As a Black woman with a white boyfriend, people always ask me, “Sydney, how could you date the enemy? What would your ancestors think?” And though most of them are just annoying leftists who think because they read Are Prisons Obsolete? that they get the Black experience. To the rest, I get where they’re coming from. But Dylan is different. He just really gets it.
Do you want to know how I know this? It is because he cried while we were watching The Color Purple.
Ok, some might say that the bar is in Hell here, but The Color Purple takes a lot of commitment to watch a movie that long. Most of my friends haven’t even seen it yet! I couldn’t even get through it the first time I put it on. Plus, he did not even yawn once and only went on his phone like seven times. So as you can see, this is different kind of attentive white man.
I was definitely a little nervous to recommend the film for our first date night, but felt like it would be a good litmus test. At first, he was very inquisitive and kept asking questions like “Why is everyone so mean to the main character?” and “Oh my, God, is that Oprah?” But then, halfway through the film, he got silent. I peeked at him through the corner of my eye and saw him tearing up at Sophia’s monologue. Then I knew: This was the white man for me.
I know I tweeted “Dating a white man…could never be me,” and “If Black Lives Matter why did you unmatch me on Tinder?” every time a white man ghosted me for the past six months. But this time it’s different: Dylan works for the ACLU and minored in African-American studies. He’s even seen Beloved. That’s because the book was assigned to him in high school, but still. He’s clearly dedicated to the cause (of movies starring Oprah directed by white men).
Plus being in an interracial couple seems to be an incredibly lucrative enterprise, so keep an eye out for our joint YouTube channel. There, we will discuss Black literature and how a colorful love like ours can heal our increasingly divided world. Stay tuned!
