The BluePrint. (None) 2013-????, February 28, 2014, Image 6
Interracial Dating
in the AUC
By. Karys Belger C2016 and Veronica Fulton C2016
What is
The Spelman
Glee Club?
Karrah Red C’2016 Speaks on
the Glee Club Experience
By. Analisa Wade C’20l6
Arts and Entertainment Section Editor
Second Soprano Karrah Red, has
been a member of the Spelman Glee Club
for two years. The bonds she has created
with her Glee sisters are irreplaceable and
have truly impacted the way she views
music.
“Being a member has changed my
Spelman experience,” Karrah said. “At
first I wanted to quit. The transition was
difficult being the freshman all over again.’
She quickly overcame the uneasy
feelings and fell in love with who the
Spelman music community was helping
her become.
Red refers to the director of the Glee
Club, Dr. Kevin Johnson as a “musical
genius”.
“If it wasn’t for him, I’m not sure
where the club would be,” she said.
The Glee Club performs shows
all around the country, so it gives the
students a chance to travel and truly
represent Spelman women, “Everyone
doesn’t have the chance to visit Spelman
College, so we give them the best
depiction of what a Spelman woman looks
like.”
The members perform in black
dresses, pearls, and red lipstick. “The
three of them combined is to show what
it is to be a woman of Spelman College as
well as a woman of music.” To Red, being
a woman of music is to like it, be serious
about it, and to love it, “my life is devoted
to music; music is not devoted to me.”
The Glee Club continues to help her
evolve and develop herself as an artist.
Walking into it, she didn’t know what to
expect, but now she understands it’s a
major part of her matriculation as an artist.
6 Feb/March 2014 SpelmanPaper@gmail.com
Interracial has long been a topic
of great controversy. Though in our
generation, the mixing of black, white,
and other colors has become more
common. However, despite growing
tolerance, meshing between the races
can still ignite passions.
Actress Tamera Mowry grew up
“not seeing color”. A product of a
biracial background, she never saw
anything wrong with interracial dating.
When she announced her engagement
to FOX News correspondent Adam
Housley, she was bombarded with
criticism from the African- American
community for choosing to marry
outside of her race. In an interview with
Oprah Winfrey, Mowry said:
“It’s hurtful, because my husband
and I are so openly fine with showing
love, but people choose to look past
love and spew hate.”
Here in the AUC the opinions of
the student body are a bit more varied.
Spelman senior Faith Porter expressed
that while she would never consider
interracial dating, she doesn’t see a
problem for others who choose to do it
themselves. Traveling abroad, she was
exposed to cultures where black women
were hyper sexualized.
“My main concern is if you like me
for myself or to fulfill a fantasy,” Porter
said.
With regard to black men, opinions
are much more critical. The general
consensus is that if a black man dates
a white woman then he is a sellout.
Spelman sophomore Madison Pulliam
agrees.
“The only reason a black man will
date a white woman is because he is too
weak to handle a strong black woman,”
Pulliam said. “There are too many fine
black women out here.”
But what about Spelman women
dating outside the color lines?
Considering that there are more
Spelmanites than there are men of
Morehouse, one would think that it
would be more acceptable for a woman
in the AUC to explore other options. Yet
there are still mixed feelings about the
subject.
“I like the idea of interracial dating,
but not the practice,” said Morehouse
sophomore Takelion Thompson. He
believes that people tend to date outside
of their race because of bad experiences
while dating within their own. Like
many of his fellow men of Morehouse,
Thompson is unsettled with the idea
of a black woman in the AUC dating a
white male.
“I feel like if black woman comes to
the AUC and dates a white guy, then she
really had to try,” Thompson said.
The white students at Morehouse
seem a lot less bothered.
“I don’t really see anything wrong
with it,” said Ian Niemeyer. “It’s seems
like a really close minded viewpoint to
say that people should only date people
within their race.”
Junior Stephen O'Reilly-Pol agrees.
“I think it can be done with the right
people involved,” he said.
It seems as if the opinions on
interracial dating are as varied as the
people in the AUC themselves. While we
can argue the fine points of interracial
dating endlessly, we can agree that
love is something that is bigger than
us all. According to sophomore Theo
Curuthers, “If God is love, and God
created all of these different races,
then interracial dating shouldn’t be a
problem”.
The BluePrint