"Different man"

[Steeltrap]

This is an intriguing article, being that I'm single and creeping up on 40. But I can also respect the counter-argument that this is snobby and is yet another way to divide people. Moderators, I did a search and didn't find anything covering this, but if you are aware of any, please combine with an existing topic.

A Different Kinda Man
By Laini Madhubuti
BET.com

Many single female professionals are frustrated with their chances of meeting their "equal." We always hear the wails, "Most Black men are either in jail, gay or broke!" Well, Regine Nelson, a mortgage underwriter, heard the cries and came up with an idea that would help more than just her
friends meet who they feel are the right kind of men:
She created BlackTieMen.com, a dating service with a database of single, successful Black men.

"I got the idea for BlackTieMen.com indirectly from my boyfriend, who declined with extreme prejudice to introduce his single male friends to any of my single girlfriends," Nelson remembers. "My boyfriend suggested that I should tell my girlfriends to use an online dating service. I decided to take his advice and expand upon it." And in the spring of this year Nelson's baby, the online magazine for Black professionals, BlackTieMen.com, will be born.

Why is there a need for a service as specific as this? "The fact is that in America there are a limited supply of professional Black men for professional Black women to date and marry," says Nelson. "In general, too many of our Black men are either in prison, gay/bisexual, unemployed or earning minimum wage, uneducated or AIDS/HIV infected. Furthermore, I do believe that a very increasing number of professional Black men just
prefer to date white or Asian women and this has had an effect of further reducing the number of available professional Black men."

Well get this. Nelson ain't playin' with y'all. She spoke with over 500 professional Black women to come up with strict requirements for eligibility. In order to be accepted as a V.I.P. member of BlackTieMen.com, men must submit "a notarized affidavit stating that they are single with no children, heterosexual and college educated, a photocopy of both their
college degree and state photo identification. If accepted, they will be permitted to join the men of BlackTieMen.com."

While the men go through a strict screening process, women are allowed to join as is. It is okay if men have children, however, they will be cast in a different database than those who don't. By launch, Nelson hopes to register over 20,000 general subscribers between the ages of 23 and 45 with a minimum
income of $40,000. "We intend to keep our subscription fees high enough to help insure that only our targeted market can afford to use our service," she promises. "Furthermore, the content on BlackTieMen.com will be narrowly focused on the social, political and economic interests of Black professionals."