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Show THE BROADAX.. 4 “By Clinton M. Frye, Jr. 1975 IS DARKER BETTER? FEBRUARY PAGE TEN — a “ring a lighter women. When asked why they felt this way, the majority simply said that “T dig a chick with a mean afro! Man, Black is BEAUTIFUL! The darker the better!” a. ye. : E i all’of their lives, the concensus was, “The Lighter the Better,” and not the other way around. “The’older men were more fond of the Black woman whose hair was straightened. . Contrarily the younger men preferred the Coming from a Black man and while di- reeted toa Black: woman (with dark skin | ’ and-a’ méan Afro), the above paragraph _ wouldn’t need any delineation. Many Black men in recent years have seemingly ets SAtin 5-2 clicked off from the high yellow Black natural look. has displayed from the early sixties until ‘This preference, for the so-called natural, is questionable. | wonderif these pretentious Black men, and quite often Black | women, understand just what theyre saying. woman to the ‘Darker thé Better” fad. This exaggerated interest, the Black man now, has caused the sincere Black woman to question his alleged credence. Consider that just ten years ago, the light complexioned woman was as the epitome of Black women. To acquire the African bush, Afro, natural or blow out, often engages certain procedures, when scrutinized would be considered rather, regarded The “unnatural.” Just look at the ingredients on Black woman with light skin gave status’ She was and, in many cases to her man. one of the leading “blow-out” kits and you'll see why I’ve said, “so-called natural.” still is the number one choice for the Black mans fantasies. The light skinned of | woman was looked upon as the cream Our Black men should think and stop being mant- the flock. pulated by cliches. A bush is beautiful on some of our women. But many Black women look just as appealing with their hair straightened. It’s understandable for a Black man to have his individual preferences in a woman. He may have an omnivorous appeal for tall women, short, curvaceous or any of the innumerable characteristics that make all women unique. Light complexioned women are quite beautiful, but they’re not abstract. Preference in pigmentation, yes, but prejudice » . ? in pigmentation ts definitely nil. After four hundred years of coveting n the light bright, our white womeand pommodern day Black man asserts quite pously, has seemed ‘The Black awareness philosophy to go from one extreme to the other. ‘“‘Black is Beautiful.” It’s genet- ally accepted that the “Blackis beautiful” philosophy, conveys the message of being proud of Black heritage and culture. This Black is beautiful and better trite, has a good gross generalization to Black people. However, what doés all of this rhetoric mean to the multitudes of Black aeek: : men on an individual level? Our reformed Black man shouldn’t try to psych himself into, “The Darker the Better” fad, All Black women are indeed beautiful. If he would accept and appreciate all of them they will accept, appreciate and approve of © him. i y A small sampling of Black men between the ages of 19-25 has revealed that these men are more thoroughly hooked on the “Darker the Better” craze. While the older men in our survey reluctantly conceded to prefer- ~ ‘Common Sense and Love. . TTT use SISTERS! It’s about time we take some of the responsibility too.. We women have been ““Niggers ain't shit.....If the bitch ain’t giving me no money, she can’t do nothing _as-decayed by this system as Black men. for me.....All the nigger wants to do is get high and chase them white bitches!” Our decay is of a different nature, but it is still there. some Theses kinds of statements reflect eames. pretty grim realities about the relationship BLACK RAP of brothers and sisters. ‘a few things about both sides of the issue, which should be considered if the gap still hung up on “making that nigger pay” for our bodies without realizing that both partners benefit from a sexual experience. on BROTHERS! The primary complaint of Black women is not brothers chasing white girls, butdhes And many of us are still hung up on sexual mores that are not just obsolete always were. . + This way the brothers relate to us sisters. of the white gril mania,is only a symptom disease. The disease stems from the basic in premises that many Black men follow their dealings with women, including the: basis of our so-called free enterprise system: that every individual is potentially an ob“ig By Ericka Caillouet ject of exploitation. Many brothers personify this belief in women. their behavior towards Black Another stem of the disease is\just as important and may be more deeply rooted: the Black male’s interpretation of his role; Many brothers seem to have adopted the white male sex role. The need to prove in their prowess by conquering all women subtheir path. They seem, consciously or consciously, to be playing the role of the Sobel , Mack. All these things limit the way Black men t to can relate to Black women. It’s difficul relate effectively to an object. [tis also difficult for Black: men to relate to Black } * women as human beings.in the struggle and not just members of | he female species. . of us still play receive. Too many of-us lie to ourselves and thus to our partners. Many of us are | just want to say between the Black men and women this campus is to be breached. — Too many Too many of us give only to gsr now but ae These things have often causedus to relate in just as limited, one dimensional terms as Black men: We often put expectations on a relationship before it starts that cause us our partner. We have lo learn to be truly independent women. We have Lo be independent enough to live a relation- ship in terms of now and not with expectations of forever.. Many of us see men as. creatures who take and must be taken first. L's very difficult to relate to a Black man as a human being when he is the enemy. It’s time that Black sisters and brothers slop competing with one another and realize that, to actualize our freedom in in America, we must bea whole first and not separate fingers. We must put aside the myths and standards of a society that doesn’t meet our needs and form new ones that will help us relate as Black people ina common struggle and not just males and ° females. 3 |
