Belafonte's first and second wives were both black (though she was also of Jewish heritage) and he was married to his second wife for nearly five decades. Now, Eartha Kitt herself was married to a white man, so I'm kinda' thinking "sauce for the goose" here.

Sadly, black men who marry white women DO NOT get a boost of any sort. In our patriarchal society, women are given the status of their husbands, and white women who are partners with black men are generally looked down upon. I am not making any sort of value judgments; I'm simply saying that while many people may believe that their status does, it does so only in their own eyes or the eyes of others who believe that "whiteness" is superior.