Racism in Porn
Op/Ed By Mariah Milano
When I started doing movies back in 1998 I was cast as a bi-racial girl and in pretty much starred in black themed movies for the first year. I did the Ed Powers and Randy West movies first, but after that I was pretty much a West Coast and Video Team performer. In my personal life I dated black men exclusively since before I was old enough to date and I was pretty much a black girl to my core. I am Sicilian and was always told that Sicilians are part African that’s why they have kinky hair and dark skin. That part in True Romance where Dennis Hopper tells Christopher Walken he is part "Moolie" didn’t help either 🙂
As I got older I changed in a lot of ways and one of those ways was to find out what Sicilian meant and where we came from. Turns out that Sicilians aren’t African at all. We were infused with Tunisian which is Arabic and that’s where our darkness comes from.
SO I was very confused when I was young and I embraced being a black girl. When I was new in the business I said I was mixed a few times. I had no problem shooting with Mr Marcus and Byron Long and Jake Steed and Lexington Steele. That was normal to me.
These days I read things girls say about inter-racial scenes and I also read what the fans say too. For the last 3 years I have been called a "dodger" which basically means I dodge shooting with black men and a racist even though my son is half black. I have explained myself more than enough on why I haven’t shot that much inter-racial but it isn’t good enough. There is no answer good enough for those who want you to do it and no answer good enough for those who don’t want you to. You cannot win.
Well I take that back, you can win. You can be honest. You can say why you REALLY don’t do scenes with black men or women. I’ve heard a girl say she won’t use a black dildo in a girl girl scene because that is considered inter-racial. I mean give me a fucking break! ITS PLASTIC! lol
My favorite excuse is the most common one. "I am just not attracted to black men so I won’t shoot with them" Well, ok bitch were you attracted to Ron Jeremy when you shot with him? How about Dave Hardman or Steve Hatcher. Both nice people that I worked with back in the day, but not exactly going to be on the cover of GQ now are they? Or even better, are you attracted to every customer at the Bunny Ranch that you fuck or the tricks you turn in hotel rooms as an escort? I fucking HIGHLY doubt it.
That "I’m just not attracted" shit is such a cop out from saying what you really think and feel. How about, I don’t want to shoot with black men. I don’t like black men? or how about I’m a fucking racist and I won’t fuck a nigger? How about that for a dose of reality?
Why the fuck can’t people own up to their opinions and beliefs?
I heard a girl say, "Who are the 2 biggest porn stars ever? Jenna and Tera and what do they have in common? They have never done an inter-racial movie ever!" Now, there is validity to that statement, however, this girl and 99.9% of all the other girls are NEVER going to be Tera or Jenna, I assure you!
On the flip side, I’ve seen it posted on forums where fans say to the girls "Please don’t ever do interracial…I don’t want to see you violated and spoiled like that!" yet in the next thread they request for her to do a 20 man blow bang or bukkake! I saw where a guy wrote that any girl who does interracial should not be eligible for AVN or XBiz awards…see, now to me that is at least honest. They are saying how they feel and what they think no matter how ignorant or 50 years ago their way of thinking is.
There is a lot of racism alive and thriving in the porn business these days. I was advised by an agent of mine to not do interracial scenes because it would make my per scene rate lower after that and if I did do an interracial scene I should charge double. Now days, that same agent has been fucked by more black dick than Lil Kim. Interracial is one of the biggest niche’s in porn today. The biggest buyers of it are white men so the market isn’t one sided at all.
How many times have you heard people say "Halle Berry is very hot…for a black girl"? I’ve heard it for years and years and it’s sickening to me.Halle Berry is a beautiful woman no matter the color of her skin.
I know there some who will read this and agree and some who will think even less of me than they do right now. I honestly don’t care because no matter what you think of me you at least can count on hearing me say what I really mean. I won’t sugar coat it for you nor will I excuse you for not being honest or hiding behind something politically correct. Fuck that. We’re fucking porn stars and no one expects us to say a god damn thing that means anything or that makes any sense at all. A low expectation which many of us have earned, but some of us want to be heard and be respected for being real no matter what the consequences. The racist girls will do no worse because let’s face it, if you’re not doing interracial scenes now your fans like because you don’t fuck black guys.
Either way, you’ll never please everyone. You don’t have to fuck black people or Asian people or Hispanic people, but at least don’t insult our intelligence any longer with the "I’m just not attracted" reasoning.