Marrying Black, Marrying Up: on Michelle Obama, interracial marriage and strong, black women

by Joyce Nishioka on January 19, 2009

Imagine a powerful, charismatic, handsome black man. Now imagine him arm-in-arm with a black woman and then a white woman. How do your perceptions of him change? The cliche goes that once African American men gain success, they marry interracially as the last sign that they had 'made it.'

That stereoptype, though, is a myth, says Professor France Winddance Twine. Black men have always desired black women. Look no further than the marriage of President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/media/marrying_black_marrying_michelle_obama_interracial_marriage_and_strong_black_women_1