Racist images of blacks are so reccurring that character names have been assigned to the different types. There is a persistent image of lust and temptation, from Olaudah Equiano to the supermodel Tyson. These character images are often the backdrop of interracial relationships. The Beauty and the Beast make efforts toward cultural understanding and acceptance, but the biased perspective of one assigns an unfortunate role for the minority partner. Interracial relationships often become stages where partners act out these bizarre dynamics, creating an environment that portrays the minority partner as the objectified fantasy victim.
Many white partners act out the role of the adventurous rebel in their interracial relationships.
These stereotypes provide evidence for some of the unguided curiosity that initiates some interracial relationships. It reduces the culture to a freakish fantasy experience serving to fulfill the imagination of the mainstream. Often black men choose white partners as a status symbol and black women chose white partners for the potential of social or economic advancement. Cultural differences are unique and important because assimilation often equals cultural domination. To completely assimilate is to acknowledge defeat.