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Much discussion was made during the last presidential election about just what it meant to be ‘black.’ The result of that election saw the triumph of America’s first [insert either: black, African-American, mixed, interracial, Hawaiian, half Kenyan, former resident of Indonesia, son of a white mother, who-knows-what] President.

Some are asking: “Does it really matter?,” “Is it a point of discussion of convenience?”

Or in relation to President Obama: “Why do people make his race an issue when he largely avoided the topic during his campaign?”

But other commentators care strongly about the issue of race, asking: “Why call a person ‘black’ when he/she isn’t fully black?

And, “Why include people in discussions of black-American issues when they do not descent from the men and women who were subject to or fought against slavery in America”

Here at HelloBeautiful we have read many a user’s comment, reaching the conclusion that some black women are very reactive to the term ‘interracial.’

Take Zoe Saldana for example. We congratulated her about her recent engagement without even mentioning her racial background, but HB users reacted heatedly to the post. Read some of their comments here: Zoe Saldana & Fiance Spotted Out For First Time Since Engagement

And, in March we uploaded a video of Jill Scott when she was forced to clarify her statements about interracial dating in Essence magazine. To date, that story has received almost 700 user comments. You can read them here: VIDEO: Jill Scott On Interracial Dating, “We Should Hold On To Our Culture”

And this isn’t the first time our readers have reacted strongly to the same topic. Just check out some of our other controversial posts:

3 Things To Know When Dating A White Man – 128 Comments

Where’s She From? Favorite Celebrities’ Cultural Backgrounds101 Comments

The “Birthday Sex” Girl’s Not White. And Why Do You Care So Much, Anyway? 111 Comments

Some major criticisms of these articles included:

“You’re trying to divide the black community!”

“Why are you discussing issues of race when this site is open to all black women?”

“HB is trying to divide and conquer.”

“Zoe Saldana is not black. So why is she even on HB?”

and “You’re favoring light-skinned women.”

Well, here at HelloBeautiful we want to make one thing clear: Black is beautiful and it comes in all shades. LisaRaye agreed, saying: “We Are The Only Race That Comes In Multiple Colors”

‘Interracial’ is a term that many black women recognize as close to the heart. We will endeavor to continue promoting positive self esteem for all black women and if you don’t believe us have a look at some of latest inspiring articles:

10 Strong Beautiful Black Women To Celebrate This 4th Of July7 comments

NYC Clothing Line Asks Local Kenyan Talent To Produce Entire Collection – o Comments

PHOTOS: Gucci Adds “Color” To Latest Campaign – 4 Comments

GALLERY: Russian Vogue Profiles Promising Black Models2 Comments

Italian Vogue Launches Web Pages For Black & Curvy Women – 18 Comments

For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.