A Meetup Group for WM and BW

Even though I don't have a profile on Meetup.com and am not a member of any Meetup groups, I've attended a few "meetups" with friends, usually a networking event or mixer of some sort. Probably the main reason I never joined Meetup is because I don't want an additional web profile to have to maintain (Facebook and LinkedIn are enough for me), but I've always admired how Meetup enables you to meet and build relationships with people whom you have similar interests.

A person can start a Meetup group that focuses on just about anything. The more than 600 groups in the Charlotte area include: Charlotte Area Jewelry Artists, The Charlotte Asperger's Syndrome Meetup Group, Charlotte Area Singles (24-36), Charlotte Yoga Club, and The Charlotte Movie & Dinner Group. So as you can see, the groups' interests can be very specific.

Perhaps none is more specific than one of Charlotte's newest Meetup groups, White Men & Black Women Together, which formed three days ago. My girlfriend forwarded me an email alert she received about this group (it matched two of her interests criteria: social networking and new in town) and she thought it was interesting. So did I, which is why I'm blogging about it. I thought it was interesting how the focus of this group is specifically for white men and black women who want to date each other, as opposed to a larger potential pool of interracial couples of black and white, meaning the man or woman could've been either race. But hey, that's the beautiful thing about Meetup. If you're not interested in a particular group, then it's not for you.

The stated criteria for White Men & Black Women Together is that the white men must be 28-55, the black women must be 25-55, they all must be heterosexual and single, divorced, or widowed (no married or separated people, but single parents are welcomed), and college graduates are preferred.

Many people might look at a group like this and have negative feelings about it. Some might even view it as racially bias or divisive in some way. Personally, I think it shows how comfortable we've become with each other, and because of that I think it's okay. We each have our own preferences when it comes to dating, so really this isn't much different than men who only want to date women with big boobs or women who will only date men who are at least a certain height. The heart wants what the heart wants. But while we're using clichés, remember: We're all the same color once the lights go off.