Why do white men seem to be less attracted to black women?

Question:

Why do white men seem to be less attracted to black women?

personalities and attitudes? I always wondered why it seems alot of white women are attracted to black men or men of different ethnicities, but it seems like for a white man they want something more similar to their ethnicity or race, and don't want to go for a noticeable change.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: First, I'm mainly caucasian and I find just as many African and African-American women as beautiful as whites (and Asians).

I pretty much disagree with all the responses here so far. In my opinion the answer to your question has nothing to do with money, beauty standards, racial "purity," or how the respective women are treated by their inlaws. It's the vestiges of slavery and racism (at least in the US). A black girl taught me how to dance when we were both in our early teens and that was back before there were any civil rights for blacks. Every time we danced together people became angry, both white boys and girls. Here in Southern Indiana, not far from the home of the former head of the KKK, I often see a white male, black female high school couple that are so much in love they're oblivious to everything around them. Fortunately, today, that doesn't raise many eyebrows. Unfortunately, it still raises a lot more than just some people's eyebrows.

Black men were beaten and hung for looking at a white woman, much less marrying one. Therefore, for some black males a white woman is a trophy, a status symbol and a way of sticking it to "whitey."

Black women were taken at will by white men (taken = raped). They were property owned by white men to be used however the man wanted. The black woman did the white man's dirty work so the white mistress of the household wouldn't have to get her lily-white hands dirty. So, on a conscious or subconscious level, many black women would see being with a white man as a sellout.

Unfortunately the portrayal of Black women as lascivious by nature, crude and dirty, is an enduring stereotype while white is associated with purity. This is slowly being broken down but also explains some of the antipathy (as well as outright dislike) some white males feel toward black women.

Although both of these statements are very broadly painted generalizations they are historically accurate.
See:
"Never Aganst Her Will': Black Women,White Men and Rape Law" Abstract at http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p116549_...
Alice Walker, What Can the White Man Say to the Black Woman? http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a...

It was only 40 years ago — on June 12, 1967 — that the U.S. Supreme Court knocked down a Virginia statute barring whites from marrying nonwhites. Only 40 years ago! Mixed race couples, according to the US Census Bureau, are flourishing; soaring 667 percent since 1970 to 2.3 million couples. But those marriages only account for 3.8% of all marriages. At least, in my mind, it's progress.

For some additional reading check out The Angry Black Woman, http://theangryblackwoman.wordpress.com/...
and
African-American Forum, http://www.topix.com/forum/afam,... but watch out for flying racism.