I believe that it is a good argument to look at racism in gay culture. There are actually many white gay men who do not and would not dare to date a black gay man. It is one thing when the choice is made simply out of personal preference for appearance, but it is another when their reason for not dating black men is because they are disgusted at the mere thought of it. Somehow, it reminds me of how certain white people think that a white woman is “tainted” after having sexual relations with a black man. Yet, white gay men will still act out what they best describe as a “black woman,” yet do not even have black female friends, period – which is especially offensive. And if you do not have them as friends, you have not engaged in their culture enough to have respect for it. Therefore, to me, blacks are used once again as entertainment or something else out of which they feel they can make a mockery. Certain black slang adopted by white gay men comes from a long history of black people being without access to educate and being unable to educate themselves, versus the white people who were always entitled to education. Drawling “chile” with your hands on your hips and so many other mannerisms that people stereotypically associate with black people, goes back to times of slavery. Black gay men usually emulate this because this is what we saw from the women in our families as well as in our communities. This is our Truth. This is our History. This is our culture.
And we do not say “it’s ours and no one else can have it,” but we do ask you to know what you are saying before you say it. Know where it comes from, especially if handled in any way it may seem offensive to a particular culture. We ask you to educate yourself before you mishandle something that is so precious to us, because when you make fun of or mock a “black woman” you are mocking my mother, and my aunt, my grandmother, the elders of my church, my community members, my culture, my history. We just ask for acknowledgment and recognition before you take something that originated from our community and then belittle it by trying to claim it for another minority group. We all have, as humans, different strengths that should be respected, just as any organization’s officers should be. They all stand in their own place and are acknowledged and respected as such. The same goes for cultures. Be it past or modern, whatever the practice, it still originated from somewhere.
I’emari Grace
Senior social work major
