Another season of hard-to-watch episodes of ‘Love Is Blind’
Stop jumping through hoops to date white people
Update (and spoiler) on February 19, 2022: Episodes 5–9 have released. Anytime someone equates his hobbies as “being American,” expect him to ask about immigration papers and show off tiki torches soon after. I knew I was right about this family from the first scene with Shaina. Kyle dodged a machine load of bullets, whether he knows it or not. Religion is NOT the real issue she has with him.
I was coming from the break room, and he walked up to me smiling. He asked me how classes were going and talked about an upcoming vacation. He was the person responsible for me getting that retail job and (still is) consistently one of the nicest guys I’d ever worked for. There was a clear vibe from him that he was used to being around women of color, which I assumed came from the fact that he had an Asian wife. But even with that added sense of comfort, there was one thing about him that gave me the creeps: his bright, blue eyes.
I don’t know what it was about those eyes. Mainstream America would’ve told me to fall in love with the baby blues far more than his reddish brown hair. I thought he was attractive (solid 9 out of 10), and his hair complimented his face. But those baby blues weirded me out. I have yet to understand the fascination with blue eyes (or blond hair).
Recommended Read: “Please stop telling me whose eyes are blue ~ ‘Ready to Love’: The balance between pro-interracial dating but not forced interracial dating”
To me, his eyes just looked so cold; they reminded me of the sheet of ice that covers Lake Michigan during the winter months. No matter how warm and friendly his face was, and his hair fiery and intriguing, I would look at his forehead or ears when we talked. In college and beyond, I knew that if I ever dated a white guy, his eyes had to be brown.
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Although I went to a predominantly black elementary school and a diverse high school with a makeup of equal whites, blacks and students of Hispanic origin, I can only think of a handful of white guys who I was friends with as a kid. There were a couple of white girls too, and for the life of me, I don’t remember their facial features — only that they were the daughters of my father’s co-worker who I saw at Christmas parties and my surprise birthday party.
Recommended Read: “To white parents, one size does not fit all ~ Five tips for white parents trying to raise non-racist children”
But within my diverse social circle, no one ever said to me that white guys were more attractive than other groups (or vice versa). However, I did go through a pre-teen phase where I had posters of Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Mike Vitar, Devon Sawa and Rider Strong*. My (older and only) brother walked into my bedroom one day, looked around at all the posters and said, “You don’t have anything but white boys up here.”
I looked up at my wall, noticing that one wall was indeed dominated by those four celebrities. But there was another wall with a massive-sized poster of Immature (Romeo, LDB and Batman). I had hundreds of posters of this trio that I’d collected and put into a binder, even at one point hand-drawing a picture of LDB (that I’m still proud of). I didn’t say anything aloud or even point out my die-hard fandom for the “Never Lie” R&B crew. But something in my brother’s comment made me think, “Is it wrong to like white boys too?”