Friday for Clutch Magazine I recount the time my friend -- who sometimes struggles to relate to white people -- announced she was going to start dating white guys as if it was a "Coke versus Pepsi" kind of thing. We got a good laugh out of that one, but it touched on a deeper issue. Are you dating someone because they share your values and interests or are you just dating via stereotypes?
Glen RiceCoincidence? I think not.
Last week, Joe McGinniss released some tawdry details about his new Sarah Palin Slam Book and among its pages was the rumor that a younger, more feathered haired version of Palin once played hide the sausage with future NBA baller Glen Rice. Rice, allegedly, confirmed this tall, basketball player-sized tale to the author, which read like hilarious fan fiction -- if you ever wrote fan fiction about Sarah Palin, sexy sports reporter, getting it in with then Michigan player Glen Rice. But in the same week where we learned Sarah Palin may have once come down with a case of Jungle Fever followed with a case of "OMG What Have I Done? Please Don't Tell My Dad" influenza, suddenly sometimes rapper, sometimes fantasy President of Haiti Wyclef Jean has suspiciously nicety-nice things to say about her.
Danielle Belton | 1 Comment | Share Article | Email Article | Print Article | tagged Politics, Wyclef Jean, glen rice, interracial issues, rumors, sarah palin 
Image from film "Lakeview Terrace."Ever since black people worrying about black women getting married escaped from the Ebony-Essence plantation and hit the mainstream black ladies have been forced to endure article after navel-gazing article about what the "EFF" is wrong with us. I blame the Obamas, kind of. They're married. They seem to be happy. They happen to be black people. So other folks started wondering things like "Black people get married n' stuff? What's up with that?" Then they found that Jet Magazine from 1987 and started copying. This time it's The Wall Street Journal getting their pearl clutching on -- but they've come with solutions! And, surprise! It's a penis attached to a white man who may or may not want you!
From People MagazineIn light of Halle Berry's break from Gabriel Aubry (which has turned into a bunch of point/counter-point, accusation, he's a racist, she's crazy nightmare), I was fascinated by the commentary online about whether or not a guy could date Halle Berry, have a kid with her and still be a racist. Considering Berry's track record of somewhat dysfunctional to abusive relationships -- even if the "he said, she said" is more distraction than truth -- if any woman could end up in a relationship with a racist, she runs a high probability of that. To that point, for TheLoop21 I interviewed a woman who was once in a four-year-relationship with a racist. Because, these things do happen sometimes.
Ugh. A handsome black man. Who wants that? Disgusting ...
"Well first of all they are lazy good for nothing tricksters, crack smoking swindlers, big butt having, wide nose, breathing all the white man's air. They eat up all the chicken. They think they're the best dancers. And they stink!" -- A "reasonable" critique of the black peoples by Clayton Bigsby
The Internet exploded recently. Did you feel it? Well ... exploded is a strong term. And it wasn't the ENTIRE Internet. Mostly just the Facebooks and the Twitters. What went viral this time? Why, a blog post on Madame Noire talkin' bout the eight reasons why you should date a white guy.
Somebody hold me. It's about to get all "racial" up in here.
John TeshKidding. Or maybe John Mayer has John Tesh's racist penis disease.* I can't keep track of these things.
Why do I say this things about the smooth jazz man and former Entertainment Tonight show host? Well, funny you asked, but there this gossip celebrity book doyenne (Or is it dowager? I get those two confused sometimes.) known as Kitty Kelley and she is apparently slapping together a tome on Oprah Winfery. Naturally it's unauthorized and promises all the things Oprah hasn't overshared because even Oprah likes to keep some stuff to herself. She'll gladly talk about her weight isssues and some of her personal life struggles, but other things? A woman can't just have all her bidness out in the street.
But out of pure randomness, John Tesh has come out to admit that at least one story in the book is true -- that he used to date Winfery in the 1970s. But what was more fascinating than the fact that they once lived together was this nugget.
From Yahoo News:
The 57-year-old Tesh says he and the 56-year-old Winfrey dated while working in local news in Nashville, Tenn.
The book "Oprah: A Biography" claims Tesh and Winfrey didn't just date, but lived together for a short period in the 1970's.
It goes on to say Tesh abruptly ended the relationship one night when he noticed their contrasting skin colors and couldn't handle being in an interracial relationship.
Tesh has not commented on the book's explanation for their split, but did tell "Entertainment Tonight" he and Winfrey remain good friends.
Because of ... well, just the general suckiness of life, I can understand how some folks would have to bow out of an interracial relationship because they couldn't handle the drama that comes with it. That's understandable and honest. But I seriously hope he didn't just bolt and end the thing so quickly because one night he woke up and realized he was sleeping with a black woman. Surely he'd noticed beforehand that she was black. Unless you're lighter than a paperbag, blackness is not something easily hid. It's kind of obvious. But maybe it was just the weight of it and it sunk in that if they made the babies there was a good chance that baby wasn't going to come out looking the same color as Tesh. Either way, bizarre way to end it, Tesh, if that's the way you ended it. Glad you and Oprah are still friends.
*Totally stole that joke from Faith on Twitter. Hat tip to Erica Kennedy for the link.
Gawker is reporting that a bunch of big money big wigs are backing Pretty, Pretty Princess Harold Ford Jr. for Senate in New York. Seems they want him to take the seat that Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand was appointed to by Gov. David Paterson.
From Gawker:
The Times reports today that Steven Rattner, Merryl Tisch, and Mike fucking Bloomberg are encouraging Ford to make his move against Gillibrand.
Peachy ... but, it's complicated and we all know why.
Danielle Belton | 123 Comments | Share Article | Email Article | Print Article | tagged Politics, harold ford jr, interracial issues, new york, race, senate 
Big Sis sent me this story Friday and my head almost exploded from the sheer ignorance of it. A Louisiana judge recently denied a marriage license to an interracial couple on the grounds that he was concerned about their potential offspring and how they would be accepted.
Aw, he cares ... in the most backassward way possible.
Danielle Belton | 28 Comments | Share Article | Email Article | Print Article | tagged interracial issues, marriage, race, racism 
CNN recently reported the story of Brian Milligan Jr., an 18-year-old white man who was beaten by a group of 10 to 15 black men, possibly because Milligan was dating a black woman, 18-year old Nicola Fletcher. The couple from Buffalo, NY said they'd been regularly harassed by men and boys in the neighborhood because of their relationship. Milligan had even been shot with paintball pellets two days before the incident. His father now wants the attack to be treated as a hate crime.
Danielle Belton | 58 Comments | Share Article | Email Article | Print Article | tagged CNN, crime, hate crime, interracial issues, question, race, racism 
