John recognized her name, and the smile that had dominated his face as we bantered back and forth immediately disappeared. His response shocked me because he said he could not relate to my choice in Ms. Falana as “beautiful” because he did not know what constituted beauty in a “colored” woman. After all these many years, I distinctly remember John’s next statement to me: “I don’t know how you people define beauty in a woman.” He said this very casually without any intended, overt malice. He stated he had never looked at women of color in terms of physical attractiveness and therefore to
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