a rant about how black men date outside of their race all the time and yet for black women the idea is much more taboo; the double standard is stupid. This is not a horrible sentiment in and of itself. In theory, it could make for more peaceful society if we could lay down prejudices and mingle a little more. I'm not some jealous black chick and in no way am wholeheartedly against interracial/ cross cultural dating. But let's not be naive. Let's look at other factors at play, that I sometimes think people don't want to see or acknowledge based on their position in the world. Acceptability of physical and cultural features, real and/or perceived racism and tokenism often keep back women from pursuing or accepting romantic relationships with non-black men.

The So-Called Conscious Clique: In Too Deep

We've all seen enough coffee house scenes and poetry readings in movies where the audience snaps their fingers in appreciation instead of hand clapping. Perhaps you even taken part in something like this, hell even been around a group of black vegans to catch the wind. It looks cool and different in elevated awareness kind of way. Everybody jibing and talking about the struggle, what we need, and preservation of the culture.  If you've ever sat in on the spiritually aware, conscious or natural set you've felt this feeling of embrace, unity, and ultimate goodness that come from being taken to another level or simply being equally yoked with your brothas and sistas. (Snap, Snap).