This is one of those “sticky” subjects that no one in their right mind would dare go near. OK, so I’m proving a point. For the record, I want to state here and now I am not a psychologist, psychiatrist, sociologist or in anyway qualified to make a professional statement on the subject that I’m about to embark upon.Here we are in 2002 where anyone anywhere in America is free to date or marry anyone of their choosing with few exceptions. Although I try very hard not to be caught at it, like many people in this country I find myself closely observing people in public settings, especially when they ‘re uninhibited by the fact that someone may be watching them. My nonscientific findings are; as mixed couples go, there seems to be an increasing number of African American males and white females together these days. I’m not complaining; that’s not what this is about. This is not only true in the north, but the numbers seem to be growing in the south as well.Even though it is somewhat embarrassing for some to admit, this trend may be imposing a social impact on the African American community. In fact, African American women for a long time have complained about the dwindling number of marriageable black men capable or willing to support families. During slavery, the dreadful legal segregation period and the years that followed white men based their disdain of integration almost entirely on what was proclaimed as “the white woman’s protection against the black man’s uncontrollable savage appetite for white women.” More than a few African American men were lynched for merely looking in the direction of a white woman. Whether or not the “Jungle Fever” syndrome is actually affecting African American men is the subject of much debate in the African American community today. Young and older sisters alike are sharing the impact. Young African American women complain that statistically more African American women are graduating from college than men and those African American men who graduate seem to be the ones who are most attracted to white women. A personal friend, who is an African American woman living in the Pacific Northwest where the black man/white woman combination is a very common one, has a different take on the situation. She doesn’t buy into suggestions that the black woman is at fault for this anomaly as has been suggested by some psychologists. Instead she believes this syndrome has more to do with cultural conditioning and issues of self-worth; in her experience, she states that if a sister wanted a relationship with a black man, she would most likely have to leave town to find one.The decision to enter into an interracial relationship is as it should be, i.e., entirely up to the individuals involved. Although, there is considerably less animosity towards mixed couples today than in the 1940s and 1950s, each person should still carefully consider the socioeconomic impact of this choice in the environment in which they must live and work. These days, as Americans of all backgrounds are trying to figure out the dating game, many are desperately turning to personal ads and the Internet to meet that special someone. And many are turning to mates outside of their race. As the debate continues to rage and the numbers continue to swell, only time will tell if these aspiring lovers are truly finding the right love.
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