Friday, April 22, 2011

Do Black Men Prefer White Women?

While everyone is entitled to their preferences, true love has no colour.


In the film Obsessed (2009), a deranged white woman (played by Ali Larter) comes on rather strongly to a powerful black executive (played by Idris Elba). Thereafter, the film becomes a setup for the ultimate cat fight between the white woman and the black man's wife (played by Beyoncé Knowles). The plot is a reverse of the "black man pursues white woman" stereotype.

While it is obvious that the film's ludicrous plot is nothing more than a visualization of the revenge fantasy of every black woman who has ever lost a lover to a white woman, it does beg the question: Do black men prefer white women? Is there any truth to this stereotype? I explore this, and other related issues in this thought provoking piece on sex and racial politics.


What is wrong with Interracial Union?

The often stereotyped black man with a white woman.
The often stereotyped black man with a white woman.

In short? Nothing. Why? Because scientifically speaking, there's no such thing as race. As it pertains to human beings, a person's race is the equivalent to the colours of cows, dogs, birds, butterflies and ice cream that could possibly exist. Yes, I did say ice cream. Race is nothing more than a particular assortment of DNA that has a level of conspicuous consistency.

Race is literally the result of the fine tuned distillation of the human genotype across the planet over hundreds of millennia in particular geographic locations. The process of natural selection caused a particular set of DNA markers to arise as the most conspicuous permutation in any given migratory group. The human genotype has billions of possible manifestations. Therefore, if the planet was a little bit bigger (or there was more land), we'd have more races.

So why do people often have a problem with interracial unions?

Because of culture. Races were formed at about the same time cultures arose. Culture is formed psycho-socially in exactly the same way that races are formed genetically. Culture represents an average of human cognition in any given group. Because of culture, certain rules and practices are accepted as the de facto standard of behaviour within each group.

Now, before European cultures developed the cognitive capacity to go out and intermingle with others, each culture had already developed a set of standards as it pertains to beauty and self perception. Even though the golden ratio of beauty applies ubiquitously, there are some idiosyncrasies within each culture that describe how they each perceive themselves. This is critical in understanding why interracial unions can be the source of such consternation.

Race makes up for about 3% of our DNA. However, because it determines over 90% of what we look like, people have developed cultures which dwell on overstating its significance. Thus wherever people appear to show preference for one race or another, it has as much to do with our DNA as it has to do with our cultural definitions that have now been built around it.

What inspires Interracial Union?

It is only natural that when human cognition evolved to the point where we started to travel the world more efficiently, thus appropriating foreign states, races and cultures became intermingled. All that is happening is that the genetic distillation process that created human races some 70,000 years ago is now operating in reverse. As we become more of a global village through technologically inspired travel, we are slowly becoming one race once again.

On White Men and Black Women

One lucky white dude. He married a black supermodel.
David Bowie and super model wife, Iman.
While this is for the most part no longer the case, white men of ages past have long vilified black men as being soulless, unsalvagable, savages from the dark continent who are supposedly incapable of reason or logic. That was a part of the propaganda campaigns which drove racism in the American south and the old miscegenation laws behind them.

This however didn't quite pacify their desire for the supple shapeliness of the African female. Long before black people were even given the chance to become educated, white men indulged themselves (in secret, of course) in the dark chocolate of Africa. This however, is not necessarily because of any preference for black women by white men. There is a strong psychological contingent to this behaviour.

Black females represent a forbidden fruit untainted by the sexual constraints of white society. Thus it is not uncommon that some white men have sought to pacify their tastes for the exotic by indulging a black woman. The taboo effect enjoyed by so few white men is propagated by the larger majority of white males who largely have their own prejudices. The cathartic psychological release of indulging in a cultural taboo is very much a function of the existence of that taboo in the first place. Thus if there was a more universal acceptance of interracial marriage, the taboo would cease to exist.

There are white men out there however who indulge in black women not because they're black, but because they're women and that's what men are generally attracted to - women. There is a certain sex appeal in black women that is notably different from others. If you are a man who loves curves, it does not matter what race you are; black women (like this one) will always appeal to you the most — provided you can get over the fierce internal xenophobia.

On Black Women and Racial Self Image

Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Knowles – that's not her real hair.
Why do so many black women augment their appearance? The whitening of black female icons like Beyoncé Knowles and even the Marvel Comics X-Men character Ororo Munroe (aka "Storm") is positive proof that something else is at work here.

While the latter is merely a function of the ultimate male fantasy (a woman with the aesthetics of a Caucasian and the body of a Negro), the former is most probably a manifestation of a deep desire to achieve that appearance even if it wasn't genuine.

There has been a long running Joke that Beyoncé Knowles would never have her look without the fake hair. While that was most probably coined by bitter black women who feel betrayed by those who engage in this practice, there is a multimillion dollar industry dedicated to this niche of making today's black women hardly look black at all.

In the popular Marvel Comic book series The Fantastic Four, there is a conversation between the Black Panther and Ben Grimm where he tries to advise Grimm on what not to say to his wife so that she is not offended about her uncanny appearance as a white woman, even though she is black (read the strip in entirety here - © Copyright 2007 Marvel Entertainment).

The conversation no doubt alludes to the popular trend where black women augment their appearance with qualities that do not naturally occur in black women. Black women who practice this like to claim that it is because they just want to "change their appearance". That is debatable, since hair extensions and coloured contacts are hardly flattering of black women.

The Black Panther advises Benn Grimm

© Copyright 2007, Marvel Entertainment
One can't help but wonder if they're trying to appeal to white men or black men who have developed a taste for white women. Consequently, that leads to another question: Is that the real reason why black women don weaves and coloured contacts — to make them appear more white? Not likely, but it would certainly explain who so many white men are interested.

However, the fact that Black African females almost never do this insinuates that this practice by black females in the west is most probably related to immersion in largely white dominated societies featuring white dominated media. Either way, I don't think black females in the west will be honest about this practice to answer me truthfully, so I would not even bother to ask.

The cognitive dissonance that produces the needless suspicion of black men with lovely white women probably speaks more to insecurity than to any genuine reason to fear such a thing. If there was any real danger in interracial unions, there would have at least been evidence of a genetic incompatibility by now. But alas, no such thing has appeared and is thus irrelevant.

I suppose everyone is entitled to their quantum of hypocrisy. It's not just white men who are guilty of this. Many black women hate to see their black men with white women. However, if we are to believe that black men are going for white women to the extent that even black women are trying to look white, then one has to now seriously consider the ultimate question:

Do Black men prefer White women?

This is a very popular and perhaps, even intriguing question. There are a number of myths that have been propagated as to why it is perceived that black men prefer white women. While a lot of it is red herring but it is interesting to consider anyway. In this post, I present the most well known of these theories and follow them up with commentary and actual facts:

Heidi Klum and Seal
Heidi Klum and Seal


Black men prefer white women because they're fairer, prettier, more attractive, etc.


There is certainly more genetic mutation in Caucasians (e.g. eye colour, hair type and colour, nose shape, etc.). In fact, anthropologists have noted that there are four distinct types of Caucasians. There are notably fewer such variations in other races. The reason for this genetic disparity between Caucasians and other races is most probably irrelevant.

More importantly, this greater number of variations will certainly be more notable to others, irrespective of ethnicity. Science has shown that humans generally prefer genetically averaged mates. A greater number of variations increases that number exponentially. So it's not just black men for whom there would appear to be some appeal.

In fact, where as many black women believe that more and more black men are going for white women, there is a far greater number of white men going for black women. It is just not as publicized as unions between black men and white women — largely because of a sensational bias. Black men seeking white women are more a celebrated stereotype.

A white man taking a black woman for a wife doesn't carry the same appeal as a black man taking a white woman in the same capacity. The latter is seen as more of a triumph (however contrived) of the black race considering the long, sordid, tragic history of race relations between white and black men. The former however, is not considered as such.

The truth is that a lot of highly successful black women face a crisis when it comes down to finding a suitable black man as a mate. It is a well documented fact that black women tend to be more xenophobic than black men. They are far more reserved about marrying outside of their race than black men. However, the shortage of good black male stock has forced many black women to relax many of their ethnic preferences when looking for love.

The reality of however is that most black men prefer conspicuously curvaceous women, of which black women are the clear front runners, seconded only by latino women. White American culture by contrast seems to have a weird obsession with these unhealthily thin females. Therefore, a thin white woman doesn't appeal to the vast majority of black men. 

Then again, there are people who have a natural taste for the exotic. As I had mentioned before, there are actually more white men who have a taste for black women than vice versa (U.S. Census 2005). In fact, white men are many times more likely to marry outside of their race than any other. Thus the contention about black men desiring white women is largely the stuff of either racism on the part of white men or insecurity in black women.

Cuba Gooding jr. and wife Sara Kapfer
Cuba Gooding Jr. and wife Sara Kapfer


Black men prefer white women because they're more docile and less obnoxious.


All women carry the genetic traits that make them naturally more dramatic than men. There is no evidence to suggest that black women are more dramatic or obnoxious than white women - stronger nerves maybe (and even that is circumstantial), but certainly not necessarily more obnoxious. That last part has a lot more to do with culture than it does ethnicity. Nobody is naturally more ignorant because they are black. That is just rubbish.

This illusion is nothing more than a function of social constructs which often separate the educated rich and the uneducated poor. Then there is the misrepresentation of black people (by black people) in the media. Black culture as defined by black people sells black women as loud, obnoxious distasteful women as portrayed by Tyler Perry's Madea films.

Women from all races behave in more or less the same way in western culture according to social predisposition. White "trailer trash" Betty-Maes are often no less crass than the black "ghetto mom" Laquisha's. On the other hand, many sophisticated, successful black women are often indistinguishable from their educated, cultured, caucasian counterparts.

In fact, one of the social constructs that many people conveniently ignore is that black women who grow up in white suburban neighbourhoods acquiesce the behavioural patterns of the other kids in their environment as they grow up. These girls are often unfairly accused by their black friends of "acting white" and chided for chasing white boys.

One's environment goes a long way towards influencing behaviour and preference. You can observe the same pattern among a lot of black men who end up marrying white women. However, many black women conveniently ignore this and create their own fallacious presuppositions that white women are out to bleed them dry of their black men.

Some people are of the belief that only super successful black men can snag a white wife.
Former golf prodigy, Tiger Woods and Elin Nordergren during happier times.


Black men prefer white women as a status symbol.


There are a number of reasons why a black man would marry a white woman, and virtually none of them have anything to do with using her as a glorified hood ornament just because she's white - no pun intended. I'm pretty sure if most black women had a Michele Obama, Beyoncé Knowles or Rihanna appeal, this idea would vapourise instantly.

Men go after trophy wives. That's a fact. Whether they are black or white is irrelevant. A trophy wife is usually that über-femme that has distinguished herself in such a way that having her would make him look like the ultimate alpha male, irrespective of her ethnicity. Men don't select women exclusively for their ethnicity. It's much more complex than that.

A major factor that determines attraction is expressed in how genetically innovative a given phenotype is. The more innovative the phenotypic expression, the more appealing it is. That's why blue eyed Caucasians and tall black men number in the majority of their respective human phenotypes. White men with Blue eyes and black men with height were thus considered to be more genetically innovative than men with brown eyes and average height. As a result, the other men got fewer opportunities to pass on their DNA.

Similarly, in a global village, we are better able to see traits in other races that are considered to be more genetically innovative. It is not specific to black men and white women. There are many white men who go after unusually well endowed black women (like David Bowie and Iman) for exactly this reason. But you never hear about those. How odd is it then that it's the black men notching white girlfriends who get all this attention?

A white woman is perceived as being a trophy wife to a black man not because she's white, but rather because her appearance renders her exotic. It would be no different if he had married an Asian, an Indian or any other female who is conspicuously not black. Thus the quintessential nature of the hypocrisy is exposed as just an inferiority complex.

I feel bad for those black men who married for true love only to be made out as a villain or a traitor by his black sister folk just because he's the only person who showed up at the family reunion with a woman who looked different from all the other women there. White men who married non-white women face a similar kind of nonsense quite regularly.

Interracial Sex


White women go for black men because they have larger penises.


Medical doctors will certify that there are probably as many white men with a large penis as there are black men. The average size of the male penis remains relatively the same across ethnic groups, averaging out at 5.9 inches. People believe otherwise because of the sensationalist fantasy of a black man pummeling a helpless white female as is often propagated in pornographic movies. Just so you know, these men are freaks of nature.

To be fair however, there is a larger population of black men who appear to have a larger penis. To understand why this is, you have to examine male anatomy. In most men, a part of the penile shaft is hidden inside the body, connected by a ligament to the pelvic bone. This hidden portion is about an additional 2 cm in length. Many penis enlargement surgeries involve simply cutting this ligament so that the penis hangs down a bit further.

Now the penis has three main uses: 1. Urination 2. Intercourse and (less known) 3. To act as a heat sink. The penis shrinks during cold weather, and extends during warm climate. However, the penises of African men drop further out of the body because of the heat. This allows the vascular action of warm blood circulating in the penis to dissipate the excess heat in their bodies (thereby protecting sperm) in the warmer African climate.

Scandinavian men by comparison don't need this extra heat dissipation feature as they live in the colder climatic regions of the planet. But their penises are essentially the same length. It's just that most of it is withdrawn into the body. This is why penis enlargement surgery rarely has any useful effect on African men. It was largely designed for Caucasian and Asian men. So if it were not for globalization, this procedure probably wouldn't exist.

Now in the same way that blue eyes dominated Caucasians, natural selection within the African continent has given the men with more of their penis external to the body a much greater preference by choice females. Over the centuries, the men who had weaker pelvic ligaments (and thus the appearance of a longer penis) reproduced more. Although their numbers grew, they still do not outnumber the African men with a standard length penis.

Most of these men with a longer phallus are of West African descent, and thus constitute the black men of today's African-Americans and Caribbean nationals. They are specifically black men who have settled in the American South and northern Caribbean territories like the Bahamas, Cuba and Jamaica. The large majority of other black men are regular sized.

Pornographic movies have no doubt capitalized on this by excessively popularising the misconception that black men somehow categorically have larger penises. This is simply not true. If there was some genetic consistency with black men for having larger penises, that would imply that black women have correspondingly deeper (or stretchier?) vaginas.

However, they do not.

In fact, most women (black or white) will tell you that a man with an unusually lengthy penis is more frightening than one with a standard sized shaft. Many men try to insert the entire phallus into a woman, even though the vagina is barely 4 inches deep. This means that the extra length will most often infringe upon the cervix, causing great pain.

So size does matter to a woman - particularly if she doesn't want to become permanently injured. So what about the massive black penises that are often shown in porn movies?

The monster phallus of black actors seen in porn are mostly augmented — just like the breasts of almost every white woman that co-stars. While porn films rarely use special effects, the actors are nothing more than plastic surgery sculptures; animated effigies of the ultimate male and female fantasy couple. However, 5.9 inches is more than enough penis to safely please any woman — whether she is black or white. The rest is rubbish.

At this point, I would say that one shouldn't believe everything seen on TV. So kindly do yourselves a favour: Kill your television. It will free you of 9/10ths of the rubbish that is commonly propagated in western civilization. It will also save yourself some useful brain matter in the process along with another 15% or more on your power bill. Thank me later.


The Tiger woods family
Tiger — in more innocent times
So do black men really prefer white women? Absolutely not. There is no evidence to suggest this to be even remotely true. In actuality, the question is irrelevant as love warrants no justification. Even if there are black men out there who prefer fairer characteristics, the large majority of black men still prefer black women. The concept of black men preferring white women is largely the product of sensationalist propaganda and some stereotypical misrepresentation. There is just no truth to it at all.

Additionally, most people are naturally xenophobic. Therefore interracial unions are not commonplace — even though it occurs with greater regularity in the Caribbean and the UK. This means that black men who are open to white women are still in the stark minority — even though this is probably of no real consolation to the black women out there who may have lost their black male lovers to a white woman.

The people who are xenophobic like the racist aryan neo-nazis and the hypocritical insecure black folk who terrorize people who dare to love outside of the box have their own inexplicable preferences as well. Their hypocrisy is thus unforgivable. While everyone is entitled to their preferences, true love has no colour, culture, religion, race, class, creed or social demarcation. It is nothing more than a totally indiscriminate biological function.

We've come a long way since the dark ignorant days of Miscegenation. Modern cultures have largely become saturated with interracial unions. It is not that much of a big deal anymore. So for all the interracial antagonists out there, know this: Love is free. It always has been and always will be. So irrespective of your qualms, there's absolutely nothing you can do to stop it.



  1. "In fact, white men are many times more likely to marry outside of their race than any other." White Americans are much more likely to marry ANYONE than are blacks. Mostly Hispanics, because they're relatively numerous, amenable, culturally more simpatico, and such relationships are accompanied by fewer and less extreme social and personal rip-tides than alternatives.

    That said, examine the sentence which I quoted above. In each interracial marriage, there is a member of two races, minimum. In America, there are more whites than there are all others combined. Therefore, the percentage of whites who marry outside of their race must be LOWER than the similar number for non-whites, not higher. (The SAME absolute number being divided by a LARGER group size.)

  2. I live in the UK so,I feel that this article is all wrong...a lot of black men DO prefer white women but,most importantly,a lot of WHITE WOMEN PREFER BLACK MEN for many reasons but one of them IS often for his black skin colour!This is true because (even though things are changing)even now,there are A LOT LESS WHITE MEN WITH BLACK WOMEN (so why is this...there are just as many black females in Britain as black males..think about it!)Also,it is because a lot of white women (and black men)want mixed-race (half-caste) children!!(who are,of course only regarded as 'black'-like the American President!)Even a mixed-race girl in my daughter's junior school class said this to my daughter a few years ago,so when I say it (even though I am white British)I should be allowed to say it without being accused of being racist-I am just stating a fact!Mixed-race couples also tend to have more children that white couples.This is a fact,as 'mixed-race'is the fastest growing ethnic population in Britain!Whether they are consciously doing it or not,these Black and White couples are doing their bit to help make Britain mixed-race,which will be more and more so in the future!(then when we are all completely 'mixed'it must be the end of racism,so most people will say that it will be a very good thing!)Anyone who would disagree with this would immediately be branded an evil racist-Britain has a VERY big thing against racism these days-especially towards black people!(only racists would disagree with preferential treatment for black people-mainly for jibs but also Council housing- but it is a fact and that is why there are black people living everywhere in Britain now,making it truly eclectic and richly diverse!Racism is now regarded as the next biggest evil to peadophillia!That is why some white British people have lost there jobs,gone to court etc over actions that are regarded as racially offensive to black people-so it is now the white British racist who is treated the worst in Britain now-not black people-and quite right too!!Ban the golliwog doll-that is why a white British woman was recently arrested and taken to court over putting a racist golly doll in her front window,during a dispute with her poor black neighbour(in a remote part of Suffolk)There is no room in Britain anymore for white British racists or the golly doll!(I am glad I did not live in the truly racist,sexist 1970s-thankfully,most of us have moved on!)

  3. i hope that more black women will read this blog. you may feel it trite (or maybe i am assuming so out of insecurity) but this entry has touched me to my core as a black woman, and will undoubtedly do so for others that stumble upon it. thank you.

  4. This whole race issue really demonstrates how far mankind needs to evolve before we can claim we are intelligent!!!!

  5. With black people engaged in this internet gender war with black men trashing black women with negative stereotypes and black women retaliating by spamming the web with pro "give up on black men and date a white guy" propaganda its nice to FINALLY read an article that ONLY speaks to truths and straight facts.Thank YOU who ever wrote this it sure as hell was a sight for sore eyes.