I'm No Expert But...

Just as an experiment, today I typed dating in the Google Image search engine. Here were a few of the results:






Is it just me, or is something missing? Oh, I don't know, maybe something like this?




I know this is nothing new, but I had to mention it. It just saddens me that there is so little representation of black relationships in the media. For pages upon pages, my search for "dating" delivered results of white couples, Asian couples, even interracial couples, but never once did I get a result of a black man and a black woman. Not until I typed in black dating.

Sometimes I think we've come a long way in terms of race in America but, at times like this, I have second thoughts. What ever happen to the days of The Cosby Show, Living Single, and Fresh Prince, when you saw black men and women lovin' on each other instead of fighting with each other? The only contemporary TV show that did a decent job of representing black love in a positive way was Girlfriends, and that got canceled! Now all we've got left is The Game, on which you can expect drama every week. Of course there are exceptions to the white representation of relationships on TV--controversy is what sells, so alot of shows on nowadays feature plot lines where the desperate housewife is having an affair with the plumber. But for the most part, the common perception of white relationships is that they are loving and functional, because that's what we see in Kay Jewelers commercials.

I'm not bashing white love, don't get me wrong. I just feel like black love has a bad rep. Just like in the news, the good is never shown, only the bad. Now, I'm no expert and I'm not the most experienced dater out there--I've only been in two real relationships and did a little casual dating in between--but black relationships are something to be celebrated. When the bond is real and the respect is mutual, they can be some of the deepest, most beautiful unions out there. But, unless you're a member of the black community, you wouldn't really know that.