Issa Rae is back in the hot seat this week but not for saying she’s “rooting for everyone black.” Quite the contrary, for saying educated Black women should date Asian men exclusively.
The line in question comes from Rae’s 2015 Memoire, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.
“This is why I propose that black women and Asian men join forces in love, marriage and procreation,” Rae wrote. “Educated black women what better intellectual match for you than an Asian man? And I’m not talking about Filipino’s, they’re like the Blacks of Asians. I’m talking Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, et cetera.”
“So black women, after college, maybe it’s a good idea to settle in Los Angeles or anywhere else where Koreantown is a hotspot.”
A few takeaways from today’s outrage:
If you are familiar with Issa Rae’s work on Insecure and the Awkward Black Girl web series, her use of sarcasm and wit are a staple in her writing. The statement could be taken in jest based on the number of articles written in the past on Asian Men and Black Women being the “least desirable” to date, but one has to wonder if she really meant what she said?
https://twitter.com/TommyDreamer___/status/990715072359133184
Black men are critiqued heavily when choosing mates outside of their race. In an age of trying to establish true equality, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If a high profile black male had written this about black women would they get a pass?
Lastly, the book was written three years ago? Where was the outrage then?
Social media users shared a variety of opinions of Rae’s past statements which included everything from disgust, amusement, and explaining.
To see a sampling of hot takes and reactions, flip the pages.