- Basic Trope: Romantic relationships between Black women and white men are stigmatized.
- Straight: Tasmin, a Black girl, is dating David, a white guy. People (such as friends and family) are against it.
- Exaggerated:
- Tasmin and David cannot catch a break. When David goes to Tasmin's neighborhood to pick her up for their date, the entire neighborhood chases him away, yelling "STAY AWAY FROM OUR BLACK WOMEN!!!! DATE A WHITE GIRL!!!!"
- Conversely, when Tasmin goes to David's neighborhood to pick him up for their date, the entire neighborhood chases her away, yelling "STAY AWAY FROM OUR WHITE MEN!!!! DATE A BLACK BOY!!!!"
- Alternatively, Tasmin and David aren't even dating, and barely know each other, but just because Tasmin gives him an eraser, people start attacking them for being "race traitors". Apparently, Black women and white men aren't allowed to interact ''at all!''
- Tasmin's dad sees Tasmin and David making out, so he pulls out a shotgun, and shoots him dead.
- Society is almost completely anti-racist, and ALL interracial relationships are accepted and normalized... with the exception of Black women dating white men, which are treated as the scum of the earth.
- Downplayed: People give Tasmin and David strange looks in public or when told that they are dating, and they occasionally get strange questions such as "Are you sure you wanna date a white guy?" for Tasmin, or "Are you sure you wanna date a Black girl?" for David, but they never go farther beyond that.
- Justified:
- The story takes place during the racial segregation era, where such relationships are illegal and Tasmin could tragically be lynched for dating a white man.
- Just plain old racism, regardless of the time and place.
- Inverted: Black woman/white man relationships are heavily accepted, maybe even preferred to Black woman/Black man or white woman/white man relationships. Maybe they're held up in higher esteem compared to other relationships, or maybe Black woman/white man relationships are the only interracial relationships society will allow and accept.
- Gender Inverted: Where da White Women At?
- Subverted: At first it seems like Tasmin's family won't accept her dating this white man, but their actual reason is because his family is part of the KKK.
- Double-subverted: Which is why they don't want her dating any white boy at all, because you never know whose family could be part of the Klan. Even though they know that David himself is against racism.
- Parodied: David proposes to Tasmin in public (or vice versa), and everyone boos and throws dead cats and tomatoes at them precisely because "A Black woman marrying a white man? GROSS?!?!" and acts like they have cooties. Among the booing crowd are a white woman and a Black man, who are dating.
- Zig-Zagged: Some people are okay with Tasmin dating David, others are abhorred by it, and with others it is a Discriminate and Switch.
- Averted:
- Tasmin and David are in a happy relationship, and are not stigmatized for it.
- Alternatively, Tasmin and David are not dating.
- Or, if they are, they are both Black/White.
- There are no interracial couples in the story.
- Enforced: Deka is a Black woman married to a white man herself, and faced criticism for it. She writes her story about a Black female lead whose love interest is a white man so she can focus on the stigma such a couple often faces, writing from experience.
- Lampshaded: "Oh, this is just like The Hate U Give. Why is the world like this?"
- Invoked: David dates Tasmin precisely to see if this will be the reaction.
- Exploited: Alice is white and has an unrequited crush on David, and is jealous that her best friend Tasmin is dating him. She uses this trope in an attempt to break up the couple so she can have David all to herself.
- Defied: "Yes, I am a Black woman dating a white man! No, I do not hate my race, and no, I do not hate Black men! I simply found the love of my life, and he just so happens to be white, and I ain't gonna be ashamed of it, no matter what y'all say! So anybody who has a problem with me and my sweetie pie can kindly and sincerely FUCK OFF!!!"
- Discussed: "Honestly, why does Tasmin even bother dating that pasty white boy? She knows she's gonna get mad flak for doing so. Is she looking for drama?" "Or she can date whomever she wants and other people need to cool their jets."
- Conversed: "I like how this show portrays interracial relationships between Black women and white men and how they can often be stigmatized." "Me too, but Life Imitates Art and I really wish there were relationships like this in media which weren't treated as out of the blue at all."
- Implied: Tasmin's friends look down upon her for dating a "pale-skinned loser", but her love interest's race (or gender, for that matter) is never directly stated, and said love interest remains The Ghost.
- Deconstructed: Tasmin begins to feel insecure about herself because David's friends, who are all white and male, make fun of her complexion and tell David that he could do better than date "an ugly ratchet hood girl with nappy hair", even suggesting he dump her in favor of her blonde-haired, blue-eyed, white best friend Alice. Tasmin is also made fun of by her family for dating a white boy, and is told that she has no taste, that white men don't like Black women, and that he's probably cheating on her with a white girl anyway. This throws a hatchet into their relationship and leaves them both with doubts and insecurities, leading to an awkward and tense break up.
- Reconstructed: Tasmin and David eventually realize that all the racist things people told them about their relationship are bullshit anyway, that they still love each other, and that breaking up is only succumbing to racism and exactly what their naysayers wanted. They amicably get back together, in the face of all criticism, and remain a proud and happy couple. They even get married and, after tying the knot, have beautiful mixed-race babies!
- Played For Laughs: Tasmin tells her friends she has a significant other, and they are happy for her!...At first. The second the date shows up and they see that he is a white man, they scream "OH HELL NO!!!" and beat him to a bloody pulp, leaving him crawling away with his tail between his legs.
- Played For Drama:
- The story centers around Tasmin rebelling against her overprotective family, who are prejudice against white people. She dates David in private, because she knows that her parents would never be happy with her dating a white guy.
- The story is a modern-day retelling of Romeo and Juliet, only the conflict is inspired by race instead of "two households both alike in dignity". It ends with both Tasmin and her lover killing themselves.
- Played For Horror:
- The story takes place during Jim Crow, as stated above. Tammy is lynched for dating a white man.
- A white female Serial Killer targets Black women and girls who are in love with or dating white men and boys, because she is threatened by the fact that Black women are seen as romantically desirable to white men, and thinks that they should "stay in their lane" so to speak, because only white women are attractive and good enough for white men.
Sure, you can have a link to Black Gal on White Guy Drama, but don't even THINK of gettin' with no whitey, y'hear?
