Boy, Girl, Black, White

No definitive statistics exist on the subject, but the evidence of the eye cannot be denied: interracial dating is noticeably on the increase. Liberalized admissions policies at universities have mixed more black and white undergraduates, and it is now commonplace to see interracial couples strolling in college towns. The Peace Corps and Vista have been responsible for further interracial dating--and intermarriage. Social activism has established a solid common ground for white and nonwhite youth. Obviously, the next census will show a great many more mixed marriages since the 1960 figure of 50,000.

But if the numbers are on the upswing, the partners' lives are not. Traditionally, dating is the prelude to marriage, and many white Americans who accept the concept of black power would prefer to see that power insulated. When Dean Rusk's daughter wed a black in 1967, the Richmond News Leader spoke for many Southerners--and Northerners--who felt that mixed marriages were "eccentric," and that "anything which diminishes [Rusk's] personal acceptability is an affair of state."

Partly to blame is the ancient legend of black supersexuality. Such reputed potency may be openly ridiculed, but it still has its adherents--many of them enlightened and young. A white coed at Boston University says: "A lot of girls feel that black guys really have it. You see this all around the colleges. It's a very sexual thing." A black male classmate agrees, but with a difference: "What is it that white girls want from me? Do they think we're that different, that we're some kind of animal? Why do so many of them chase us?"

Liberating Power. Spurred by the black community's strengthened sense of identity, black women have their own complaint. In the Negro Digest, Actress Abbey Lincoln burst out: "We are the women whose bars and recreation halls are invaded by flagrantly disrespectful, bigoted, simpering, amoral, emotionally unstable, outcast, maladjusted, nymphomaniacal, condescending [white] women in desperate and untiring search" for black men. In the first issue of the new black women's magazine Essence, due out April 28, Writer Louise Meriwether describes a typical dashiki-clad black man and his white date: " 'Sensual, sexy Black man.' That's what her look conveys." But an approaching black girl conveys another look. " Traitor. Talking Black and sleeping white.' " The black women's liberation movement has its male adherents, like Eldridge Cleaver, who apostrophized: "Flower of Africa, it is only through the liberating power of your relove that my manhood can be redeemed."

Soul Searching. Caught between the hard lines of white and black, interracial couples have found their social lives doubly difficult. Free communication between blacks and whites can easily become strained when a lovers' quarrel is misinterpreted as racism. At the same time the outside pressure can weld them together. In Atlanta, two dating students (white man, black girl) have grown accustomed to shouted obscenities on the street and open resentment from restaurant patrons. "It caused us a lot of soul searching," says the man. "We stayed up until all hours analyzing our relationship, trying to determine if there were any ulterior motives, or if we were trying to project a 'liberal image' in any way." They concluded that they were doing what was right for them and that "other people were not going to break us up."

Recently in downtown Washington a middle-aged interracial couple noticed a man staring absentmindedly in their direction. The woman, white, began screaming at him: "What's the matter, buddy? You see something? You see something new? Why don't you take a picture?" Her black escort calmed her and led her away. Neither had any idea that the white victim of her anger was married to a black woman.

After living with a black fashion model for a year, a white magazine editor explained why they married: "Where a white man and a black girl are living together, there's always a vaguely false atmosphere of hipness." His wife adds, "I didn't want it to appear too fashionable--you know, the swinging white bachelor living with the beautiful Negro model. After centuries of white masters sleeping with Negro slaves, I wanted my status to be clearly understood."

Given such outside pressures and tortured self-searching, are the rewards worth the sacrifices? For much of the country, no. According to a recent Harris poll, 72% of white Americans would be opposed to a close friend or relative's marrying a black. Blacks are far more sanguine about intermarriage; Harris finds 61% "not bothered" by a marriage between a black man and a white woman. But it is youth--black and white--that may belie both sets of figures. In a recent local poll conducted for the Boston Globe, 78% of college students approved of interracial marriage.

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