The Reaction to a Black Man's White Girlfriend in a Harlem Barbershop

It's a sad fact that racial stereotypes and racially motivated comments still exist in the west and most certainly in the United States.  Only 2,340,000 marriages couples in 2008 were interracial-barely 4% of the total marriages (Census Bureau Statistics).  A mere 4.6% of married African American women and 10.8% of married African American men had a non-Black spouse. 8.5% of married Black men and 3.9% of married Black women had a White spouse. 0.2% of married Black women were married to Asian American men, representing the least prevalent marital combination. It's a rare thing to see interracial couples...and none more so than the Harlem Barbershop that was the scene of a "What Would You Do" episode.  Three actors played out the racist scene: the rather rude Black Woman, the white girlfriend, and the boyfriend getting his hair cut. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynYwTU7z6BI The black actress who plays the hairdresser bashes the white girlfriend because of the plain and simple fact that she is a white woman daring to date a black man.  The show gauges real customers' reactions as the young woman is repeatedly criticized in a racist rant.  And although some sat quietly (although uncomfortable), the vast majority were unhappy to listen to overt racism. The last woman who speaks up even gets the "hairdresser" to apologize to the young woman and joins their hands and says that the only way that we can move forward is to do so together.  One man countered the hairdresser by saying that it didn't matter whether blacks had been subject to racist rants-to do so to another person just because of their skin would only hurt the black community. The video is so moving because of the level of humanity displayed by these wonderful people and the fact that they are willing to stand up and protect an absolute stranger from abuse. Do you follow us on Instagram? [caption id="attachment_100983" align="alignnone" width="100"] @BodyRockTV[/caption]