On a beautiful Sunday our favorite R&B artist/actor, Tyrese, decided to ask a very controversial question on his Facebook fan page. The question was all about how Black women feel when Black men date outside their race. He concluded the question by saying "Especially is he says "I don't date black girls anymore"..." The comments started quickly, but most of the comments were not directed toward Tyrese. They were replies to comments already posted.
The replies were from people of all ethnicities. Some of them agreed, some were confused by my opinion, and many of them had their own ideas that they wanted to tell me about. While a little overwhelming, most of the responses were common answers you would find under any topic that has the power to bring out the crazy in people. In case you don't know the common ways people approach your opinions, below is a list of what you can usually expect.
People Will Heavily Disagree With You til the point of calling your opinion stupid just because it is not their opinion. There is this phrase that goes agree to disagree. It was invented for the sole purpose of two people being able to comprehend that they do not think the same way. The purpose of understanding that another person has a different opinion is so you can still both respect each other. However, when it comes to responding to controversial topics the respect factor seems to always disappear.
People Will Tell You What You Actually Said and how they really feel about you. Two women of other ethnicities both told me that I said I was superior to white women. Nowhere in my comment did I say anything about being better than white women, but according to them that is what I said. They then went on to tell me that I wasn't in any way better than a white woman. WOW!
People Will Try To Silence You On The Issue at hand. It never fails. If the issue involves dating, there are always several people who will try to convince you that your feelings don't matter. He wasn't interested. So what? He disrespected you in the ultimate way before disappearing on you. Shit happens. Why are you crying? He told you he'd rather date women lighter skinned or of other ethnicities. Why should that be offensive to you? It could also involve politics, single parenting or the possibilities of being single parent, issues involving your gender, etc. The questions get asked for a reason, but there is always someone lurking around the corner expecting you to not have a response at all.
People Will Tell You What You Should Think About The Topic. While there are people that think you should have no voice at all on a topic, there are also those people that want to tell you exactly how to think. If someone asks what your favorite color is, there is always someone else mad because you didn't choose gray. They want you to choose gray, so they will tell you over and over that gray is the right way to go. If you say you like President Obama, they will tell you every reason in the book as to why you should hate him. If you prefer to date and love a man the same physical features as you, someone will argue you down on why you should be interested in all types of men. If you say you don't want to date a man that resembles your skin tone, people will argue you down on why that is wrong too. They want you to think the same way they think.
Oh yeah, and someone will always agree with you. Did I miss anything that you may hear often? Let me know on social media.
