Black man kissing white woman causes stir
On the cover of today’s Go! magazine, a regular section of Friday’s Post-Dispatch, there is a photo of a couple kissing to go along with the story “The 7 Best Places To Smooch”. The story hasn’t generated a ton of buzz, but the photo has. Why? Because the man is black and the woman is white. The reader comments at the end of the online version clearly showed us that at least some folks out there are not comfortable with interracial relationships.
The April 10 GO! cover generated disapproving story comments from some Post-Dispatch readers.
Here are a couple of examples:
From 1buschstadiumplz: “Haven’t read the story but dont like to see blacks and whites kissing;”
From taxpayer came this remark: ”This doesn’t surprise me at all. Libs take every opportunity they can to shove miscegnation in our faces. Now that TV has to show blacks in every commercial, notice that they are always posed beside a blonde woman. Not a brunette, a blonde. Its done for shock value. Sickening that a once proud newspaper would resort ot this. Joe Pulitzer is turning over in his grave in shame.”
Reader greggh tried a middle-of-the-road approach: “I’m not judging the concept of biracial couples at all, but in a city as racially polarized as St. Louis, I’m shocked that the PD would go so out of its way to be so gratuitously provacative. This completely undercut the message of the article.”
“You people make me sick! What a disgustingly racist community we live in. My husband is black, I am white, we have beautiful children and we are both educated. We teach our children tolerance and acceptance of others, even the meth smoking, trailer park rednecks portrayed in these comments. Keep your nastiness to yourself!”
(27 votes, average: 4.37 out of 5)
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Doug Moore has been a reporter with the Post-Dispatch since February 2000. For the last two years, he has covered diversity and demographics. 
@taxpayer: All due respect, you didn’t answer my question.
@ben @FTPD: Yes, clearly some people are uncomfortable. As I said earlier, there are people who don’t understand why. That’s why it is hard to understand the claim that the Post-Dispatch is somehow deliberately inciting people by publishing the photo.
I like how dwilliams lets everyone know her feelings of “meth smoking, trailer park rednecks” and nary a mention of that in the responses.
Typical.
What year is it? Gee, I wonder why there’s still racial tension? Hmmm, dunno, maybe because of the racists? Personally, racism is not something I would like to expose myself to, understand?
For all those folks who tell Mexicans and others to stop waving their flag in America, I say that the southerners should first set an example by burning their confederate flags and challenge foreigners to do the same! I a proud US citizen and we should only honor the US flag!
John, since you would like someone to address your question, I thought I’d give it a try. In regards to why certain pictures that could be offensive to people are included in the PD others are not, I think that you are merely considering this picture as an example (because it offends you) and not other photos on the PD website, because those other photos don’t offend you. For example, there is a photo supporting an article about Good Friday that is currently on the main page of a person dressed like Jesus carrying a cross. Now personally, that is not something I care about or believe in, but its all about what you let yourself make of it. No one is forcing you to ogle the kissing photo and make a big to-do of it, just like no one is forcing me to fixate on the religious picture. You claim that things “have to be shoved down your throat” but just because something is present (i.e. this picture) it doesn’t mean you have to involve yourself with it. Breeze by and move on to the next story. If you don’t like something on TV, do you still watch it? No, because you have the freedom to flip channels. You say that you believe that people should just let people live and do what they want, but you are arguing against this photo of two people, doing and living how they want. If you want people to respect your beliefs, you need to return that respect.
@Kurt-sorry, I didn’t see the question addressed to me.
I honestely I never gave it a second thought when I saw it. But if the Post really wanted to get things going they should have asked a homosexual couple to have posed for the picture. Now that would have been great ready entertainment.
Why is it that in the majority of the cases when a couple is interracial that the man is black and the women white?
The thing that I love is that these two are actually a couple in real life. This was not done as a shock tactic, I’m sure. Welcome to 2009 where people have the right to love who they want. It’s call freedom of press…you can’t mute it. It’s too bad there are so many close minded people out there.
As proud GOP supporter and rabid pro-Bush republican, I don’t like to see the races mix.