Until recently, the phrase "interracial couple" typically meant one thing: Black men and White women. Not anymore. Well clearly, there is a brand-new wave sweeping over our traditional notions of interracial dating as supported by the recent real-life personal ads. Whoopi Goldberg and Eddie Gold, Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubrey, model Iman and David Bowie, Marie Johnson and Marty Grey are the members of Hollywood glitterati … the new wave celebrity trend … Black women’s lives being touched by interracial dating and marriage.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Census, in 1987 there were 56,000 Black women married to White me which is 11,000 more than in1980. These figures confirm that the number of Black women marrying White men is both extensive and growing. It also shows that the White men dating interracially are defining their own standard of beauty … beautiful Black women who don't look like Marilyn Monroe and Brooke Shields.

Here is an example: the first time Shadoe Stevens, (star of Hollywood Squares and host of American Top 40, the most-listened-to pop-music radio show in the world) saw his wife, Beverly, a former international model, the fireworks, he says, were explosive and instant. "The first time I saw her," says Shadoe, "I couldn't move. She was so beautiful and I don't mean just physically. She had this incredible aura about her, it was in her eyes. When I looked at her there was this great blinding flash in the universe. I kept staring at her and thinking, I've got to get to know her. I never thought about color and had no feeling about it one way or the other. I guess the feeling was mutual. Beverly later told me she had to get out of there because she felt like she was 14 all over again. It was quite overwhelming." And after meeting her officially, they have never been apart since then.

Forget Hollywood glamour romance in this unique story. It seems that with Black women, something has so drastically shifted traditional attitudes on love and marriage to interracial dating and marriage. So what’s the deally yo? Well according to experts the basis are as personal and diverse as the interracial couples themselves. For some Black women, its the lack of availability of "marriageable" Black men as they put it. But many of the Black Women and White men alike have uniquely personal reasons for their decision. However, opportunity certainly seems to be a major factor. And we can’t deny the fact that today’s professional Black woman is constantly interacting with White men on a whole new level - as peers, as equals.

With such interaction, why wouldn’t there be chemistry that just doesn't respect racial barriers?