ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the tinderbox that is sexual relationships between black men and white women in North America through literary depictions of these relationships written by black men. It addresses the fictions The Meeting Point by Austin Clarke, How to Make Love to a Negro by Danny Laferriere, and "How to date a black girl, brown girl, white girl, or halfie" by Junot Diaz—are all set in North America, have interracial relationships as a major theme, and describes these relationships from the perspectives of black men. Laferrière's novel How to Make Love to a Negro also links black men's sex with white women to conquest and revenge. Love is not a sentiment frequently expressed in these texts, and when the word is spoken, it is often followed by doubt or qualification. Examining the most significant relationships in Diaz's and Laferrière's texts reveals that there is no love or romance in How to Make Love or "How to date".
