Black Men in Brazil for Women? These Tired Conversations Have to Stop

Writing at Clutch magazine, Zettler Clay says that when it comes to male-female relationships, it's a dangerous game to take one narrative and apply it as the default.

Recently, a documentary made its way into my Gmail inbox. Frustrated: Black American Men in Brazil expounds on a piece published a few years ago in Essence about Black men finding in Brazil what they "can't" in North America: love, or a more easily manageable version of it.

It's the same story about black men taking issue with black women, who are:

a) too feisty for their own good
b) too fixated on income
c) not catering enough

Most notably, this doc carries a presumption that educated Black men who don't like Black women is normal. Uh-uh.

I'm black with two degrees. Many in my circle are highly educated. My friends who aren't "educated" have businesses and nice incomes. All regularly dating, some married to, melanated women.

None of us have an issue with dating outside, per se, but there aren't any discussions of the "black women are a pain, I need to see what they're talmbout." So why is this bill of goods sold to the world?

Read Zettler Clay's entire piece at Clutch magazine.

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