Pastor Tells Black Women to Date Outside Their Race and “Call Tyrone”

A Philadelphia pastor gives the typical relationship to black women and tells them to date outside their race to combat their single woes.

By: Amanda Anderson-Niles

According to the media, black women seem to struggle more than any other race of women when it comes to men and relationships. We’ve already concluded that 70% of black women are not single, and that there seems to be some ridiculous agenda to discourage black women from just learning to pick better partners, rather than pick partners based on their race. The major publications and magazines for black women continue to preach interracial relationships, with white men leading the pack of our Knights in Shining Armor. To make matters worse, it seems even our religious leaders are hopping on the bandwagon, and writing books on the subject.

Pastor Jomo K. Johnson’s new book “Call Tyrone: Why Black Women Should Remain Single Or…” focuses on providing single black women with alternatives to the single life. In a recent interview with The Christian Post, he explains just why black women who don’t want to be single should consider dating men of a different ethnicity:

“First and foremost, have a desire to inform and educate all women that they are precious and priceless in the sight of God. Because of that, a woman shouldn’t lower herself in any way. In the book what I seek to do is exalt and extol the value of singleness; how it can be a gift of God [and] how it is a blessed gift. The Lord Jesus was single, and he was able to embrace his singleness and use it for the purpose of ministry. I also point to women in history who have given their lives in singleness and really thought to serve others. Singleness is something that the Bible really condones and promotes.

Secondly, one of the other alternatives, and this is something African-American women are hesitant to do, is to consider dating outside of their race. Not only outside of their race, but also outside of their country. There’s somewhat of a stigma for African-American women if they date or marry a white man, or even a Hispanic man. It’s kind’ve [sic] a brand that you’re abandoning the black race, but I want to encourage women that there are good, godly men who are not necessarily African-American. I want to point to biblical examples; people don’t realize that there are a lot of examples, in the Bible, of interracial marriage.”

When asked why he decided to tackle the controversial topic:

“I’m also giving a lot of social statistics. Fifty-five percent of African-American women are not married. Two out of three of every African-American marriages have ended in divorce. If every eligible African-American woman right now got married, there would still be a four percent gap of women who couldn’t be married because there’s not enough black men.”

While interracial relationships should not be met with criticism and negative stigmas, the importance of picking better partners and dating men with a better sense of character needs to be stressed more in the black community. If he happens to be White, Asian, Latino, Indian, or Black doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of maintaining relationships. But when we continue to preach physical qualities over a solid foundation of good character, it’s no surprise that some black women are struggling to find the right partners.

To read the rest of Pastor Jomo K. Johnson’s interview, be sure to visit The Christian Post.