Gloria Wade-Gayles

About the author: Gloria Wade-Gayles is a professor of English and women's studies at Spelman College. She is the author of Rooted Against the Wind, from which this viewpoint is excerpted.

Black women face considerable difficulty overcoming their hostile feelings toward black men who marry white women. These relationships inspire feelings of abandonment and shame in African American women. Many feel that by marrying white women, black men send the message that white is better, a message that causes many black women to question their self-worth. Black women must learn to let go of their anger toward interracial relationships. There are more important things that deserve their anger, such as poverty and racial injustice.

Iremember in my high school and college years being proud of the black man in Mod Squad. He...