The images of interracial relationships often seen in today’s media, and
real life, usually consist of a black man with a woman of another race when the
interracial component involves a person of color.
Some argue that this dynamic speaks to America’s racial progress since
the Antebellum South, Jim Crow and the tragic death of Emmett Till – times when
the lives of African Americans were at risk for even thinking of the forbidden
and accused of such. The truth in this argument validates itself, bearing
historical consequences that bred fear, which is now replaced by male-liberation
and possibly victorious-pride to defy a system that was so punitive to the
extent of dictating whom one could and could not love.
Even the dictates over the longevity of black love during slavery, and
the prices paid after families were separated for financial gain, carried over
as forbidden remnants during the early TV era when images of black love were not
seen, nor authenticated in the media.
Quality films and their memorable scores like Love Story, and The Way
We Were, had no counter-equivalents aside from rare gems as, Lady Sings the
Blues, and Mahogany, whose protagonists' conflict added richness to these stories and their mainstream counterparts.
After Lady and Mahogany, there was a wide disparity in black love
dramas with a rich undertone, till such films as, DuVernay’s, Middle of Nowhere,
Jenkins’ Beale Street adaptation, and
currently, The Photograph by producer Will Packer who’s among today’s leading
creatives elevating the “black love” genre.
The task to bring these stories to the cultural landscape amid disproportionate
images of black-male “interracialization” is imperative, as it offers balance
and reminds us that black love does exists and is a sustainable option as any
other love.
