If you have yet to hear of the so-called Passport Bros, honestly, I envy you. After discovering this group more than a year ago, I'd forgotten about them until recently. To keep it short and sweet, the Passport Bros are a group of Black men who have traveled internationally with the intention of finding sex and love.
This is hardly a new phenomenon. Men and women of other races have been doing this for decades (if not centuries). However, what is new is the fact that this group is being singled out for alleged sexual tourism and trafficking. This has led to a viral level of attention that has inspired many videos, think pieces, tweets, and other responses on the moral implications of such social practices.
That issue, while heinous, is for another day. I'm here to discuss the vitriol that has been directed at Black women as a side effect of the Passport Bros' M.O. As someone who frequents Twitter, Instagram, and Clubhouse, I was highly disturbed to witness Black women centered in many of these spaces. Unlike other groups who have sought love from abroad, one of the most significant talking points of the Passport Bros is that American Black women are insufficient, amongst other things.
Rather than simply getting their little passports stamped while enjoying foreign women, it seems one of the top goals of the Passport Bros is to degrade and insult American Black women.
Not to get all psychoanalytical, but even if Black women are the angry, money-hungry, oversexed, violent, unfit, unattractive, masculine, obese people members of the Passport Bros are portraying us to be, this still has nothing to do with the decisions being made by grown men. Rather, this is simply a group of Black men who have decided to seek love outside of their own communities, and that’s OK.
[Side note: Black women are still one of the demographics least likely to date outside their race, despite Black men being a demographic that has become known for interracial dating. This is even though Black women have collectively had many valid complaints (i.e. low marriage rates, high single-mother rates, astronomical femicide rates, and studies that confirm negative biases in online dating), most Black women are still highly supportive and uplifting of the Black male collective. So, when the Passport Bros drum up falsely equivalent scenarios in which Black women have done the same to them, it is all but infuriating, to say the very least.]
Either way, the point is that rather than simply getting their little passports stamped while enjoying foreign women, it seems one of the top goals of the Passport Bros is to degrade and insult American Black women.
While it usually annoys me when people feel the need to point out the apparent exceptions to specific issues, this time, I am willing to say: It's actually not all men. I have been in plenty of conversations in which several American Black men have stood up for Black women and told the Passport Bros that they need to own their decisions and stop blaming Black women. This was honestly a tad shocking. Of course, there are usually far fewer men defending Black women, but this just goes to show how egregious these talking points truly are; even Black men are tired of hearing about it!
In any case, I'm confused. If being a Passport Bro is truly the answer to grievances with Black women in America, why aren't they happier? Typically speaking, if you see a Black woman who is divested, you will see her living her best life with men of other races. You won't see her going out of her way to bring Black men into every conversation or trying to degrade them to pander to other men. (Yes, I know there are exceptions to this as well.)
Until recently, I didn't realize the degree of anger some of these men have toward Black women. After participating in many of these conversations, I can tell you that the hate is very real. Following the Passport Bros movement online, I have heard some of the most disgusting statements and stories about Black women. If you have decided Black women are trash as a collective, leave us in the dump and enjoy your paradise. Why are you dragging us into conversations to justify your lifestyle? And, indeed, why are you wasting time explaining yourself in the first place? One thing about being a happy, well-adjusted adult is making your own decisions and standing behind them. As long as you aren’t breaking any laws, you don’t need to give a hall pass to onlookers to tell them why you’re enjoying your life.
We've all been through things, but our actions are entirely our own to make. So even if you believe Black women to be the worst people on the planet, how are you benefitting from continuing to complain about us? The whole thing reminds me of those situations where someone is constantly crying and complaining about their ex while also claiming to be totally over them. And in defense of these international women, I'm pretty sure they don't really care to hear about it when you are on a quest to woo and pursue them, either.
My unsolicited advice to the Passport Bros is to live your life and let us live ours. If you have past trauma involving Black women, you need to seek therapy somewhere in between your various trips out of the country. These social media bashing sessions are doing far more harm than good. Also, bringing attention to the fact that you hate female counterparts in your own country is honestly not painting you in a better light. Especially given that the group is already under fire in certain countries, now would be a great time to display your positive traits and leave Black women alone for good.
As a Black woman, let me say there is nothing that can be done to change the past on either side. We can go back and forth all day over who did what, but that will change nothing about the here and now. So, if you've come to the point where you no longer see value in the American Black lady collective, I think I speak for most of us when I say happy trails!
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of Ivy Locke's work on Medium.
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