Inspired by the semi-recent questions about 'blackface'.

[psycoatde]

This morning I wondered just how many - if any - black people I have actually met in my life. This doesn't include train conductors or other people that I might have met once a year or something, I am talking children in school, coworkers, landlords and so on. It surprised me to realise that I haven't -really- met a single black person in my life.

Comments

[shirogirl]

LOLwhat

I can't even begin to process this question, I've never not lived in a place where there aren't multiple races. Even growing up in the Southern US which most people think of as homogenous 'white bread' USA my area was mostly black and native.
There is no dominate 'everyone' where I live now, it's about as multicultural as you can get. My little block alone is Arab, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Indian, and Quebecois which is reflected in the businesses.

[psycoatde]

I am sorry if it came across as if I never had any contact whatsoever with any other race - that was not my intent :) As mentioned in my post, I have met and/or had relationships with several different races... I just now noticed that any kind of black person (except for, you know, Gothics ;) ) is not someone I had a whole lot of contact with in my life and wondered whether or not 1) this is exclusive for Germany and 2) if other countries just have a different shift, i.e. in England there are barely any Japanese or something.

It did seem to me like America is the country where you have the most diversity, but maybe that, too, varies state by state?

[sparroworsnail]

It definitely does vary by state and city. Rural North Dakota for example is going to be a lot less diverse than LA, obviously. But yeah, the US is called the "melting pot" for a reason.

[tediousandbrief]

I just now noticed that any kind of black person (except for, you know, Gothics ;) )

I am totally not trying to be rude, but I have no idea what the hell that means. Is that supposed to be a joke?

[mofoburrell]

If it makes you feel any better, I never saw a black person until I went to Disneyland at age 11. My reaction was something like "huh, they look just like they do on TV" (incidentally, this was my exact reaction the first time I saw a boob). Through school and TV I'd already been inundated with anti-racist messages, but even they stuff we got at school was material from the US, I think, so their idea of "racism" was always "racism towards black people". It was sad because we actually had (probably still do, boo) a really huge racism problem where I was from, but it wasn't until high school that it started to click for people that racism isn't just about black people: racism against Cree people is still bad.

I don't have time to answer your other questions right now, but I understand #2 has been shown to be "yes" under a number of different circumstances. I just wanted to share my lame anecdote.

[psycoatde]

Interesting. I think in German schools - even though we did touch on the history of America and therefore racism based on skin colour/race - they focus much, much more on racism based on religion because of our past. We cover that topic in just about every class - history, language classes, religion classes, social studies, ethic classes... even science classes sometimes so racism was more about belittling someone because of their beliefs than their race.

Thanks for your reply - I didn't think it was lame :)

[fletwock]

Haha, wow. And I thought my dad's story about seeing a black person for the first time when he was a kid was extreme/weird, and he was born in 1942. Where were you raised, if you don't mind me asking?

[mofoburrell]

I grew up in Saskatoon. And for the record there are a few black families in Saskatoon. I was out in the suburbs and pretty sheltered, I guess :P

[corpusdeliicti]

Mte

[psycoatde]

I am sorry if I offended you somehow with my question(s), that was not my intent - could you elaborate on what offends you so that I can avoid a situation like this in the future?

I am, of course, assuming that something offended you because you didn't give a whole lot of detail in your reply. If -that- is also wrong, uhm... Sorry? Again? :-/

[leskay]

1. Ha, I attend the most culturally diverse university in the United States, literally. My area in general (northern NJ) is extremely diverse. I've had students of most races and have gotten to know many Asian, black, Middle-eastern, African, Eastern-European, Caribbean, Indian, and Latin students well. My roster is always so ridiculously diverse that I can only pronounce one or two names. I'm always saying them out loud to my husband to try to figure them out before class and I'll be like, "Titilope Djswambe... Agnieskja Djblowskivitz... Laeeq al Said... oh, hey, Marla Johnson!" lol, so yeah, a lot of diversity and you don't really see prejudice around here besides the occasional douchebag who is still obnoxious towards Muslims about 9/11 because we're so close to NYC.

2. Of course. We're huge on us vs. them mentality. Chimps do it too. You form a troop of your own, however you define it, and you attack the other troop for better access to resources or the dominant status or what not. There's always something.

[psycoatde]

Wow, your university sounds really awesome - except for the names, maybe, that has to be quite embarassing at times :)
I worked at a university library for a few years and there was a lot of diversity there but obviously I didn't really get to know the people that just wanted to get their books and leave so those don't count for me. Students, of course, are different!

[leskay]

The diversity is pretty great, yeah. I don't think anyone could go to my school and leave with prejudice against any race because you're sort of struck with how EXACTLY THE SAME everyone there is. Okay, so we all look different and have very different names but we're all bitching about the same professors and our jobs and family life, we enjoy the same labs and all hate colloquium, we have similar morals and hopes and dreams.

The name thing isn't embarrassing because I don't call role or anything; students just sign in. I get some pretty cool names though. I had an Enchantia last semester and a Ravioli a couple years ago, haha.

[speaktothevoid]

I've had friends of a lot of different heritages (Surinamese Creole, Indonesian, Turkish, Morroccan, Indian) in school. Although somehow, the friends I have now are predominantly white. No idea why, it's not by design... Maybe it's a cultural thing, I just don't seem to meet many non-white geeks and goths. I do live in a very culturally diverse neighbourhood, but I've never been one to connect with my neighbours (probably due to my autism).
Many people I know (a few small town friends, co-workers, people I meet online) seem to be afraid of non-white people. Like, one of my friends got lost on her way to my place and was afraid to ask Black people for directions. And my half Morroccan brother in law used to get stopped by police more often than his white friends when he was a teen. I personally think it's mostly due to people misunderstanding other cultures and fearing the unknown -- that's the basis of racism, too, I think.