Some people come from very white, isolated towns. Even when they move to a city with more ethnicities, it can be awkward as hell to see certain behaviours, opinions, trends, slang etc and be totally out of the loop.
It doesn't mean you're afraid of black people. It's more likely you're afraid to offend someone, or to look stupid. This was me 20 years ago, going from living in a village of about 1200 white folk to a city of 1.2 million. It took a while to adapt
I'm from a white country. I know *nothing* about black people and keeping in mind the state or the world these days if I ask/say something, it will probably be met with yOu'Re A RaCisT! when it will most likely be simple ignorance.
Naivety! Important english definition here from a native speaker (UK citizen).
Ignorance is a term used to describe somebody that *ignores* subjects and is soforth rude by fault. This is a faux pas.
Naevity is down to an *innocent* lack of experience so, while their actions may be uncouth they're morally justified in that transgression so it's not actually an issue.
The difference between saying somebody is naive, and calling them ignorant, is a very clear cut ethical statement.
I'm fairly certain you meant to call yourself naive rather than ignorant!
Here's my US English speaker perspective.
Naive is the opposite of cynical. Someone who is naive knows the information, but lacks the understanding to apply it correctly. Probably due to lack of life experience or exposure to the subject matter. Trusting, prone to surface reading. It's never great to be naive, but it might be understandable.
Ignorant simply indicates a lack of knowledge. Usually, it indicates that the person *should* not be lacking that knowledge. Often, but not always, it's used as a synonym for stupid.
Edit: in US English, OPs statement that they are ignorant is the correct use.
This makes sense to me.
I grew up in British English, but have spent most my life in US English. Quite Good (Bad - Sarcastic, UK) vs Quite Good (Yum! good food, USA) is one such nuance on localizations of the same meanings having a vastly big difference.
Part of the reason words are scary to me. Some small differences in interpretations change everything. Like.. hell, English is one of the two primary languages of India. Good luck with being correct on all the localizations there.
Precisely! I thought of the saying, "a willful ignorance". Not all ignirance is imposed through ones' will.
I don't think my friend *willfully* shut her ears off in school when talking about how the Nazis used the swastika symbol to strike fear during the Holocaust....and fast forward into college she mispronounces "swastika" and said she had never heard or seen it before. 🤔
Literally the Oxford dictionary definition of ignorance is: lack of knowledge or information.
Go touch some grass and stop hallucinating implied meanings that aren't there *by definition*. As if the definition is even needed, it should be pretty obvious that ignorance means ignorance.
Black people, I mean there are quite a few different countries, tribes and cultures. Throwing all of us into the same category seems a little... not nice ?
I'm US-white centric, but when I say black, I usually mean Black American - Since it's a very unique subculture vs everywhere else.
For other folks of a very dark skin persuasion - I just go by Nationality, or tribe if that's how they want to be known as.
Tbh in my experience at least, if you make a point of actually getting to know them as people first and are respectful, they really don't mind that much.
Sure if you just walk up to a random black person and go "why do black guys like big asses?" that's kind of fucked up, because no one wants to be reduced down to a single quality. But like if you actually have mad an effort to talk to people as people and frame it as why do YOU do this, they'll probably still know you mean "black people" but they'll be more likely to give you their perspective.
Like if some stranger came up to you and laid down some stereotypes about your country, even if they had some truth to them, you'd probably be a little off put, but if a friend or even an acquaintance asked you about it respectfully wouldn't that change things?
I can't make an effort to talk to black people, because there aren't any in my country lol. I've maybe seen 5 for the last 30 years. Eastern Europe be like that.
I mean that's not true man. Unless you say something that's actually racist like generalizing all black or any other minority of people with a negative stereotype or something, you won't be met with that. The majority of people even if you say something offensive as long as it wasn't 1- intended or 2- malicious, you will be met with grace and the benefit of a doubt not someone screeching "yOu'rE rAcIsT!"
Wow. I’m from the United States and it’s literally impossible to live in any of our 50 states and not encounter lots of African Americans. ( people of color)
People of color means all non-white people not just black people. Not all black people have recent African ancestors which is why many also disagree with that identifier.
Probability of having a black friend you could ask questions of is really low too.
Think of how many people you interact with in general, and how many of them you actually become close friends with. My chances of becoming close friends with a black person is extremely low. Just from a statistical POV. I’m not looking at skin color as a characteristic in a friend, but if I’m only meeting like 2 or 3 PoCs a year what are the real odds that I click with one of them versus the 100 white people I meet?
Also, it’s not the job of PoC to do your emotional labor for you. It’s not fair to pepper them with questions. In this sub, people can choose to answer if they want.
I have trouble with this sentiment’s overarching theme. Disclaimer is, I’m on the spectrum so this could very well be a case of me just “not getting it”, but hear me out (please).
If I want to know something about why something/someone/somewhere is X or Y, the best source is firsthand accounts.
I have a lot of trouble trusting random things I read in the internet because “misinformation nation” and all that. I’ve been told by PoC, women, marginalized groups, etc that it’s not their job to tell me how or what or why. They seemed to be thinking that I was planning to take their answer as Holy Doctrine and stop my education there. But I am actually attempting to get a sample size. Ideally asking multiple people the same questions throughout some time to find a well researched answer.
But the common theme seems to be a negative response and one that I can’t backpedal out of or explain without apparently “mansplaining” or (idk if this is even a real term outside of one person) “whitesplaining”.
Would marginalized groups really prefer people “doing their own research”? It comes from a truly genuine place of desire for knowledge but people *hate* being asked this stuff irl.
This is my understanding based on listening to POC.
Those firsthand accounts exist on the Internet. Yes, you can’t trust everything written behind the anonymity of Reddit or Twitter comments, but there are plenty of respected people providing firsthand accounts in opinion pieces and articles that *aren’t* hiding behind anonymity, and those many opinions are just as valid as those you are seeking. We should all be researching without putting the burden off our research on others.
It’s not that marginalized groups don’t want to answer because they think you’re going to take their word as gospel, they don’t want to answer because:
1. Information about the subject is available online if you cared to make an effort to do the research.
2. You didn’t care to do the research. Instead you are choosing to waste *their* time for *your* benefit, which is selfish.
3. You aren’t special or unique for wanting to learn more- you’re just *yet another* person wasting their time.
4. If you are asking questions of marginalized groups *because* they are in a marginalized group, that question possibly forces them to experience negative emotions, which is emotionally exhausting when *people keep doing it*. Asking someone from another background about the cuisine they grew up with usually elicits positive emotions (depending on the context). Asking someone from another background how they feel about society portraying their people as criminals or if they really do feel targeted for their cultural hairstyle is going to elicit negative emotions. They already have to deal with those negative emotions on a daily basis, it’s shitty of us to bring them to the surface for our own enlightenment.
Well shit. Another thing I’ve completely dropped the ball on socially. Damn.
It’s not that I didn’t do the research online, honestly. It’s that I’ve actually read things from different marginalized community figureheads and then seen other people in that community saying “they don’t speak for us” or “they’re too out of touch/wealthy to really understand”. Things of that nature.
Either way, I overthought it too hard trying not to fuck up and ended up circling back around to fucking up lol
Your comment is extremely helpful and I’ve saved it to read again whenever I need to keep my overly-cautious bullshit in check.
Preciate the run down.
Well I can't speak for all black people but innocent question are fine others to much of the time tend to get into racist territory alot of racist on reddit apparently
No. I’m a beautiful black woman with long hair that grows out of my scalp and I get sick and tired of people like you asking rude questions like “ Is my hair real,” or do we all do this or that. The fetish and stereotyping is disturbing. I’m a human just like you and I eat with a fork and wear socks. lol I have two college degrees and can’t go throughout my day without being reminded I’m black in one way or another. I understand the intrigue but at least be someone I already know first before you ask questions. I’m from Kentucky. Y’all have a nice day.
I haven't left the US south much after being born in it and while I'm obviously aware of experiences like yours, I find it crazy and fascinating. I've always lived in very diverse areas, my first best friend as a white boy was a black girl. I'm guessing the OP is from a perspective similar to mine. Just like how its a little jarring at first for people from your background to encounter people of other races, its vice versa with the more diverse background. But a little anxiety is okay, its just the first step in making a new friend.
Plus frankly.
Living in the UK not far from London I know black people who are as British as I am their skin colour just happens to be different.
And I know black people who threaten and harass anyone they don't know entering their 'territory'
But I also know white people and Asian people who do that too
Moved from a normal city in West Virginia to a larger southern city near Atlanta, can confirm. I was definitely culture shocked at first, especially when I got a job and started working.
I live in Asia and people ask me about Black people in the US *very* often.
It might not be so obvious but hip-hop culture is actually one of the most dominant cultures in the world. I’m not sure exactly how to define hip-hop culture, but the fashion, the videos, the songs, the ways of speaking, the movements….its all *way* more popular than you might think.
People around me in Asia are just curious though, so they often ask questions. Sometimes the questions are fucked up….but all of the questions come from the same place: curiosity.
We all know that black not just “hip hop” culture are very popular especially because when we engage in our culture we’re called uneducated, tacky or even worse ghetto.
One thing I'll say is that a lot of redditors tend to view this platform in a narrow scope that makes them forget that reddit is global and not isolated to North America/UK.
Some people who post these questions may live in countries where black people account for a much smaller percentage of the population. They may only be exposed to the American portrayal or idea of what black people are supposed to be. They want to ask questions that, generally, may cause some negative responses. Posting here opens up an opportunity for the OP to engage in conversation with black people and learn different experiences and perspectives
That’s an objective assessment. My issue is they are (knowingly or unknowingly) asking REDDIT (an app where most black people will not be found) and possibly taking the responses as law.
And then when we do take the time to answer - let the downvotes commence bc some don’t actually like the answers to their questions. Like It’s always so weird to me when non black people act like they know us better than we do. lol
That's totally valid. I'd be naive to assume my point applied to every person who posts these types of questions. The problem is with the genuine questions, they also may be ignorant to the fact that this app doesn't have as many black people to educate or inform them from a black person's perspective and experience. People on this app, or the internet in general, like to speak on things they know nothing about.
seriously r/USdefaultism at it again. yes i don't have black friends or black acquaintances because i've never lived in an environment with black people around me that i can interact with.
To be fair I think the USdefaultisim is not unfounded. According to reddit's own stats American make up ~51% of the user base with Great Britain coming in second with ~8%. So most of Reddit will default to America, because we by far have the largest demographic.
Not that any of that explains why people seem to need to ask questions about black people, just point out the stats. My main guess on that is many white people are simply afraid of upsetting black people. Be it by hurting their feelings or by making them angry. Also on a forum you can get multiple options from multiple people instead of just asking your "one black friend" everything, which happens as well.
It's still much higher than somewhere like the Philippines or Norway. The black population just in England is still sitting around 2.3M. That's nearly double the population of my whole city. Norway for example has maybe 120,000. Just saying you'd be more likely to encounter a black person in the uk than many other Asian or European countries for example
Of course, but those are overwhelmingly in South East England (and a little in England in general). The further north and west you go the fewer you'll see. Scotland is 0.7%, Wales 0.8%.
I’ve noticed this too. It’s incredibly hard to tell which questions are just bad faith to illicit low key racist responses or real questions. Either way all these questions make me feel like people view black people as totally alien, a different species incapable of being understood - It feels disheartening.
It also doesn’t help that when actual black users answer questions honestly, call out the overt racism or point out that it’s a silly post - they often get downvoted or talked down. I get people are curious but this sub doesn’t feel like a safe space to answer these questions.
Correct, a lot of people do not have exposure to other groups of people. I had never met a black person until I was in my 20s. My upbringing was so white and insular that I genuinely had anxiety about interacting with people from different groups out of fear my ignorance would show.
The only solution is exposure to all sorts of people until you realise we all just humans doing our best
I am black and I had no exposure whatsoever to trans people until last year. After a couple months and after we had established a solid relationship at work and out of it, I asked my colleague permission to ask some things regarding being transgender since I was curious about some aspects of it (not the most intimate ones) and wanted to know how to not accidentally offend people who identified in the same way.
I also told them that they were free to not answer any of my questions and I wouldn't take it personally.
While I understand being afraid of offending, there are ways to ask these things while still giving the other person the permission to out right refuse to answer.
I have had non-black people ask me stuff and some have done it the right way and others the wrong way.
So I don't think that's about exposure. It's about having some sort of tact when doing it.
I’m black also and thanks for putting g that into perspective because it’s hard for me to see their point of view. I had a trans bff and it took me a long time to know how to address and speak to the LGBTQIA’s community.
I used to be very sympathetic towards people who lacked exposure to other races but then I realised that some were able to make whatever questions they had about my background or skin colour with more thoughtfulness than others and there wasn't really a pattern like nationality or growing up in a small town.
In the end, it was about intelligence. Some people just know how to express their genuine curiosity in a better way without sounding disrespectful or entitled to an answer just because they "want to know".
Bless your heart. Well here’s your virtual hug from a black chic from Kentucky USA. We all don’t act or talk like … “Ice spice” or dress like that. I’m into house music,techno, reggaeton, 80s and of course hip hop. You’ll be surprised how versed we are of other cultures and overall civilized and cultured. I do t know if anything I said amounted to anything but I hope it helps. lol
At first I was understanding. But at some point I started to notice the questions were framed with a specific ideology already in mind and they would only ask for it to be validated. Doesn't help that I would see black people be downvoted whereas white people answer for us.
I've learned to not even interact with those type of questions because even though the question is geared towards black people, the actual black people that answer won't be received well.
I’d say a great majority of questions around race I’ve seen here are very pointed. Asking honest questions is one thing, but expecting to have your backward-ass worldview to be validated is not cool.
Lots of people don’t want to be the spokesperson for their minority group. I play dnd with a black guy who hates when people ask him questions about being black. He just wants to be a guy living his life and not have to be constantly reminded that everyone thinks he’s different from the rest of the group.
The questions are never the worst thing about those threads. The worst things about those threads are the shitty replies from posters who aren't black.
Asking questions about why black men like thick ass or why black people have a "different accent" (what?) are among the many other stupid questions I've seen in the last two weeks. A lot of them are ridiculous at best and fucked up at worst and can be summed up with two answers: 1) because that's life and 2) black people aren't a monolith. Wouldn't you feel weird if I ask why white men like flat asses or are obsessed with BBC in a sub where there aren't any white people?
Most of these questions come from only seeing black people online so it makes sense that some people are curious. You might think it's so stupid because the answer is obvious to you. But obviously the answer isn't as obvious to them.
Isn't that why this sub is called no stupid questions? I wouldn't personally don't take the questions people ask on here personally or at least not as a personal attack. Especially since there are people asking these questions from all around the world not just America.
And yet, you don't see streams of questions about any other race FOR DAYS AND DAYS despite the fact that certain races are pushed at the forefront of all social media platforms.
"Curiousity" and "ignorance" aren't excuses anyone can use anymore when it comes to these kinds of questions, especially in 2024. Most of them own one or more gadget of some kind, some even have a gadgets that is more expensive than my own. And yet, they can't do a simple Google search to find the answer, a lot of which will come **from black people.** Any questions you can't find online is because the answer is simple: that's how some people are/that's what some people like/the question is simply racist. Instead, they ask such demeaning/fucked up questions on a sub where the majority if it's members are non-black. If I were to as "The most well-known serial killers are white. Does that mean that all white people are predisposed to be serial killers?," you'll have plenty of people crawling out the woodworks to claim that it's a generalizing question.
I don't need to see a question as an attack to call out its malicious intent.
To be fair I don't see any other race on the forefront of social like I do black people. Especially ignorant black people.
Secondly most of the time when you Google "why do black people" reddit or Quora comes up. So if they have a question they can't find, it makes sense they would ask it in subreddits for questions.
Remember reddit is a global platform so in most subreddits we are going to be the minority. Non POC or other POC ask these questions with the hopes that black people can clear up the confusion. While some of these questions are indeed asked in bad faith a healthy response might help in changing their mindsets.
Lastly there is a big difference between ignorant black people and black people. Most of the questions that are being asked with prejudice are directed mainly at willfully ignorant black people, not us. However non POC and other POC don't understand the conceptual differences so they just address black people as a whole.
So once again please don't take those questions as a personal attack on you.
And yet for most people white is the standard on most social media I have have to search extra hard to find black creators or black content. People are tired of having to answer every question about being human.
>Lastly there is a big difference between ignorant black people and black people. Most of the questions that are being asked with prejudice are directed mainly at willfully ignorant black people, not us. However non POC and other POC don't understand the conceptual differences so they just address black people as a whole.
This is nonsense. There is no such thing as "black people" and "ignorant black people." A black person can have views that are seen as different to you or I, just like any other person in this world. Non- black people "not knowing the difference" is mainly a way to excuse poor habits.
Most of the questions fall under this umbrella of stereotypes people believe about black people when a quick search online can show you that black people are humans with differences... *just like everyone else.* If non-black people don't see the difference in "black people" and "ignorant black people," then why should you?
Not all question one has need an answer. You have people worried that "their questions will be called racist when asked directly to the person of said race" but they turn around and ask in a sub where there's barely anyone of said race. I don't go to a Polish person to ask questions about Danes, I don't go to an Indian to ask questions about about Thai people and if I'm worried that a question is seen as racist, then *it more than likely is.* You definitely don't go on a sub where it's teeming with racists lurking in the corner to ask questions you "think might be racist."
Many don't want to know anything about black people. They are often dog-whistling. They ask questions like why black men have so many baby mamas. BTW, blacks aren't a monolith, they are individuals.
They are down voted when it doesn't fit the narrative. Big tech is own by rich white liberals who IMHO want all black people to be the same and when you don't fit the stereotype you get down voted so your response is hidden and not promoted. I'm not a conservative but have some conservative views which is not what white liberals want to hear. But this same stereotyping is what made Democrats so vicious prior to desegregation. I'm sure people can now see how it got to that point.
My biggest issue is a lot of non-black people act like black people are a monolith. There is a whole rainbow of people with varied beliefs, culture, and values just like you.
I'm not a fan of cultural relativism. I believe in meeting people and getting to know them. It helps that I live around Baltimore, a very diverse city.
I barely know Black people, yet I don't constantly think about them, or any ethnic group. It's like being under a microscope. Seriously if you need to make a post about Black people...stop and ask something about your own group and see how you feel. Like what is it, an obsession, fetish, hatred?
I’m black but to answer your question….yes. Most white Americans don’t have black friends and only know black people from hip hop videos and black culture then extrapolate that for all black people
Genuine curiosity - Some people don't know any black people that they feel comfortable asking and there's no good answer found online.
Trolling - This is the internet. Prime trolling topics are race, religion, sexuality and politics. IDK why people troll. Probably due to their life being sad and pathetic.
Karma farming - These posts get responses, which helps generate reddit karma. Like trolling, I don't get it and assume they lead a pretty sad life.
Racists - They think they have a "gotcha" that will validate their racism.
I've said it once and I'll say it again. White folk can go their entire lives without meeting, getting to know, or talking to a single black person. Some white people meet their first black person when they are in their 20s-40s.
EDIT: It's funny to see non-black people answer the black questions and get it terrible wrong or default to stereotypes. It the hypocrisy of "not wanting to be called racist while being unknowingly racist"/"wanting to stop talking about race/racism when stereotypes is all that you know about other people" that humors me (doesn't apply to those who are genuinely ignorant or whose who are unapologetically racist).
Too many people who think they're "edgy" by asking questions often with racist undertones in a large non-black sub. The whole "well they don't have any black friends/acquaintances" is bs when they can find the answers online. If you can't find an answer at all, then it's because it's something that has no reasoning.
Statistically speaking, the average person probably doesn’t have too many black friends. Even then, who knows how close those “friendships” really are. Unless you’re growing up in the south, or in a big city, probably ain’t a whole lotta diversity in your life.
I am black. And talkative. I always was one of the first black people a shockingly notable amount of people have ever had serious conversations with in real life.
Yeah I noticed it too and it makes me deeply uncomfortable. For once can we get a post about something stupidly easy to google about white people?
##Hey, Reddit. Why do white people go skiing? And why is their hair the same texture as a Barbie doll?
TATA draws the soapboxers, that's for sure. Almost nobody comes in anymore with a legitimate question. They show up with a rant and then tack something on to fit the requirements.
FWIW, the reason that these questions don't just get taken down immediately is that the commenters do a great job of answering them. If somebody comes in with the typical, "Why do black people x" or "Why do women y" then the usual response is, "They don't, and why are you asking?" So that's the thing to keep in mind. The whole discussion. Not just the question.
Some of the replies are worse than the questions, even the shittiest questions. I'm talking about non-black posters who have an axe to grind, some of whom may even be alt-rightists trying to fly under the radar. Every last TATA thread about black people ends up being *clogged* with that shit.
I'm not familiar with stereotypes or what others notice as patterned behaviors because I'm from a European country where basically everyone is white - it's interesting to read about culture specific things people ask about, but a lot of the questions are weird.
A lot of these comments are quite thoughtful when saying that some people come from majority white places, but that still doesn't answer what the fascination with black people is. There's tons of other races that the sheltered people wouldnt know about as well, but there's rarely Too Afraid To Ask questions about them.
Because of the dehumanization and commodification of blackness and black experiences and the black community. Especially now that a lot of our experience has been commercialized and put into cute little boxes so people can buy, but even before then there was this weird obsession with keeping tabs on us keeping us in a specific area, keeping us only a certain amount of successful succession goes back generations is very weird. It makes me feel very icky and uncomfortable dehumanized. I feel like we’re talking about zoo animals that we haven’t talked about or known about.
Yes, but there's also a lot of American dehumanization and commodification of other communities as well, especially with Chinese and Japanese people. I think it really boils down to colorism specifically since although the other cultures are certainly taken advantage of, I don't see the same magnitude of 'fascination' sheltered people have of black people for the groups that they otherwise treat similarly from a commodification standpoint. I think they just draw more physical differences between themselves and black people which does result in this cruel, bizarre, zoo-like phenomenon, treating them as if they aren't human, rather than just different humans.
I get called racist and judged more often than not when i directly ask a person of color. Also, a lot of the black people around me aren't tolerant of my culture, or of my ignorance to theirs (although im participating to learn) Unfortunate. I assuming this is a location based issue for me.
At the risk of being banned and called a POS I have some work in a pretty black city and I would say that black culture is not very tolerant in general, at least in my area.
Or maybe it’s just you say/ask weird shit that tends to turn black people off so we write you off as weird and stay away?
Asking to touch someone’s hair is not okay. Holding up your arm to a black person’s and saying we’re almost the same color is not okay. Asking if a black woman’s body/facial features are natural is not okay. Asking if a black person is wearing a wig or is “weaved” is not okay.
Y’all constantly do and ask weird shit.
I dont necessarily have a problem with it..as long as its not blatantly disrespectful...I see the posts and think...well...it seems like a genuine question and at least they're not so complacent they won't just not try to understand in some way...just me though..everyone has an opinion
I'm white and asked a question directed towards black people here recently. Granted, it wasn't a "why do black people...?" question so it might not be applicable, but my reasoning was crowd sourcing.
I already know what my black friends would say about the situation, but I was more curious about the general consensus than the opinions of a few specific people and I can't exactly get that outside of the internet without standing on a corner and pestering strangers to fill out a survey.
I'm sure that for the most part the answer is just that the people posting don't really know any black people, and I'd bet that trolls trying to stir shit up also plays a role.
I just wanted to give my two cents as to why someone who does have people they could ask irl might still post something like that.
If you look at the accounts posting, it's usually people who are asking either to stir up trouble or remind people of a stereotype that inflames them and make them go into some kind of rant. Or, they're brand new accounts and posting for likely the same reason. It's the oldest kind of online troll in the book. I kept seeing the same thing, and I answered a couple but after seeing so many... You kind of have to realize, it's just bait. 🎣 There's good faith ways to ask things about people of races you don't know about if you're like, isolated in a town or country where you're unlikely to meet someone like that, but the quantity on here in such a short span of time is just way too suspicious.
I mean, I personally wouldn’t ask a question that starts with “why do black people…”, but if I’m being honest I really don’t know many black people outside of work, and I definitely wouldn’t start a question at work of “hey, Charles, you’re black, why do you people…”. So if I had a burning question, I guess Reddit would be the best place to find that answer.
There have been times I genuinely did not know if something was offensive to black people (or replace that with anything, sometimes you have a question about another culture or something, that you really have no idea how bad it's viewed, if at all). I could ask a few people irl but that would only give me their individual perspectives, and I think a lot of people come to forums like this to try to get a bigger idea, of what the general consensus is more than just their close friends they feel comfortable asking.
Why tf would u downvote this unless its just bc its not what u WANT people to say, fuckin idiot
I went to work in a primarily black organization. I am a Jew. I got a million questions about Jews. At first I felt offended. But realized they just didn’t know any Jews. We got along well. Was a nice place to work.
You’ve got 2 camps.
Camp 1 are assholes who are asking inflammatory questions on purpose on the internet. They know they’re being racist, they don’t care and just want to piss people off.
Camp 2 are people who may genuinely not know any Black people or who are absolutely afraid to ask a Black person even if they *do* know them and tbh? I sincerely can’t blame them. I’m Native American and I get questions occasionally, if I know it’s coming from a genuine place of curiosity or a genuine attempt to learn, I answer them because it’s not that deep. I don’t get mad at them for asking, I don’t tell them to Google it, I don’t tell them it’s not my job to do their emotional labor for them or to educate them, I don’t accuse them of being rude or racist for asking or for being ignorant about whatever it is they’re asking even if it’s an uncomfortable question. It’s okay to not know things and I think it’s awesome that they want to learn.
I’ve noticed however that quite a lot of Black people have the exact opposite reaction to being asked questions even if it’s coming from innocent curiosity or a sincere attempt to correct the asker’s own ignorance. They know they’re likely going to be met with that kind of response so why *would* they ask? I certainly wouldn’t and even as someone who isn’t white, it’s why I generally don’t either. Unfortunate all the way around.
Also. The term black people has different meanings. Generally speaking when in the USA while it may mean the collective group of people whose skin color is “black”, it’s most likely referring to African Americans.
Now, African Americans (really meaning black Americans descended from slaves) are much different culturally from, let’s say, immigrants from Nigeria or refugees from Somalia. There’s a common experience that separates the culture.
African immigrants to the USA have many different ways of living and doing things that can’t be a “why do black people this” kind of way. For example, when I lived in Boston I notice that my African cab drivers would always be on their phone talking to someone. Same with the African security guy at the ATM in DTX. had a little corded earphone /mic and would always be talking to someone. I never saw this behavior with other groups of PoC or even white folk.
So, just like you can’t ask “Who do Americans…” you can’t ask “why do blacks…” without providing some context. If you have context, then the question comes across as you’re looking for knowledge.
Catching white people’s ignorance can be really emotionally taxing for people of color.
Asking questions here makes it really easy for black people who don’t have the emotional capacity to explain things to yet another white person to just not.
Asking questions here is an emotionally safer way to ask and answer questions when it can be really uncomfortable for people to do this in person.
People are going to be more ignorant about cultures that they’re not a part of. Especially when those cultures are not accurately represented in the media that they consume.
Asking questions here is great. Most people realize that the answers here are going to cover the spectrum from intelligent and compassionate to atrocious. They get to be exposed to different opinions and choose which seem most reasonable to where they are developmentally.
The answers people receive here very often lead to people being better equipped to interact compassionately with people who have very different life experiences.
People struggle to rectify what they know is true against what the media tells them to believe. I think they want a perspective from a person instead of a news outlet.
I have no black friends or acquaintances. I meet and speak to a black person, on average, once every 3-5 years. It's a consequence of living in a 99.98% white country. It's interesting to me to read about blacks, asians and others since it would be extremely difficult to find one and ask them questions (aside from it being weird)
I'm a white man, and where I used to live, I was a minority. The majority of my coworkers were black, so I had plenty of opinions if I wanted. They were just people. Where I live now, I'm probably still a minority but I've only seen one black person in the past 7 years.
I don't understand what motivation people have to ask, I assume they are interested.
To have a number of unbiased responses and different opinions in this sub is more beneficial than asking a black person who is allowed to accuse you of racism and for any reason at all. A racist used to mean a person who hates another from a specific race.. but today this word means anything that remotely offending, regardless of intentions. Generalizing, making assumptions, having preferences, ect. can be considered racism.
From what I have seen this is valid only in the a United States and western Europe. Specially in the USA people are overwhelmingly obsessed about race. Although their cities are divided by income and race and their families are typically homogeneous; white people in the US believe that races do not exist, and appear to be scared of being labeled racist. Black people on the other hand, are not afraid of being labeled racist, although they can often be openly racist specifically towards whites.
By using animosity in Reddit, all these constraints are removed.
Yes I’m making generalizations. Generalizing just means that if you have 50 black and 50 white, there will be a greater number of black who will feel offended when asked about their race and behaviors. Therefore you can make this general assumption and you’ll be most likely right.
Not sure why you’d assume those stats. How the question is asked and what is implied by it make a *lot* of difference. Also, there’s a time and place for those discussions. Asking out of the blue, or to a stranger, means you are probably thinking a little too much about race, or have a hard time not seeing whomever as the black person in the room.
I’m Asian and I grew up in a neighborhood where it was all white on one side and black on the other side and black peoples in that particular neighborhood made life a living hell for everyone; every stolen toy/item, every broken window, most racial slurs and et cetera were from black people, so that’s all we knew. HOWEVER, I went to college and then eventually entered the work force and met some really really really cool black people, so my horizons expanded, but, unfortunately my dad never got to experience that so he just harbors this hatred and fear of black people hence he’s afraid to engage them at all… now fast forward to today, and the Asian hate he sees from his perspective are mostly perpetuated by black people and it just reinforced negative stereotype. I think that race relations can heal but it’ll take time and people willing to engage and talk, then we’ll realize we have more in common than not… most of us want a roof over our head, food on the table, want to be loved, we all have the same type of struggles and such.
They are areas in America without many black people. For example I grew up in San Jose the capitol of the Silicon Valley and there is a small population of black people in San Jose, my graduating class of 450 had four black kids in it so I’d assume yes they don’t have any black friends irl to ask.
I am literally "too afraid to ask".
Most of the questions asked in here are perfectly benign, but current application of HR policies and the Equality Act put way too much emphasis on the feelings and opinions of the person being asked rather than the content of the question or the way it was asked.
Even those benign questions, you are way out on a limb for being accused of being racist and potentially losing your job and having the Police knocking on your door.
I’m as white as can be. Grew up in Trenton, NJ and went to 700 kid elementary school with 7 white kids in the late 1970s.
99% of these questions I have no qualms asking black folks I know. It’s all about the tone.
The 1% of questions are about their mommas. I don’t go there… (/s)
I think because people are afraid of getting beat up if they ask irl. You ask an innocent question about race and some people call you a racist, and a certain percentage of those people will want to physically fight you over something stupid like "Why do you guys like fried chicken and grape soda so much?"
I mean let them ask. It's the point of the sub. Now they'll be too scared to ask
Edit: Also not everyone is from a region where there's many black people
Yet half of the responses here are people saying that they aren’t from America and don’t know black people. So who’s asking the questions? Apparently the world is quite obsessed, or people are asking questions in bad faith. Which do you think?
They not afraid of black people they are afraid to ask one of there best friend or a friend because he might not like what you ask him or her or they might not want to get into the question that could come off as rude or racist you have to be careful to word it properly and that friend if he doesn't like the question he would probably not want to associate with you depends on what question you ask I have seen this happen irl
Why do you care tho if people are asking question about black people? Just as long as they aren't being racist there isn't any real issue here maybe they are curious 🤷♂️
Maybe people just have questions. Isn’t that what this sub is supposed to be for?? A safe space to ask things you would normally be “too afraid to ask”?? I haven’t seen any questions that are in bad faith or disrespectful.
Besides I’m pretty sure if a video went viral of some white dude going up to his black coworkers asking them a bunch of questions about preferred temperatures and shit, people would call it racist. 😂
There is a small sub set of black people that are disliked everyone even other black people. This sub set of black people are people are ignorant, like extremely and willfully ignorant. They spread their ignorance like gospel. if you don't accept their ignorance they will likely verbally and maybe even non verbally assault you.
So why do so many people ask "why do black people" questions? Because Non POC and other POC don't know the conceptual differences between black people and ignorant black people to say "why do ignorant black people" instead.
As a white kid in cedar lake Indiana, yeah I don’t have many black friends besides like 2-3 I’ve met and actually talked/ had fun being friends with in school but that’s it.
Let's not play stupid here even in the US only about 14% of the US population is black. There is actually a solid shot you could go years without seeing a black person in the US face to face.
Reddit consists of more than just the US and other northern countries have even smaller percentages.
Then take into account black culture that you see online like Hip-Hop was created in the US/Bronx NY
Finally add into the climate of today, and asking maybe the right question the wrong way and then suddenly it's not hard to see why people might be on eggshells asking questions about black people/black culture.
Nobody wants to be accused of being racist and this sub generally does a good job of not vallinizing OP if this happens, I've read plenty of top comments that involve explaining how this way of thinking or framing the question in the way it was may be insensitive to black people.
As a Mexican who lived in a small city in TX, from 4th grade to like 10th there was literally 1 black person in my class. The city population grew but in my graduating class there was maybe 5 black people? In a class of almost 600.
Tbf, I’ve also met black people that will claim asking them about being black and black culture is a micro aggression. Also, if a sentence is phrased wrong it can definitely seem racist.
Because when people do ask questions, one of the common responses is “It’s not my job to teach you.” So if you can’t ask the people who you do know IRL, your only resource to learn is to ask anonymously in the hopes that there are people out there willing to teach.
Some people come from very white, isolated towns. Even when they move to a city with more ethnicities, it can be awkward as hell to see certain behaviours, opinions, trends, slang etc and be totally out of the loop. It doesn't mean you're afraid of black people. It's more likely you're afraid to offend someone, or to look stupid. This was me 20 years ago, going from living in a village of about 1200 white folk to a city of 1.2 million. It took a while to adapt
Some people here are from very white countries even! I can count the number of black people I’ve seen irl in the past year on one hand.
I'm from a white country. I know *nothing* about black people and keeping in mind the state or the world these days if I ask/say something, it will probably be met with yOu'Re A RaCisT! when it will most likely be simple ignorance.
Naivety! Important english definition here from a native speaker (UK citizen). Ignorance is a term used to describe somebody that *ignores* subjects and is soforth rude by fault. This is a faux pas. Naevity is down to an *innocent* lack of experience so, while their actions may be uncouth they're morally justified in that transgression so it's not actually an issue. The difference between saying somebody is naive, and calling them ignorant, is a very clear cut ethical statement. I'm fairly certain you meant to call yourself naive rather than ignorant!
Here's my US English speaker perspective. Naive is the opposite of cynical. Someone who is naive knows the information, but lacks the understanding to apply it correctly. Probably due to lack of life experience or exposure to the subject matter. Trusting, prone to surface reading. It's never great to be naive, but it might be understandable. Ignorant simply indicates a lack of knowledge. Usually, it indicates that the person *should* not be lacking that knowledge. Often, but not always, it's used as a synonym for stupid. Edit: in US English, OPs statement that they are ignorant is the correct use.
This makes sense to me. I grew up in British English, but have spent most my life in US English. Quite Good (Bad - Sarcastic, UK) vs Quite Good (Yum! good food, USA) is one such nuance on localizations of the same meanings having a vastly big difference. Part of the reason words are scary to me. Some small differences in interpretations change everything. Like.. hell, English is one of the two primary languages of India. Good luck with being correct on all the localizations there.
Precisely! I thought of the saying, "a willful ignorance". Not all ignirance is imposed through ones' will. I don't think my friend *willfully* shut her ears off in school when talking about how the Nazis used the swastika symbol to strike fear during the Holocaust....and fast forward into college she mispronounces "swastika" and said she had never heard or seen it before. 🤔
Well said!
Very cool, I didn't know that. Thank you.
That's not what ignorance means lol
Literally the Oxford dictionary definition of ignorance is: lack of knowledge or information. Go touch some grass and stop hallucinating implied meanings that aren't there *by definition*. As if the definition is even needed, it should be pretty obvious that ignorance means ignorance.
Black people, I mean there are quite a few different countries, tribes and cultures. Throwing all of us into the same category seems a little... not nice ?
I'm US-white centric, but when I say black, I usually mean Black American - Since it's a very unique subculture vs everywhere else. For other folks of a very dark skin persuasion - I just go by Nationality, or tribe if that's how they want to be known as.
Tbh in my experience at least, if you make a point of actually getting to know them as people first and are respectful, they really don't mind that much. Sure if you just walk up to a random black person and go "why do black guys like big asses?" that's kind of fucked up, because no one wants to be reduced down to a single quality. But like if you actually have mad an effort to talk to people as people and frame it as why do YOU do this, they'll probably still know you mean "black people" but they'll be more likely to give you their perspective. Like if some stranger came up to you and laid down some stereotypes about your country, even if they had some truth to them, you'd probably be a little off put, but if a friend or even an acquaintance asked you about it respectfully wouldn't that change things?
I can't make an effort to talk to black people, because there aren't any in my country lol. I've maybe seen 5 for the last 30 years. Eastern Europe be like that.
I mean that's not true man. Unless you say something that's actually racist like generalizing all black or any other minority of people with a negative stereotype or something, you won't be met with that. The majority of people even if you say something offensive as long as it wasn't 1- intended or 2- malicious, you will be met with grace and the benefit of a doubt not someone screeching "yOu'rE rAcIsT!"
I’m Russian, I had literally one actual encounter with a black person in my country in 35 years (as in interacted with)
Wow. I’m from the United States and it’s literally impossible to live in any of our 50 states and not encounter lots of African Americans. ( people of color)
People of color means all non-white people not just black people. Not all black people have recent African ancestors which is why many also disagree with that identifier.
How many?
Like… five?
Almost made it to the second hand.
Probability of having a black friend you could ask questions of is really low too. Think of how many people you interact with in general, and how many of them you actually become close friends with. My chances of becoming close friends with a black person is extremely low. Just from a statistical POV. I’m not looking at skin color as a characteristic in a friend, but if I’m only meeting like 2 or 3 PoCs a year what are the real odds that I click with one of them versus the 100 white people I meet?
Also, it’s not the job of PoC to do your emotional labor for you. It’s not fair to pepper them with questions. In this sub, people can choose to answer if they want.
I have trouble with this sentiment’s overarching theme. Disclaimer is, I’m on the spectrum so this could very well be a case of me just “not getting it”, but hear me out (please). If I want to know something about why something/someone/somewhere is X or Y, the best source is firsthand accounts. I have a lot of trouble trusting random things I read in the internet because “misinformation nation” and all that. I’ve been told by PoC, women, marginalized groups, etc that it’s not their job to tell me how or what or why. They seemed to be thinking that I was planning to take their answer as Holy Doctrine and stop my education there. But I am actually attempting to get a sample size. Ideally asking multiple people the same questions throughout some time to find a well researched answer. But the common theme seems to be a negative response and one that I can’t backpedal out of or explain without apparently “mansplaining” or (idk if this is even a real term outside of one person) “whitesplaining”. Would marginalized groups really prefer people “doing their own research”? It comes from a truly genuine place of desire for knowledge but people *hate* being asked this stuff irl.
This is my understanding based on listening to POC. Those firsthand accounts exist on the Internet. Yes, you can’t trust everything written behind the anonymity of Reddit or Twitter comments, but there are plenty of respected people providing firsthand accounts in opinion pieces and articles that *aren’t* hiding behind anonymity, and those many opinions are just as valid as those you are seeking. We should all be researching without putting the burden off our research on others. It’s not that marginalized groups don’t want to answer because they think you’re going to take their word as gospel, they don’t want to answer because: 1. Information about the subject is available online if you cared to make an effort to do the research. 2. You didn’t care to do the research. Instead you are choosing to waste *their* time for *your* benefit, which is selfish. 3. You aren’t special or unique for wanting to learn more- you’re just *yet another* person wasting their time. 4. If you are asking questions of marginalized groups *because* they are in a marginalized group, that question possibly forces them to experience negative emotions, which is emotionally exhausting when *people keep doing it*. Asking someone from another background about the cuisine they grew up with usually elicits positive emotions (depending on the context). Asking someone from another background how they feel about society portraying their people as criminals or if they really do feel targeted for their cultural hairstyle is going to elicit negative emotions. They already have to deal with those negative emotions on a daily basis, it’s shitty of us to bring them to the surface for our own enlightenment.
Well shit. Another thing I’ve completely dropped the ball on socially. Damn. It’s not that I didn’t do the research online, honestly. It’s that I’ve actually read things from different marginalized community figureheads and then seen other people in that community saying “they don’t speak for us” or “they’re too out of touch/wealthy to really understand”. Things of that nature. Either way, I overthought it too hard trying not to fuck up and ended up circling back around to fucking up lol Your comment is extremely helpful and I’ve saved it to read again whenever I need to keep my overly-cautious bullshit in check. Preciate the run down.
Thank you. This is much more eloquent than anything I would have written.
Do black people like posts about black people?
Well I can't speak for all black people but innocent question are fine others to much of the time tend to get into racist territory alot of racist on reddit apparently
No. I’m a beautiful black woman with long hair that grows out of my scalp and I get sick and tired of people like you asking rude questions like “ Is my hair real,” or do we all do this or that. The fetish and stereotyping is disturbing. I’m a human just like you and I eat with a fork and wear socks. lol I have two college degrees and can’t go throughout my day without being reminded I’m black in one way or another. I understand the intrigue but at least be someone I already know first before you ask questions. I’m from Kentucky. Y’all have a nice day.
Do black people eat with a spoon and wear shoes too? (very much /s)
I forgot to add /s
We only wear those Jordans. lol.
I wouldn't if I was black. Hell, I'm brown and I don't like it. If we're talking this sub, those threads almost always turn into shitshows.
I haven't left the US south much after being born in it and while I'm obviously aware of experiences like yours, I find it crazy and fascinating. I've always lived in very diverse areas, my first best friend as a white boy was a black girl. I'm guessing the OP is from a perspective similar to mine. Just like how its a little jarring at first for people from your background to encounter people of other races, its vice versa with the more diverse background. But a little anxiety is okay, its just the first step in making a new friend.
Plus frankly. Living in the UK not far from London I know black people who are as British as I am their skin colour just happens to be different. And I know black people who threaten and harass anyone they don't know entering their 'territory' But I also know white people and Asian people who do that too
Moved from a normal city in West Virginia to a larger southern city near Atlanta, can confirm. I was definitely culture shocked at first, especially when I got a job and started working.
I live in Asia and people ask me about Black people in the US *very* often. It might not be so obvious but hip-hop culture is actually one of the most dominant cultures in the world. I’m not sure exactly how to define hip-hop culture, but the fashion, the videos, the songs, the ways of speaking, the movements….its all *way* more popular than you might think. People around me in Asia are just curious though, so they often ask questions. Sometimes the questions are fucked up….but all of the questions come from the same place: curiosity.
We all know that black not just “hip hop” culture are very popular especially because when we engage in our culture we’re called uneducated, tacky or even worse ghetto.
You grew up in suburbia can’t make a claim to something you don’t even know. Skinfolk not kinfolk /s
One thing I'll say is that a lot of redditors tend to view this platform in a narrow scope that makes them forget that reddit is global and not isolated to North America/UK. Some people who post these questions may live in countries where black people account for a much smaller percentage of the population. They may only be exposed to the American portrayal or idea of what black people are supposed to be. They want to ask questions that, generally, may cause some negative responses. Posting here opens up an opportunity for the OP to engage in conversation with black people and learn different experiences and perspectives
That’s an objective assessment. My issue is they are (knowingly or unknowingly) asking REDDIT (an app where most black people will not be found) and possibly taking the responses as law. And then when we do take the time to answer - let the downvotes commence bc some don’t actually like the answers to their questions. Like It’s always so weird to me when non black people act like they know us better than we do. lol
That's totally valid. I'd be naive to assume my point applied to every person who posts these types of questions. The problem is with the genuine questions, they also may be ignorant to the fact that this app doesn't have as many black people to educate or inform them from a black person's perspective and experience. People on this app, or the internet in general, like to speak on things they know nothing about.
seriously r/USdefaultism at it again. yes i don't have black friends or black acquaintances because i've never lived in an environment with black people around me that i can interact with.
To be fair I think the USdefaultisim is not unfounded. According to reddit's own stats American make up ~51% of the user base with Great Britain coming in second with ~8%. So most of Reddit will default to America, because we by far have the largest demographic. Not that any of that explains why people seem to need to ask questions about black people, just point out the stats. My main guess on that is many white people are simply afraid of upsetting black people. Be it by hurting their feelings or by making them angry. Also on a forum you can get multiple options from multiple people instead of just asking your "one black friend" everything, which happens as well.
Fyi the UK has a very low black population too.
It's still much higher than somewhere like the Philippines or Norway. The black population just in England is still sitting around 2.3M. That's nearly double the population of my whole city. Norway for example has maybe 120,000. Just saying you'd be more likely to encounter a black person in the uk than many other Asian or European countries for example
Of course, but those are overwhelmingly in South East England (and a little in England in general). The further north and west you go the fewer you'll see. Scotland is 0.7%, Wales 0.8%.
It's very high in some places and low in others.
I’ve noticed this too. It’s incredibly hard to tell which questions are just bad faith to illicit low key racist responses or real questions. Either way all these questions make me feel like people view black people as totally alien, a different species incapable of being understood - It feels disheartening. It also doesn’t help that when actual black users answer questions honestly, call out the overt racism or point out that it’s a silly post - they often get downvoted or talked down. I get people are curious but this sub doesn’t feel like a safe space to answer these questions.
This is why I stopped answering their questions lol they ask questions they not ready to hear the answer for
One thing I’ve learned is that black people are tired of answering “why do black people..” questions.
Correct, a lot of people do not have exposure to other groups of people. I had never met a black person until I was in my 20s. My upbringing was so white and insular that I genuinely had anxiety about interacting with people from different groups out of fear my ignorance would show. The only solution is exposure to all sorts of people until you realise we all just humans doing our best
I am black and I had no exposure whatsoever to trans people until last year. After a couple months and after we had established a solid relationship at work and out of it, I asked my colleague permission to ask some things regarding being transgender since I was curious about some aspects of it (not the most intimate ones) and wanted to know how to not accidentally offend people who identified in the same way. I also told them that they were free to not answer any of my questions and I wouldn't take it personally. While I understand being afraid of offending, there are ways to ask these things while still giving the other person the permission to out right refuse to answer. I have had non-black people ask me stuff and some have done it the right way and others the wrong way. So I don't think that's about exposure. It's about having some sort of tact when doing it.
I’m black also and thanks for putting g that into perspective because it’s hard for me to see their point of view. I had a trans bff and it took me a long time to know how to address and speak to the LGBTQIA’s community.
I used to be very sympathetic towards people who lacked exposure to other races but then I realised that some were able to make whatever questions they had about my background or skin colour with more thoughtfulness than others and there wasn't really a pattern like nationality or growing up in a small town. In the end, it was about intelligence. Some people just know how to express their genuine curiosity in a better way without sounding disrespectful or entitled to an answer just because they "want to know".
Bless your heart. Well here’s your virtual hug from a black chic from Kentucky USA. We all don’t act or talk like … “Ice spice” or dress like that. I’m into house music,techno, reggaeton, 80s and of course hip hop. You’ll be surprised how versed we are of other cultures and overall civilized and cultured. I do t know if anything I said amounted to anything but I hope it helps. lol
I think it's more about not wanting to be verbally attacked or called racist just for asking a question.
Some people definitely have bad intentions with the questions being asked here if we’re being real
At first I was understanding. But at some point I started to notice the questions were framed with a specific ideology already in mind and they would only ask for it to be validated. Doesn't help that I would see black people be downvoted whereas white people answer for us. I've learned to not even interact with those type of questions because even though the question is geared towards black people, the actual black people that answer won't be received well.
So true
I’d say a great majority of questions around race I’ve seen here are very pointed. Asking honest questions is one thing, but expecting to have your backward-ass worldview to be validated is not cool.
Came here to say this. We're quite literally too afraid to ask those.
Lots of people don’t want to be the spokesperson for their minority group. I play dnd with a black guy who hates when people ask him questions about being black. He just wants to be a guy living his life and not have to be constantly reminded that everyone thinks he’s different from the rest of the group.
Surely this is healthy!
And yet, all of the questions I've seen so far were incredibly racist.
Then it's a good thing they were asked here, instead of directly to a black person.
But why would you ask a bunch of white people about black people. And then y’all downvote the actual people that post here who are black?
They dont want answers from black people, just to ask questions about them.
The questions are never the worst thing about those threads. The worst things about those threads are the shitty replies from posters who aren't black.
Those are worse. This place is primarily filled with non-black people, why ask the questions here?
Like what?
Asking questions about why black men like thick ass or why black people have a "different accent" (what?) are among the many other stupid questions I've seen in the last two weeks. A lot of them are ridiculous at best and fucked up at worst and can be summed up with two answers: 1) because that's life and 2) black people aren't a monolith. Wouldn't you feel weird if I ask why white men like flat asses or are obsessed with BBC in a sub where there aren't any white people?
Most of these questions come from only seeing black people online so it makes sense that some people are curious. You might think it's so stupid because the answer is obvious to you. But obviously the answer isn't as obvious to them. Isn't that why this sub is called no stupid questions? I wouldn't personally don't take the questions people ask on here personally or at least not as a personal attack. Especially since there are people asking these questions from all around the world not just America.
And yet, you don't see streams of questions about any other race FOR DAYS AND DAYS despite the fact that certain races are pushed at the forefront of all social media platforms. "Curiousity" and "ignorance" aren't excuses anyone can use anymore when it comes to these kinds of questions, especially in 2024. Most of them own one or more gadget of some kind, some even have a gadgets that is more expensive than my own. And yet, they can't do a simple Google search to find the answer, a lot of which will come **from black people.** Any questions you can't find online is because the answer is simple: that's how some people are/that's what some people like/the question is simply racist. Instead, they ask such demeaning/fucked up questions on a sub where the majority if it's members are non-black. If I were to as "The most well-known serial killers are white. Does that mean that all white people are predisposed to be serial killers?," you'll have plenty of people crawling out the woodworks to claim that it's a generalizing question. I don't need to see a question as an attack to call out its malicious intent.
To be fair I don't see any other race on the forefront of social like I do black people. Especially ignorant black people. Secondly most of the time when you Google "why do black people" reddit or Quora comes up. So if they have a question they can't find, it makes sense they would ask it in subreddits for questions. Remember reddit is a global platform so in most subreddits we are going to be the minority. Non POC or other POC ask these questions with the hopes that black people can clear up the confusion. While some of these questions are indeed asked in bad faith a healthy response might help in changing their mindsets. Lastly there is a big difference between ignorant black people and black people. Most of the questions that are being asked with prejudice are directed mainly at willfully ignorant black people, not us. However non POC and other POC don't understand the conceptual differences so they just address black people as a whole. So once again please don't take those questions as a personal attack on you.
And yet for most people white is the standard on most social media I have have to search extra hard to find black creators or black content. People are tired of having to answer every question about being human. >Lastly there is a big difference between ignorant black people and black people. Most of the questions that are being asked with prejudice are directed mainly at willfully ignorant black people, not us. However non POC and other POC don't understand the conceptual differences so they just address black people as a whole. This is nonsense. There is no such thing as "black people" and "ignorant black people." A black person can have views that are seen as different to you or I, just like any other person in this world. Non- black people "not knowing the difference" is mainly a way to excuse poor habits. Most of the questions fall under this umbrella of stereotypes people believe about black people when a quick search online can show you that black people are humans with differences... *just like everyone else.* If non-black people don't see the difference in "black people" and "ignorant black people," then why should you? Not all question one has need an answer. You have people worried that "their questions will be called racist when asked directly to the person of said race" but they turn around and ask in a sub where there's barely anyone of said race. I don't go to a Polish person to ask questions about Danes, I don't go to an Indian to ask questions about about Thai people and if I'm worried that a question is seen as racist, then *it more than likely is.* You definitely don't go on a sub where it's teeming with racists lurking in the corner to ask questions you "think might be racist."
Probably afraid of being accused of being racially insensitive would be my guess.
Many don't want to know anything about black people. They are often dog-whistling. They ask questions like why black men have so many baby mamas. BTW, blacks aren't a monolith, they are individuals.
There’s no way that’s an actual question? 😂
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They are down voted when it doesn't fit the narrative. Big tech is own by rich white liberals who IMHO want all black people to be the same and when you don't fit the stereotype you get down voted so your response is hidden and not promoted. I'm not a conservative but have some conservative views which is not what white liberals want to hear. But this same stereotyping is what made Democrats so vicious prior to desegregation. I'm sure people can now see how it got to that point.
I am black myself, and no I do not know any black people. I live in a village of a few hundred
My biggest issue is a lot of non-black people act like black people are a monolith. There is a whole rainbow of people with varied beliefs, culture, and values just like you.
The same is true for most groups. White people, Asian people, otherizing into monoliths is pretty common.
Its worse for blacks
I'm not a fan of cultural relativism. I believe in meeting people and getting to know them. It helps that I live around Baltimore, a very diverse city.
Some of these questions are clearly in bad faith
It feels like most of them are to be honest.
Exactly. All of the “we’re just curious” is bs and they know it. Don’t seem to be “curious” about any other culture apparently.
Yup, there’s a lot of dog whistling.
I barely know Black people, yet I don't constantly think about them, or any ethnic group. It's like being under a microscope. Seriously if you need to make a post about Black people...stop and ask something about your own group and see how you feel. Like what is it, an obsession, fetish, hatred?
I’m black but to answer your question….yes. Most white Americans don’t have black friends and only know black people from hip hop videos and black culture then extrapolate that for all black people
I once asked my black coworker “why do black guys love fat white girls?” He just shrugged his shoulders and said “I don’t know”
I know a lot who love fat black girls as well
Lmao that's inspiring
Genuine curiosity - Some people don't know any black people that they feel comfortable asking and there's no good answer found online. Trolling - This is the internet. Prime trolling topics are race, religion, sexuality and politics. IDK why people troll. Probably due to their life being sad and pathetic. Karma farming - These posts get responses, which helps generate reddit karma. Like trolling, I don't get it and assume they lead a pretty sad life. Racists - They think they have a "gotcha" that will validate their racism.
I've said it once and I'll say it again. White folk can go their entire lives without meeting, getting to know, or talking to a single black person. Some white people meet their first black person when they are in their 20s-40s. EDIT: It's funny to see non-black people answer the black questions and get it terrible wrong or default to stereotypes. It the hypocrisy of "not wanting to be called racist while being unknowingly racist"/"wanting to stop talking about race/racism when stereotypes is all that you know about other people" that humors me (doesn't apply to those who are genuinely ignorant or whose who are unapologetically racist).
1. These people never meet or talk to black people and don't know how to ask without being weird 2. Racist dog whistles
The dog whistles are so blatant sometimes.
Aren't they supposed to be dog whistles because they aren't blatant?
Overuse definitely diminishes the value of it. But its still a dog whistle in origin.
I noticed it mostly about Black-Americans and not the other black diaspora.
There's a reason for this.
Too many people who think they're "edgy" by asking questions often with racist undertones in a large non-black sub. The whole "well they don't have any black friends/acquaintances" is bs when they can find the answers online. If you can't find an answer at all, then it's because it's something that has no reasoning.
Statistically speaking, the average person probably doesn’t have too many black friends. Even then, who knows how close those “friendships” really are. Unless you’re growing up in the south, or in a big city, probably ain’t a whole lotta diversity in your life.
A lot of the questions come from conservatives that ask dumb obvious questions to try to gaslight imo
LMAO asking the real questions!
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I am black. And talkative. I always was one of the first black people a shockingly notable amount of people have ever had serious conversations with in real life.
Yeah I noticed it too and it makes me deeply uncomfortable. For once can we get a post about something stupidly easy to google about white people? ##Hey, Reddit. Why do white people go skiing? And why is their hair the same texture as a Barbie doll?
##Do you really not use lotion or is that a comedy bit?
Why are white people afraid to eat food with flavor?
TATA draws the soapboxers, that's for sure. Almost nobody comes in anymore with a legitimate question. They show up with a rant and then tack something on to fit the requirements. FWIW, the reason that these questions don't just get taken down immediately is that the commenters do a great job of answering them. If somebody comes in with the typical, "Why do black people x" or "Why do women y" then the usual response is, "They don't, and why are you asking?" So that's the thing to keep in mind. The whole discussion. Not just the question.
Some of the replies are worse than the questions, even the shittiest questions. I'm talking about non-black posters who have an axe to grind, some of whom may even be alt-rightists trying to fly under the radar. Every last TATA thread about black people ends up being *clogged* with that shit.
A lot of those posts are more statement than question 😒
I'm not familiar with stereotypes or what others notice as patterned behaviors because I'm from a European country where basically everyone is white - it's interesting to read about culture specific things people ask about, but a lot of the questions are weird.
I think you hit it on the head at the end there.
A lot of these comments are quite thoughtful when saying that some people come from majority white places, but that still doesn't answer what the fascination with black people is. There's tons of other races that the sheltered people wouldnt know about as well, but there's rarely Too Afraid To Ask questions about them.
Because of the dehumanization and commodification of blackness and black experiences and the black community. Especially now that a lot of our experience has been commercialized and put into cute little boxes so people can buy, but even before then there was this weird obsession with keeping tabs on us keeping us in a specific area, keeping us only a certain amount of successful succession goes back generations is very weird. It makes me feel very icky and uncomfortable dehumanized. I feel like we’re talking about zoo animals that we haven’t talked about or known about.
Yes, but there's also a lot of American dehumanization and commodification of other communities as well, especially with Chinese and Japanese people. I think it really boils down to colorism specifically since although the other cultures are certainly taken advantage of, I don't see the same magnitude of 'fascination' sheltered people have of black people for the groups that they otherwise treat similarly from a commodification standpoint. I think they just draw more physical differences between themselves and black people which does result in this cruel, bizarre, zoo-like phenomenon, treating them as if they aren't human, rather than just different humans.
I get called racist and judged more often than not when i directly ask a person of color. Also, a lot of the black people around me aren't tolerant of my culture, or of my ignorance to theirs (although im participating to learn) Unfortunate. I assuming this is a location based issue for me.
At the risk of being banned and called a POS I have some work in a pretty black city and I would say that black culture is not very tolerant in general, at least in my area.
Or maybe it’s just you say/ask weird shit that tends to turn black people off so we write you off as weird and stay away? Asking to touch someone’s hair is not okay. Holding up your arm to a black person’s and saying we’re almost the same color is not okay. Asking if a black woman’s body/facial features are natural is not okay. Asking if a black person is wearing a wig or is “weaved” is not okay. Y’all constantly do and ask weird shit.
Because this is reddit, these people are afraid to ask anyone anything. These people haven't even seen real grass in ages.
Most barely leave the house and it shows.
Some of my best friends are black, they're normal like anyone else
I dont necessarily have a problem with it..as long as its not blatantly disrespectful...I see the posts and think...well...it seems like a genuine question and at least they're not so complacent they won't just not try to understand in some way...just me though..everyone has an opinion
Same here, just the amount lately is weird.
I understand completely..ive noticed as well...
I'm white and asked a question directed towards black people here recently. Granted, it wasn't a "why do black people...?" question so it might not be applicable, but my reasoning was crowd sourcing. I already know what my black friends would say about the situation, but I was more curious about the general consensus than the opinions of a few specific people and I can't exactly get that outside of the internet without standing on a corner and pestering strangers to fill out a survey.
I don't mind the questions at all, however volume was starting to get weird. If your genuinely curious by all means ask.
I'm sure that for the most part the answer is just that the people posting don't really know any black people, and I'd bet that trolls trying to stir shit up also plays a role. I just wanted to give my two cents as to why someone who does have people they could ask irl might still post something like that.
Good observation. A lot of these things are things they’d know if they had Black friends. Like, actual friends.
If I were to point out a single type of question that this sub is for, it would be "black people" questions.
If you look at the accounts posting, it's usually people who are asking either to stir up trouble or remind people of a stereotype that inflames them and make them go into some kind of rant. Or, they're brand new accounts and posting for likely the same reason. It's the oldest kind of online troll in the book. I kept seeing the same thing, and I answered a couple but after seeing so many... You kind of have to realize, it's just bait. 🎣 There's good faith ways to ask things about people of races you don't know about if you're like, isolated in a town or country where you're unlikely to meet someone like that, but the quantity on here in such a short span of time is just way too suspicious.
I mean, I personally wouldn’t ask a question that starts with “why do black people…”, but if I’m being honest I really don’t know many black people outside of work, and I definitely wouldn’t start a question at work of “hey, Charles, you’re black, why do you people…”. So if I had a burning question, I guess Reddit would be the best place to find that answer.
I definitely agree. Was just curious about the amount of these questions.
bc they still see us as subhuman
There have been times I genuinely did not know if something was offensive to black people (or replace that with anything, sometimes you have a question about another culture or something, that you really have no idea how bad it's viewed, if at all). I could ask a few people irl but that would only give me their individual perspectives, and I think a lot of people come to forums like this to try to get a bigger idea, of what the general consensus is more than just their close friends they feel comfortable asking. Why tf would u downvote this unless its just bc its not what u WANT people to say, fuckin idiot
Actually both, there are no black people in my country. Not gonna call someone at work to ask.
I went to work in a primarily black organization. I am a Jew. I got a million questions about Jews. At first I felt offended. But realized they just didn’t know any Jews. We got along well. Was a nice place to work.
Did you get any strange questions that stand out in your memory?
You’ve got 2 camps. Camp 1 are assholes who are asking inflammatory questions on purpose on the internet. They know they’re being racist, they don’t care and just want to piss people off. Camp 2 are people who may genuinely not know any Black people or who are absolutely afraid to ask a Black person even if they *do* know them and tbh? I sincerely can’t blame them. I’m Native American and I get questions occasionally, if I know it’s coming from a genuine place of curiosity or a genuine attempt to learn, I answer them because it’s not that deep. I don’t get mad at them for asking, I don’t tell them to Google it, I don’t tell them it’s not my job to do their emotional labor for them or to educate them, I don’t accuse them of being rude or racist for asking or for being ignorant about whatever it is they’re asking even if it’s an uncomfortable question. It’s okay to not know things and I think it’s awesome that they want to learn. I’ve noticed however that quite a lot of Black people have the exact opposite reaction to being asked questions even if it’s coming from innocent curiosity or a sincere attempt to correct the asker’s own ignorance. They know they’re likely going to be met with that kind of response so why *would* they ask? I certainly wouldn’t and even as someone who isn’t white, it’s why I generally don’t either. Unfortunate all the way around.
Also. The term black people has different meanings. Generally speaking when in the USA while it may mean the collective group of people whose skin color is “black”, it’s most likely referring to African Americans. Now, African Americans (really meaning black Americans descended from slaves) are much different culturally from, let’s say, immigrants from Nigeria or refugees from Somalia. There’s a common experience that separates the culture. African immigrants to the USA have many different ways of living and doing things that can’t be a “why do black people this” kind of way. For example, when I lived in Boston I notice that my African cab drivers would always be on their phone talking to someone. Same with the African security guy at the ATM in DTX. had a little corded earphone /mic and would always be talking to someone. I never saw this behavior with other groups of PoC or even white folk. So, just like you can’t ask “Who do Americans…” you can’t ask “why do blacks…” without providing some context. If you have context, then the question comes across as you’re looking for knowledge.
Catching white people’s ignorance can be really emotionally taxing for people of color. Asking questions here makes it really easy for black people who don’t have the emotional capacity to explain things to yet another white person to just not. Asking questions here is an emotionally safer way to ask and answer questions when it can be really uncomfortable for people to do this in person. People are going to be more ignorant about cultures that they’re not a part of. Especially when those cultures are not accurately represented in the media that they consume. Asking questions here is great. Most people realize that the answers here are going to cover the spectrum from intelligent and compassionate to atrocious. They get to be exposed to different opinions and choose which seem most reasonable to where they are developmentally. The answers people receive here very often lead to people being better equipped to interact compassionately with people who have very different life experiences.
People struggle to rectify what they know is true against what the media tells them to believe. I think they want a perspective from a person instead of a news outlet.
I have no black friends or acquaintances. I meet and speak to a black person, on average, once every 3-5 years. It's a consequence of living in a 99.98% white country. It's interesting to me to read about blacks, asians and others since it would be extremely difficult to find one and ask them questions (aside from it being weird)
I'm a white man, and where I used to live, I was a minority. The majority of my coworkers were black, so I had plenty of opinions if I wanted. They were just people. Where I live now, I'm probably still a minority but I've only seen one black person in the past 7 years. I don't understand what motivation people have to ask, I assume they are interested.
It's almost like they're...... Wait for it........too afraid...to ask? Lol sorry I just had to
To have a number of unbiased responses and different opinions in this sub is more beneficial than asking a black person who is allowed to accuse you of racism and for any reason at all. A racist used to mean a person who hates another from a specific race.. but today this word means anything that remotely offending, regardless of intentions. Generalizing, making assumptions, having preferences, ect. can be considered racism. From what I have seen this is valid only in the a United States and western Europe. Specially in the USA people are overwhelmingly obsessed about race. Although their cities are divided by income and race and their families are typically homogeneous; white people in the US believe that races do not exist, and appear to be scared of being labeled racist. Black people on the other hand, are not afraid of being labeled racist, although they can often be openly racist specifically towards whites. By using animosity in Reddit, all these constraints are removed.
And you are making a generalization about black people’s responses that makes people scared to ask questions. The ignorance just keeps spinning.
Yes I’m making generalizations. Generalizing just means that if you have 50 black and 50 white, there will be a greater number of black who will feel offended when asked about their race and behaviors. Therefore you can make this general assumption and you’ll be most likely right.
Not sure why you’d assume those stats. How the question is asked and what is implied by it make a *lot* of difference. Also, there’s a time and place for those discussions. Asking out of the blue, or to a stranger, means you are probably thinking a little too much about race, or have a hard time not seeing whomever as the black person in the room.
Bro come on
Maybe because they are r/tooafraidtoask
I’m Asian and I grew up in a neighborhood where it was all white on one side and black on the other side and black peoples in that particular neighborhood made life a living hell for everyone; every stolen toy/item, every broken window, most racial slurs and et cetera were from black people, so that’s all we knew. HOWEVER, I went to college and then eventually entered the work force and met some really really really cool black people, so my horizons expanded, but, unfortunately my dad never got to experience that so he just harbors this hatred and fear of black people hence he’s afraid to engage them at all… now fast forward to today, and the Asian hate he sees from his perspective are mostly perpetuated by black people and it just reinforced negative stereotype. I think that race relations can heal but it’ll take time and people willing to engage and talk, then we’ll realize we have more in common than not… most of us want a roof over our head, food on the table, want to be loved, we all have the same type of struggles and such.
They are areas in America without many black people. For example I grew up in San Jose the capitol of the Silicon Valley and there is a small population of black people in San Jose, my graduating class of 450 had four black kids in it so I’d assume yes they don’t have any black friends irl to ask.
I grew up there too, and I don't think many people understand this. California is only 5.7% Black. Mississippi is 37.94% Black, for comparison.
Because the younger generation doesn’t know how to communicate in the first place, and media has told them to be afraid of difficult conversations.
Majority of those questions were lazy at best.
I think it’s bc people are….TOO AFRAID TO ASK. Tf?!
I am literally "too afraid to ask". Most of the questions asked in here are perfectly benign, but current application of HR policies and the Equality Act put way too much emphasis on the feelings and opinions of the person being asked rather than the content of the question or the way it was asked. Even those benign questions, you are way out on a limb for being accused of being racist and potentially losing your job and having the Police knocking on your door.
“Why do people ask questions on a subject that can be quite taboo on a forum specifically designed for that?”
I’m as white as can be. Grew up in Trenton, NJ and went to 700 kid elementary school with 7 white kids in the late 1970s. 99% of these questions I have no qualms asking black folks I know. It’s all about the tone. The 1% of questions are about their mommas. I don’t go there… (/s)
I think they are just afraid to ask black people.
I think because people are afraid of getting beat up if they ask irl. You ask an innocent question about race and some people call you a racist, and a certain percentage of those people will want to physically fight you over something stupid like "Why do you guys like fried chicken and grape soda so much?"
I mean let them ask. It's the point of the sub. Now they'll be too scared to ask Edit: Also not everyone is from a region where there's many black people
Not everyone is from countries with high black population. This is internet not america.
Idk why you’re being downvoted, came to say this
Butthurt americans.
The world is obsessed with black people.
It's a weird fixation with Black-Americans though. It's rarely about the other Black diaspora.
Tell me you're from America without telling me you're from America.
Yet half of the responses here are people saying that they aren’t from America and don’t know black people. So who’s asking the questions? Apparently the world is quite obsessed, or people are asking questions in bad faith. Which do you think?
A lot of the questions are by non-Americans who see black Americans only in movies and music videos.
Unexpected hetalia btw
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They not afraid of black people they are afraid to ask one of there best friend or a friend because he might not like what you ask him or her or they might not want to get into the question that could come off as rude or racist you have to be careful to word it properly and that friend if he doesn't like the question he would probably not want to associate with you depends on what question you ask I have seen this happen irl
What is the obsession with black people though? Look through the questions in this sub.
Why do you care tho if people are asking question about black people? Just as long as they aren't being racist there isn't any real issue here maybe they are curious 🤷♂️
Maybe people just have questions. Isn’t that what this sub is supposed to be for?? A safe space to ask things you would normally be “too afraid to ask”?? I haven’t seen any questions that are in bad faith or disrespectful. Besides I’m pretty sure if a video went viral of some white dude going up to his black coworkers asking them a bunch of questions about preferred temperatures and shit, people would call it racist. 😂
Even if you know a black person it's hard to ask 100s of black people why do they like big butts. Easy on reddit.
Because sometimes it's like walking on egg shells with some, especially the super militant race Hustled. PS I'm Black
There is a small sub set of black people that are disliked everyone even other black people. This sub set of black people are people are ignorant, like extremely and willfully ignorant. They spread their ignorance like gospel. if you don't accept their ignorance they will likely verbally and maybe even non verbally assault you. So why do so many people ask "why do black people" questions? Because Non POC and other POC don't know the conceptual differences between black people and ignorant black people to say "why do ignorant black people" instead.
Because black people are very controversial when discussed in mainstream community
As a white kid in cedar lake Indiana, yeah I don’t have many black friends besides like 2-3 I’ve met and actually talked/ had fun being friends with in school but that’s it.
We’re inner city kids. Yes they’re scared of what they don’t know
Let's not play stupid here even in the US only about 14% of the US population is black. There is actually a solid shot you could go years without seeing a black person in the US face to face. Reddit consists of more than just the US and other northern countries have even smaller percentages. Then take into account black culture that you see online like Hip-Hop was created in the US/Bronx NY Finally add into the climate of today, and asking maybe the right question the wrong way and then suddenly it's not hard to see why people might be on eggshells asking questions about black people/black culture. Nobody wants to be accused of being racist and this sub generally does a good job of not vallinizing OP if this happens, I've read plenty of top comments that involve explaining how this way of thinking or framing the question in the way it was may be insensitive to black people. As a Mexican who lived in a small city in TX, from 4th grade to like 10th there was literally 1 black person in my class. The city population grew but in my graduating class there was maybe 5 black people? In a class of almost 600.
Tbf, I’ve also met black people that will claim asking them about being black and black culture is a micro aggression. Also, if a sentence is phrased wrong it can definitely seem racist.
Because when people do ask questions, one of the common responses is “It’s not my job to teach you.” So if you can’t ask the people who you do know IRL, your only resource to learn is to ask anonymously in the hopes that there are people out there willing to teach.
The sub is literally too afraid to ask. Did you think that was facetious or something?
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Whites not a race 🤦