Not to stir up any sh*t, but I saw a link to this discussion and wanted to add my thoughts...
Firstly, I'm not about to share Sean Connery, Rick Yune or Denzel Washington, Brad Pitt or Vin Diesel with any of you ladies so back up...Don't make me get the industrial sized can of Mace!...LOL
Seriously, though...
This discussion reminded me of the stand Eriq LaSalle (Dr. Peter Benton of ER) made regarding his character being involved with Elizabeth Corday (a Caucasian doctor) on the show...Especially after the Black woman he was involved with before that was portrayed as an insane, unfair, money hungry bitch...
While not against interracial relationships in real life situations, the actor questioned why the media seemed to focus on interracial relationships, specifically when the man was "of colour"...It was the focus of a successful man of colour suddenly with a White woman that bothered him in interviews...Sorta the idea that once a man of colour reached a certain level, his "prize" should be a White woman...As opposed to, a woman commensurate with his intellect, etc, but of his own race...
At the time, I asked men & women of colour why this was important...Time and again, I was told that it seemed to imply that a successful man of colour could not find his equal in his own race...
An example I kept getting pointed out was, "Do you think any White woman would touch Dennis Rodman without wearing a HazMat suit, if he weren't RICH?"...(Let's not even discuss Flava Flav...)
It wasn't that they "hated" White folks or thought interracial couples weren't making a valid choice or shouldn't fall in love or whatever...It was the perception played up by the media that bothered those I asked...
If you'll notice, until the recent random pairing of the Black female lawyer/Jewish doctor in the now defunct 3 lbs (and even that was portrayed as a one night stand, not a true relationship) or the Christian/Michelle pairing on Nip/Tuck (with the Black woman an ex prostitute who marries an elderly billionaire, a la Anna Nicole Smith), women of colour very very very very very rarely get the "prize" of a White man, regardless of how accomplished they become...And yet, I'd venture to say that just as many interracial couples exist with women of colour, no?...
Media double standard...See?
GT