Bulls' Rodman tells why he doesn't date black women

Jet, June 17, 1996

Caught in a swirl of bitter controversy over race, sexuality and job performance, Chicago Bulls star power forward Dennis Rodman sets the record straight in his new book Bad As I Wanna Be (Delacorte Press $22.95) as he explains why he doesn't date Black women

"I go out with White women," Rodman writes, ,`This makes a lot of people unhappy, mostly Black women. I've had them come up to me and say, `Why don't you date a Black woman?",

Rodman confronts the issue as best he can, pointing out in the book that his ex-wife is White, all of his steady girlfriends are White, which included pop superstar Madonna.

But he argues, "Black women didn't accept me when I was younger. I wasn't attractive. I didn't have money or fancy clothes. I wasn't whatever it was they wanted.

"Now, though, I'm okay. Now that I have some money, some fame, the story has changed. Some of those same Black women who wouldn't talk to me years ago were rushing through the doors of my mother's house asking, `Where's your son? How's your son doing?'

Rodman continues, "...A lot of White women who date Black men say the Black men treat them better than White men do. That's not always true, but I think White women can think dating a Black man is the best thing in the world because it's something new.

"... The other thing, of course, is that White women get into relationships with Black men because they think the sex is going to be better.

"Some people say," Rodman adds, "they date people from another race because they don't see color, and that's the way it is for me. I also think it's refreshing for a White woman to be with a Black man; that adds something to the relationship.... There's more openness, more of a feeling that you don't have to conform to everything society tells you."

In summation, the rebounding champ adds, "It's very common in the NBA for Black players to have White wives or girlfriends. It's more common in general, for a Black person with status to date White women.

"...Before I got the fame and the money, I wasn't accepted by Black people, and I wasn't accepted by most White people. I wasn't the right color for any situation I found myself in. I'm sure a lot of kids and younger people go through that. They think like I did: `I want to be the right color.'

"... If I were White," he concludes, "I thought I could be a little happier.

"I wanted to be White because I was Black, and Black was never the right color."