Diversity in Media? Examining Pexels’ Lack of African American Couples
Fifty-eight years ago, in 1967, there was a landmark civil rights decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that ruled that laws banning interracial marriages violated the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The case involved the Lovings—Richard (a white male) and Mildred, a person of color.
Statistics show that from 1980 to 2015, there was a steady increase in interracial relationships, primarily among Black and white couples. As of today, there appears to be a decline in the number of white children, reflecting the significant aging of the white population. Many biracial kids struggle with identifying strictly as Black or white since there are no “other” options available to them.
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From this, we can deduce that while there is an increase in biracial children across the United States, many of these children identify as African American, contributing to the perceived increase of one population and the decline of another. Yet, it’s not uncommon for these biracial children to grow up and marry men and women who are completely white, effectively whitewashing their bloodline over generations.
Take Diana Ross and Quincy Jones, for example. When you look at their family photos, it appears that there are next to no Black children. According to The Conversation, “In the coming decades, people of color will have an increasing presence in all U.S. institutions, in higher education, the workforce, and the electorate.” Americans are already seeing the “consequences” of these demographic shifts in higher education.
Between 2009 and 2017, the number of white undergraduate students in the U.S. dropped by 1.7 million, while the number of Latino undergraduates rose by 1.1 million. This helps explain the recent changes caused by the Trump administration, such as overturning Roe v. Wade, ending affirmative action, dismantling DEI initiatives, and, more recently, attempting to bring back segregation in classrooms, restaurants, and communities.
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It’s safe to say that white people feel threatened by the rising population of other races and the impact this could have on their vision of American society. While previous administrations weren’t as bold in their erasure of African Americans from higher education and prestigious employment roles, they covertly introduced the idea of mixing bloodlines into mainstream media for daily consumption.
We are led to believe that interracial relationships and marriages are the new norm—something to aspire to—rather than finding love organically. This belief is slowly becoming embedded in our minds, especially for African American women. The message seems to be that if we want to settle down and start a family, we should date a white man. Meanwhile, for Black men, the message is that if they want a feminine and docile woman, they should seek out a white woman. This, in turn, could enhance their social status by bringing them closer in proximity to whiteness compared to their counterparts.
Now, more than ever, African American men and women, as a collective, are feeling more isolated and dejected in a world that is not only aiming to eradicate us through systems that claim to benefit us but also through the dismantling of our family structure. Destroying it from within is causing many families to crumble. Men are no longer aspiring to marriage, and women are increasingly seeking affluent men to marry and have children with. But the reality is, if these opportunities are being taken from Black and Brown communities, then the men—our community leaders—will never be in a position to lead or provide.
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