White People: How do you feel a majority of white people feel about minorities?

I’d say the economy of your area has driven much of it. If the jobs aren’t there for the wealthier classes, they move to where the money is. See if you can contact your local historical society. They should be able to explain a lot of the answers to your questions.

My feeling being on the inside of the white community is that the majority of white people are not racist. Racist I will use to include not only race, but minorities groups in general.

I do think a lot of white people judge some cultural differences. I guess maybe some people would consider it xenophobia. I’ve always been interested in cultural differences, my dad is a sociologist so he knew a tremendous amount of information on the subject. He often spoke about many cultural difference in the US having to do with social class more than ethnicity, but now that I am an adult he discusses more differences by race and nationality.

Almost all of my closest friends were raised in households almost void of negative comments about other groups from what I can tell. I could probably count on one hand a friend from k-12 saying a stereotype about a group. However, as adults many of them have stereotypes in their heads.

My experience in places that have large populations of one minority group is tensions can be greater. In extremely diverse cities, meaning people from all over the world, there is more a feeling of we are all in the same mixing pot.

When I lived in Memphis there is a large black population in the city like many southern cities. There is a divide there. I still don’t think the majority of white people I know there are racist, but there are racists who live in that area. When Memphis gave up their school charter and gave their school system over to the county, the white people in the burbs were not happy. They voted in each individual city in the county to set up their own school districts so Memphis would basically be on it’s own again. The case is in court to see if the vote is constitutional. The issue feels very racist. One objection the white people had was Memphis screwed up their schools. They voted in crappy people to run the system, so people out in the county worried they would vote in crappy people in the county system. Think about it though, if you start talking like you are worried about black people voting, that surely sounds racist. White people also get annoyed and talk negatively about the black dialect (where I grew up black people didn’t speak in a dialect much) and there are several negative stereotypes. But, not one person I personally call a friend prejudges anyone. When someone winds up fitting the negative stereotype they are dissappointed.

Almost all white Americans I know are very interested to know where people are from, about their culture, their food, their family story. Especially if their own family cake over within the last three generations. Many immigrants think questions about where they are from is because the person asking is prejudice and hateful and judgmental. Couldn’t be farther from the truth.

As far as neighborhoods changing. It’s more the economic life cycle of a neighborhood than anything. Newer immigrant groups frequently are in the lower social classes. Another influence is when there is just a token family in a neighborhood it is not threatening to the people who live there now, but when many people from a minority group begin to move in white people sometimes worry the neighborhood is “changing.” meaning they worry about their property value. It’s almost like a self fufilling prophecy. Even if there is no worry about it, often new immigrant groups help each other or have family here and they start buying houses near each other. So, just by attrition the neighborhood begins to lose white people. My Ecuadorian boyfriend lived in the same quad (similar to townhouses) as his aunt and cousins and one block from his uncle and another cousin. My Mexican husband lived a few townhouses from his sister. The townhouse my husband lived in was owned by his parents, he lived there during college. I have more stories like that about minorities than “white” people, although a friend I am not in touch with anymore lives in the same condominium building as her parents. They’re Jewish, so maybe we should count them as minorities?

I really think a lot of minorities don’t really understand how they are thought of by the white world. I know Asian women worry about the shape of their eyes. I don’t see the difference nor any reason to do surgery to change the shape. I think most Asian women are beautiful. I know black people who worry about being too dark. I really don’t notice how dark someone is. I notice how they speak, what they wear and how they carry themselves. If they have lower class hair styles and nails I notice that, but I notice it no matter what color they are. Having hair in a natural or close to natural state is not lower class to me. My BIL changed his first name because he doesn’t want people to think he is Mexican. That’s ridiculous in my opinion. My husband is Mexican and no one has ever treated him badly or unfairly as an adult as far as we know. I could go on.

It’s really all about conformity within reason in my opinion. Most people group up with people similar to them, how they dress, interests, things in common, and if two groups are culturally very different it’s harder for them to integrate.

Try that on some Afrikaaners. It’s a bad time to be white in South Africa.Not being racist or anything but yeah. Right, @lornalove?

Muslims and Arabs are the most hated minority in the US.

People talk about a resurgence of antisemitism, but this is barely covered at all.

@ragingloli I’m in the US and I haven’t heard about any resurgence of antisemitism. Is there something specific you have heard or read? There is always some antisemitism going on as far as I know, but I feel it is at a very low constant hum the 46 years I have been alive. I often have said on fluther that it is a good time in history for the Jews in America, because the Evangelical Christians are obsessed with the Jews and Israel’s and support them almost blindly, except for a few hateful scary people of course. The scary people are that constant hum I am talking about. neo-Nazi groups, KKK, and some lone people who choose some group to hate.

Your study you linked doesn’t surprise me that it got those answers. American Evangelical Christians feel their religion influences everything, so they think that about everyone. It’s why they won’t vote for atheists. Add atheist to the list and see what happens. Also, the study does not specify Arabs in America, so it is not that surprising that they think Arabs would use their religion in decisions, because almost every Arab country is run like a theocracy. So, depending on how the person answering interpreted the question it might have skewed the answers. A ton of Americans answered they have no interaction or don’t know of interacting with Muslims. It’s easy to rank them low if you have to rank them if you don’t know any. It doesn’t ask if they are ok with profiling for other groups. If Germans took that same survey what do you think the results would be? I think your study is bad, but I do agree a lot of people in America have more fear of Arabs than other groups. The Arab population is very small in the US, and in pockets, so depending on where or how the survey was done it would influence the numbers greatly.

@trailsillustrated The South Africans I know basically say the country has gone down hill since the black people got into power, but they never ramble on with specifics. I haven’t have opportunity to really talk about that topic with them though.

I don’t, in any way, identify as being part of the “white community” and can’t imagine there’s a consensus among white people in my area about minorities. I just don’t think that way.

I can’t even reasonably lump all minorities into a group for consideration.

Too much of an ‘us v. them’ mentality for my taste.

@cookieman Is it us and them if a person is pointing out only positive things? Things they appreciate about each group?

I found america to be ultra religious, and when I started uni there. in Illinois, all my classes were immediately filled with people on ‘affirmative action’ who bought cars then dropped out. It was really, agressively anti white people. This was undergrad in 1989 or something.—I am australian and we dont have political correction here so apologies if I have insulted anyone don’t mean to—I HAD to complete certain cores to get into dental school in another state- I was really pressed for time only to find these classes filled, with people that dropped after they got their grant money.

It seems to me that in/out group sorting within our minds is too common to be dismissed as something we can “overcome”, wash our hands, and be done with. It’s something to constantly be aware of in ourselves, so we can attempt to work with them. Whenever I have convinced myself that I am not racist, I am quite suspicious – and for good reason. It’s time to dig a little deeper.

As for how most white people feel, I can only speak today of the people in my mostly-white upper middle-class town. We are neighbors with a huge community of all kinds of “races” and recent immigrants. These people are still viewed with such contempt and disgust – even among the supposed educated nice people of my town. Their words reveal a complete disdain for even the concepts surrounding the realities of socioeconomics and class. And it’s clear that for them, this really comes down to race.

@ragingloli I forgot to add the study listed both Arabs and Muslims and did not list other groups like blacks, Asians, Hispanics, etc. Why is Arab even on that list of otherwise religious selections?

And to walk to the carpark after class as a blond white person was an experience not to be forgotten.

@trailsillustrated Did it make you a little prejudiced, racist, or have new stereotypes in your head? My vision of Australia is there are not many black people there so I assume you didn’t have a stereotype of them before coming to the US.

It was my first time at uni there and the racism was stark and shocking. I cannot tell you how many people were in upper division science classes that couldn’t spell the word ‘cat’. My car was vandalised. I was locked out of classes that I desperately needed to complete, I was attacked in the car park, for being white. My daughter’s friend was spat on the other day by abos at a bus stop,. so It’s everywhere, I guess.

I was verbally abused at the airport in st louis because I could not understand what the hell they were saying. I was dumped in east st louis by a cab driver that pretended not to know where belleville was. It made me hate that part of the country,

Wow. My husband has a lot of trouble understanding an American black dialect. He had zero stereotypes or negative experiences with black people. Then we moved to Memphis and suddenly he is saying things that are shocking to me. He still to this day is one of the most nondiscriminating people I know, truly meets people as individuals, but he did form some stereotypes living around a large black population in the south. When I say stereotype I don’t mean he thinks everyone in that group is the same, far from it, but there were generalization that could be drawn within the community. Unfortunately, quite a few of the generalizations were negative, or annoying, but not all. Living back in FL it is like none of that exists here. Many black people themselves talk about cultural differences in communities where there is a large black presence. One of my black friends was given a job offer, job promotion, that would need her to move to Atlanta. Her boss, who is also black, told her it would be good for her daughter, because she would grow up with more black culture.

There is rioting in St. Louis the last few days because a cop killed a black teenager. I haven’t kept up with the story.

I did transfer to my dental school , in the pacific northwest, and it was a whole different world. I didn’t experience any of the hostility that I did in Illinois. In my travels, I found Alabama! to be the accent that I could understand and they understood me no problem. HAHA

Alabama of all places. Too funny.

@JLeslie: I suppose not, but I’m just not wired that way. I find it deconstructive even if it’s a positive trait one is trying to highlight.

Saying, “Asian people tend to eat more healthy” still feels too broad to me and is, to my mind, a short step away from, “Black people sure do run fast”.

Minorities barely enter my consciousness. I judge each person from a position of neutrality when I first meet them. It doesn’t matter if they belong to a minority. Therefore the situation of a particular minority is of little interest to me, because each individual within that group is different.

@cookieman Generalizations are broad but often come from some truth, not always of course. Too broad, I would agree with saying too broad if people take a generalization to mean everyone in a group. It can be detrimental to generalize, I agree with that.

I think the human brain groups things for simplicity. @hominid answer about questioning ourselves when we group is a very valid exercise in my opinion.

I also think a lot of people take some pride or find humor in their culture and it is a good feeling and then they see it in others too regarding their cultures. If Jerry Seinfeld cracks a joke about his parents in Boca Raton, FL is it a mean stereotype he is making? Seinfeld, Fran Drescher, Billy Crystal all have stereotypes in their schtick that ring true to us Jews and the people who know us.

@FireMadeFlesh The stereotypes also don’t even occur to me when I meet someone. Are you saying you have zero generalizations and stereotypes in your head, or just that they don’t come into your consciousness when meeting an individual? I assume you are white, are you saying none of the white people around you say things behind closed doors so to speak about different groups? Even within the white groups like Irish vs Italian let’s say.

As a white person living in the American Midwest, I find that the vast majority of people stereotype other races as a whole, yet deal with individuals as individuals. I have sat with friends at a Mexican restaurant and heard them make disparaging remarks about both blacks and Mexicans, while being personable and friendly with the wait staff.

And yes, I call it out, only to be met with ‘Pfffttt. It’s just talk’ attitude. I’ve gotten up and left the restaurant I was so offended, which was met with the equivalent of an eye-roll.

One of my daughters works in an old General Motors town that never really recovered after GM pulled out (meaning it’s full of really poor people). She works in a private school in a state that has recently started accepting school vouchers. This means if a private school has room, any kid has a chance to go there. This past year her classroom was about 50% black, 50% other races. The majority of the parents of her kids were supportive. She had one child who was severely disruptive and hyperactive, and she told me that he was her favorite student, even if he was so difficult. If he had been disciplined properly at home, we’re pretty sure most of his behavior problems would have been resolved. She had numerous talks with his mother, but his mom was convinced the teacher was simply racist. The school documented every discussion and discipline issue, but eventually they had to expel the kid because the parents refused to support the school as they taught their son. Next thing we knew the mom filed a complaint with NAACP. NAACP couldn’t find a thing wrong with how they had handled the issue, even though all the staff is white except for one teacher.

What’s really sad is how confused the little boy was. His teacher (my daughter) daily told him how much she loved him (she really did), and his mother was constantly telling him how nasty his teacher was. It was surreal.

I am a mongrel descended from north and western European nations. There’s just enough pre German tribe in me to give me my nearly obsolete name.

Science has been unable to make any sort of meaningful or concrete distinction regarding race, this answers the race question as far is I’m concerned. Without a scientific classification there can not be any useful legal or political differentiation either.

I think the majority of white people simply prefer their own kind and their own culture with no specific disdain to minorities.

When an entire neighborhood goes from white to non-white, it is called white-flight. It only takes a few minorities to move into the neighborhood to see this phenomenon. I’ve experienced it myself when a few of our white neighbors sold to minorities, the neighborhood cleared in a heartbeat and we ended up moving along with them.

There are several reasons why white people start to move out when minorities move in. As mentioned before, ethnocentrism is one reason. The rest has to do with the statistical baggage that comes with minorities which is why when minorities move in, the property value of the neighborhood goes down. This all has to do with statistics associated with minorities for education, employment, income, crime, poverty, health, housing, etc. It also depends on which particular minority group is involved.

Other than that, when property value goes up, it is because the neighborhood is much more desirable, so when a white family’s yearly income increases, they move out to a much more expensive neighborhood because it offers a much better standard/quality of living based on the categories listed above. I moved a few years back due to an increased income, and my property taxes went from 15k in the old hood to 30k a year in the new hood, but then again, it is worth every penny, so you get what you pay for.

The most recent and noteworthy example of white flight is the entire city of Detroit When they surveyed for the reasons, the most popular responses were crime, noise and poor schooling. After years of white flight, the city is now 85–90% black.

Louis CK said it best: “Look at all these minorities here! I’m the only majority!”

Probably none of the white people I know would ever consider themselves racist, or say or do anything intentionally hurtful. But most of them have never stopped to consider what life might be like from other than a white perspective. Many of my white acquaintances are pretty clueless about the opportunities they grew up with that other people missed out on, or the fact that racial bias can be built right into the justice system.

I’m white, and that means I benefit from a lot of privileges that I didn’t earn, because that’s how our society is built. People don’t follow me in stores, my encounters with the police have generally been positive, most of the people in our media share my race, when I got into college nobody said it was because of affirmative action. I generally don’t have to think about race at all in my everyday life, because that’s what it means to be white.

It means that if you want to, you can live in a protective bubble. For instance, none of my white friends really got angry about the Michael Brown killing. A few of them mentioned it with language like “it’s a senseless tragedy” or “we will never really know who was at fault.” My black friends are saying things like “a young man was murdered.”

You know what makes me so sad? My childhood hero Levar Burton (Reading Rainbow, Star Trek TNG) always puts his hands outside the car if he is pulled over, so the police will know he doesn’t have a weapon.

Or, a more everyday example, many black women spend a fuckton of time and money to chemically straighten their hair. In some schools and workplaces, natural black hair is frowned upon or banned. I’ve sat with one of my close friends at the hairdresser while she got her hair done, and she kind of shrugged and compared it to going to the dentist (every couple weeks.)

So, like, while I don’t see much in the way of intentional racism or hurtfulness, I do meet a ton of white people who are totally unaware of stuff like this. That leads to white folks saying stuff like “why can’t I say the N word” or “I don’t believe in political correctness, I’m equally offensive whether you’re black, white, brown, blue, or purple,” or “can I touch your hair?”

It’s, like, a combination of cluelessness and insensitivity. Come onnnn white people, we can do better!

@JLelslie: My vision of Australia is there are not many black people there

Check out the indigenous population of Aborigines and see what has happened to them in Australia. A very long and very inglorious history.

As a white Jewish female, I have had, in the past, some minor but unpleasant skirmishes.

@gailcalled I know the aborigines. I would bet a whole bunch of money aborignees don’t consider themselves in the same group as black Americans or even black Africans and vice a versa. Maybe a white person might see all those dark people as the same. Maybe @trailsillustrated can enlighten us on how australians look at it.

@Haleth and others (sorry so long, if you choose not to read it I don’t blame you)

As much as I empathasize with some of the discrimination and insensitivity that goes on against black people, the hair thing I take a little issue with. Dreadlocks cost money. Corn rows cost money. White women have to spend a lot of money on their hair too. The media is saturated with white women with thick long hair and extensions are a fortune and so are expensive shampoos, irons, and styling products. My personal opinion is there is more pressure within the black community about hair than from the white community. I look at some of the hair styles black women spend a fortune on and I think it is a huge waste. The styles often times are not attractive to the white communty, they are attractive to the people within their community. My Chanel counter had to wear their hair pulled back or short, nails could not be longer than a milimeter or so above the nail bed. This is part of work, dress code exists down to hair and nails for everyone. My husband asked if he should cut his long hair when interviewing with a bank, he would have done whatever he needed to do (within reason) to conform to their expectations regarding how he presents himself. He had to buy a few more suits and ties for that job, but did not have to cut his hair with that company. I don’t think any of the examples said a black girl could not wear her hair in a natural state short, or pulled back. I really feel black women talk about this being an issue when it is less of an issue for the white community than they think.

What about the money white women spend for Botox, laser, and other things to smooth our wrinkles back out that most people of color don’t have to worry about or feel pressured to do, and it does relate, or can be argued it relates to career and how people treat you.

The justice system definitely has some inequity, no question. But, we also cannot ignore there is some sort of problem that needs to be addressed besides convictions and punishments being unequal.

A black friend of mine just posted two hours ago on fb that black children need to be taught they are viewed differently and so they need to be taught they need to dress a certain way and carry themselves a certain way. I completely disagree with telling black children because of their race they are viewed differently, especially very young children. He is correct people are judged on how they dress and how they carry themselves and I would add how they speak. That’s all that needs to be said, because I trully believe that is what society really judges. All children are told how they dress, carry themselves and speak matter. We’re you told to stand up straight? To not use slang? To show respect to others? To dress appropriately for where you were whether it be school, church, the beach, visiting a friend, going to a restaurant? I think children should be told how fabulous and beautiful they are and be encouraged to pursue their interests and told if they want something they need to work hard at it.

It is true that there can be unfairness and I believe if a black person is in an all white neighborhood they might stand out and people might wonder who they are, especially if their are not dressed in a way that is consistent with the neighborhood. Many factors can add up to how someone is judged at first glance.

If you see a bunch of white male skinhead looking guys does it make you a little on edge? If so then why shouldn’t hoodlum dressed men also make you uneasy?

I once saw on Oprah a white guy who had filmed himself on a busy sidewalk trying to ask for directions and most people helped him. Then, he had a makeup artist make him look like a black man and do the same on the sidewalk and he was treated badly, most ignored. The thing is he also changed his clothing! He was dressed more like a negative stereotype people would have of black men. It is an unfair statement to say he was treated poorly solely because of his skin color.

When I worked in retail I called security for any guys in big baggy clothing, especially if they were in packs of two or more and separated when in a department. I didn’t care if they were black, white, Hispanic, their dress and behavior was their behavior. They might not be stealing anything, but they were going to be watched. yes, they stole often enough that it was worth sticking with the profiling. not that I believe in ever harrassing anyone. We also had white women with plenty of money shove items under their babies to steal things, so I am not saying the baggy clothed men are the only ones stealing and they certainly are not the only people who we watched.

We all have to conform somewhat to the expectations of the people in power if that makes sense. If black people achieve a lot of power at some point and want it to be ok for people who work at banks to wear pants hanging off their ass with their underwear showing have at it, but we know that won’t happen, because black people with power and money understand why some of the rules of conformity are there. It isn’t that they are Uncle Tom’s. People all over the world speak in dialect and also use the common language of their country, there is no reason minority groups here can’t do that instead of trying to insist their dialect should be acceptable. My Filipino friend when she meets another person from her country they go through which language or dialect they might have in common, they both also speak English fluently. My Jamaican friends speak perfect American English accent and all, but with each other and their families I can barely understand a word they say. yet, even here in fluther we have jellies who defend Ebonics as a legitimate means of communication to use when talking to everyone, because they are still understood overall. Trying to defend that hurts their own people.

My response to you is really also a response for everyone to read, I am not attacking your answer, I am interested in your response and opinion regarding what I have said, and specifically all the conforming we white people also do spending time and money on it.

It’s about fear, pure and simple. And it’s not restricted to just whites or just blacks, or just any one else in particular. It’s fear of all people, of all races, of all ethnicities, of all religious backgrounds, you name it. It is fear of anything and anybody who is different in every way from any other person.

I like diversity. But when I go see my family I get the opposite view. Big time.

What the cookie fella said.

@JLeslie;
“The term “blacks” has been used to refer to Indigenous Australians since European settlement. While originally related to skin colour, the term is used today to indicate Aboriginal heritage or culture in general and refers to people of any skin pigmentation. In the 1970s, many Aboriginal activists, such as Gary Foley proudly embraced the term “black”, and writer Kevin Gilbert’s ground-breaking book from the time was entitled Living Black…” Source

@gailcalled Doesn’t matter. My question to @trailsillustrated would be does she consider the black people she encountered in IL and MO the same as the Aborigines in Australia. She might, I would be surprised, but happy to say I am wrong if I am.

@JLeslie not at all, there are many blacks here but they are not African Americans, they are either refugees, professionals from other countries that have immigrated, or Abos. The Abos that I’ve seen are entirely marginalised and live in either public housing or country towns or outside, they haven’t integrated at all, (the full and half-bloods), they can be seen sleeping in the town square, they have alot of problems with drink. My daughter’s mate was spat on by a group of the at a bus stop. It’s entirely different than the people in IL and MO. I know they had their land stolen by Europeans but the Crown has, and does, give them heaps of money in settlement. I know very little about their lives.

ITT: Naked, raw and unabridged racism.

But that’s okay, it’s directed at “white people.”

If one is trying to lead by example on issues of “racism” one cannot dilute the impact of the message by allowing exceptions.

@trailsillustrated So, did you have any preconceived ideas about black people in the US?

At that time, and I don’t know why I don’t see them anymore here, there were some American baseball players here, and of course on TV. I didn’t know what it would be like, my first experience there was not good. I think what happened with the Abos is more like what happened with the Native Americans, the Indian tribes.

@trailsillustrated That’s how I imagined it since they are indigenous, but my assumption could easily have been wrong.

In fact, I know a lot of Americans who don’t give race relations a thought. There is no issue where they live. They can live in the states their whole life and be well into adulthood when they move to an area with significant race relation issues and then they see a whole different side of things. It’s another reason we can’t generalize about a group, because there are even subgroups within groups.

To circle back to the original question, I think most of white America puts all Latin Americans/Hispanics in one group while people from Latin America don’t see it that way. I remember one of my black girlfriends saying to me that white people see Hispanics as equals, but look down on black people, and I told her that’s not true. I thought it was interesting she thought and felt that way. This was about 20 years ago before the immigration stuff was so heated.

In my all-white town there’s a subtle disdain for other races. @ibstubro understands. I love it & hate it both.

As a white straight male I am the only remaining majority.

I am therefore one of the final minority.

@JLeslie I do have generalisations and stereotypes that I am aware of. When I meet an individual I don’t apply them though – people will always surprise. I don’t really think about minorities though – I’m not going to change my vote based on gay marriage, I’m not going to avoid moving into an area because it is a racial enclave, or change my behaviour in any other way.

I live in a highly multicultural liberal area where one would never want to be labeled a racists.

If you put forth effort to get along with people in my community they will take time to talk with you and get to know you better. If you separate yourself then they will assume you don’t want to be bothered and they will leave you alone. I have witnessed Asian, Indian (from India) and Mexican families getting along well with other races in the neighborhood. The African American families seem only to interact with other African Americans but they are not mistreated by those who have European ancestry.

The problem I have when someone brings up questions about race is that they seem to leave out preference. Just because I prefer to be around my family and have little time to mix with others doesn’t necessarily make me a racist it just makes me choosy and responsible. I’ll help anyone I come across regardless of the melanin in their skin or the country of their ancestors but I have little time to stand in the yard and shoot the breeze because my own wife and kids need me to be there for them and I really am not a big talker.

In closing, I believe personalities have a lot to do with this subject some people regardless of race are very outgoing and others are more introverted. What we sometimes perceive as racists isn’t always the case. Until we actually know each other and understand why we do what we do we should keep the labels on the shelf.

I do understand, @KNOWITALL. Disdain for the race, acceptance of the person.
Your town can’t be ALL white, klan…er…can it?

I was raised that way too, and it pisses me off when my friends can’t pretend otherwise for the common good. Fine, think it, but don’t pass it on to the kids.

Unsure. Also very lucky for being Canadian.

@JLeslie I also know what the other side of the coin is like to some extent. I live in Sydney, Australia, and there are parts of the city where, as a white guy, I am in the minority. I’m not talking about isolated suburbs, but close to half the city now. But I don’t let my minority status in these areas change my behaviour either. I think that if you present as a decent human being, people will respond to that no matter what culture they’re from.

&Ibstbro We have one black guy at kum n go but he makes black jokes all the time lol

Kum n Go? @Knowitall

@Ibstubro The convenience store, Fernell, he’s a great guy. In Springfield there are lots of minorities.

Minorities in Springfield.

People that aren’t yellow.