Yesterday, on my main Facebook page, I posted a question about Black men who cho...-gctid88571

[Runoko Rashidi]

Yesterday, on my main Facebook page, I posted a question about Black men who choose non-Black women.  Last night, to a broader Facebook audience, I posted images of blond Black people in the South Pacific.  Not surprisingly, some of the Black male respondents pointed out they they should have the right to mate with whoever they want.  Of the blond issue, on at least one of the pages, the response was, from some Kmtyw-American women, "We should not be attacked for dying our hair blond.  Black people have blond hair in other parts of the world!  We aren't doing anything wrong!"  Yes, I suppose that you should have the right to mate with who you like and wear your hair however you like.  The question for me is, what determines the choices that we make?  Surely, you aren't wearing blond hair because Black people in the Pacific have blond hair!  Why would you want to be with a white woman when there are so many beautiful and single and eligible Black women out there?  Why would you want to have blond hair?  What fuels these choices?  And the purpose of these questions is not to attack people.  The purpose is to raise questions about why we do what we do.  Should I just keep my mouth shut and limit myself to history?  Sometimes I think so.  But in addition to being a historian, I am also a member of a community that is is desperate trouble and therefore all of us have a duty to address the causes of our plight.  Why do we do what do and why do we make the choices that we make?  And, surely, it is not just because I woke up this morning and felt like it.