Racial politics are a bit of a third rail, but here I go anyway.

As it happens, I read that article when it was first published. I thought it to be no big deal, because I’ve heard this same sentiment many times before — it’s a common theme in black women’s magazines. I was a bit disappointed that Jill Scott wasn’t so enlightened, but she’s welcome to her feelings.

One common rationale for this viewpoint among so many black women is the zeitgeist that there are so “good” black men available — what with the general scarcity of African Americans and the high imprisonment rate, etc. They see many black guys who date white women as “dating up” the social strata, which they feel reflects poorly on them — it’s a “what, we’re not good enough?” thing, combined with the usual ethnicity-agnostic female dynamics.

In NO circumstances have I seen this issue being driven by what I interpret as feelings that white women are inferior or undeserving of black men, nor a general dislike of white women. And that’s the key thing. It’s the general issue of feelings of rejection, and not racism.