Where Da White Women At? Details Magazine Plays Up on Racial Stereotypes

by Racialicious special correspondent Latoya Peterson

Oh, hell no.

I am staring at the editor’s page of the April 2007 issue of Details magazine. Staring up at me from the page are seven black men in various stages of undress, and one white woman, in the process of being groped, her face hidden from view.

The editor starts his letter by narrating his lack of experience with orgies, leading into the description of the feature article: “Meet the Mandingos.”

The sample quote provided?

“The women get to fuck our guys while their husbands watch, and we get to fuck rich white women, really mutt ‘em out.”

This quote was made by Art Hammer, apparent leader of the Mandingo tribe.

I read the rest of the article feeling like I was falling down a rabbit hole. Racial stereotypes from history has resurrected themselves, and were apparently alive and well in swinger’s clubs across America.

You can read the article for yourself here.

Now, it is not a secret that most human beings are fascinated by sex. Vanilla sex is seen as passé, and orgies are no longer relegated to the farthest reaches of the porn universe. The Sexual Life of Catherine M rocked literary circles in 2002, and the last few Eric Jerome Dickey novels have featured sex parties, or some variation on sex with multiple partners. Hell, even Lynn on “Girlfriends” referenced multiple partner sex on prime-time TV.

What makes this particular article gag-inducing is the tired pandering of racial stereotypes to shock their audience.

Let’s start with the cover. The article tag line reads: “America’s Disturbing New Sexual Fetish.”

Uhhh…not quite new. As Carmen said, try googling the term “Interracial” and see what pops up.

The Details blog takes the stereotypes a step further, baiting readers with the following tag line:

“Do you know your wife’s secret sexual fantasy? An orgy with the mandingos: well-read, well-endowed black men.”

*gasp!* Oh dear god, not well-read, well-endowed black men!

The article’s summary statement reads “They’re gentlemen in the street, thugs in the bedroom, and your wife’s steamiest fantasy.”

Ok, so now we have a domesticated negro, ready to pound your white wife into orgasm induced oblivion. Even better.

All this, and we haven’t even got to the article yet.

Underneath yet another provocative black-on-white photo, the article begins.

Jeff didn’t always like black guys. He was prejudiced—he admits it. As one of the few white kids at his school in the southeast of Washington, D.C., he fought a lot with black kids and was occasionally beaten up. When he later ran a string of gas stations, he was robbed: A black guy held a gun to his head and pulled the trigger—but the gun didn’t go off.

“Honestly, that experience helped me a lot,” he says. “I used to be very conservative. I didn’t spend much money. Now I enjoy life. I’m much more open. Especially sexually.”

It’s a measure of how far he’s come that Jeff (not his real name), now 40, is telling me this while we’re watching a black guy have sex with his wife, Amber (not her real name), 37, at an interracial orgy. In Jeff’s house. On his bed. The man screwing Jeff’s wife is Branford (not his real name), a 30-year-old massage therapist who’s not holding back—this isn’t lovemaking, this is a proper pounding. Forget Amber—that’s just how Jeff likes it.

Nice to see that Jeff’s prejudice was cured by watching his wife receive “a proper pounding.”

Jeff continues to advertise his new prejudice free lifestyle by explaining his motivations for allowing his wife to get into this compromising position:

Jeff and Amber have been married for three years and in “the lifestyle”—as swingers like to call it—for two. At one point Amber started talking about black guys. “I wasn’t thrilled,” says Jeff. “Nope, wasn’t a fan.” But she persisted, and he decided to go along. “I like seeing Amber get off,” he says with a shrug. “It excites the hell out of me. And it’s better if they’re black. All Amber wants is sex. Black guys get that. And I know that Amber would never date a black man.”

And after all, what are black men for, if not sex? Obviously, they are still unsuitable for dating so there’s nothing to fear, right?

[Side note: Nice reference to "casual bigotry" in the next paragraph.]

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