Census data reveals that black women have the lowest interracial marriage rate of all women except white women and the interracial marriage rate of black women and white men has modestly increased from 1% in 1970 to 4.1% in 2000 (Lee and Edmonston 2005). These expressions by white male respondents are indicative of the consistent exclusion of black women as relationship partners by white men, and representative of a powerful mental processing at play that goes beyond the limited language of stereotype. This quote by Lee and several other white m ale respondents in this essay dispute notions that only a few highly identifiable, old, deep-south bigots hold strong deep seated racialized views of black women.
Yet, he expresses strong negative views of black women as unattractive and uneducated as the first thoughts that come to his mind. Lee is a middle class white male with no black female friends, rare interactions with black families growing up, and who states his interactions with black women only consist of work-related experiences. In this quote Lee provides a highly racialized, gendered, and classed view of black women. I hope that doesn’t make me racist but honestly that’s the 1st thing I think of.”- Lee, middle class white male in his 30’s, from Florida
“Just the term ‘black women’ conjures up thoughts of an overweight, dark-skinned, loud, poorly educated person with gold teeth yelling at somebody in public.
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