Best of the Week
of April 1, 2001
Best of Week
Archives
Here are the most intriguing cross-cultural exchanges
either begun or advanced during the week of April 1, 2001, as
selected by Y? These postings, as well as "Best of the
Week" entries from previous weeks, also can be found by accessing
Y?'s new database using the search form,
or, in the case of answers posted before April 24, 1999, in
the Original Archives (all
questions from the Original Archives have been entered into
the new database as well). In the Original Archives and the new
database, you will find questions that have received answers, as well
as questions still awaiting responses. You are encouraged to answer
any questions relevant to your demographic background, as well as to
ask any provocative question you desire. Answers posted are not
necessarily meant to represent the views of an entire demographic
group, but can provide a window into the insights of an individual
from that group.
First-time users should first make a quick stop at Y?'s
guidelines pages for asking and
answering questions.
The book
on Y? is here!
"Why Do White People Smell Like Wet
Dogs
When They Come Out Of The Rain?"
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Question:
Where were the national media in December 2000 when two black
brothers from Dodge City, Kan., committed a quadruple murder against
whites in Wichita? Or only a year earlier when three white Michigan
teens were brutally assaulted by a gang of blacks after the former
had hopped a train and landed in a black neighborhood? Or when in
1998 three black teens in Burlington, N.C., kidnapped, raped and
murdered a 10-year-old white girl? Or when a white man was nearly
beaten and stomped to death upon leaving a restaurant near Ft. Bragg,
N.C., by a gang of blacks? Or when a white woman of Streator, Ill.,
died in August 1998 after being dragged for three miles behind a
black driver�s automobile? Why haven't we heard more from the black
community in the United States about this type of behavior? When
whites commit idiotic crimes, other whites are quick to call the
perpetrators the evil bastards that they are ... but in situations
like these, the black community is silent. Is it perhaps because they
secretly endorse this kind of behavior?
POSTED 4/3/2001
ArzaThoth, Central, NJ, United States, 27, Male, Methodist,
White/Caucasian, Straight, Programmer, 4 Years of College, Middle
class, Mesg ID 42200174731
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Question:
Why are whites so scared of blacks?
POSTED 4/3/2001
Jasmine, Las Vegas, NV, United States, 17, Female, Christian,
Black/African American, Straight, student, Less than High School
Diploma, Middle class, Mesg ID 3282001111546
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Question:
Why do women gain so much respect when they beat a man at any
sport?
POSTED 4/3/2001
Kelvin, Carrollton, GA, United States, Male, Mesg ID
330200172956
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Question:
Why are many elderly people afraid of teenagers? Do most of
them think that just because some teens are bad that every teenager
is a drug addict who doesn't care about anyone but themselves?
POSTED 3/23/2001
Azrael, Central Square, NY, United States, 16, Female,
Christian, White/Caucasian, Straight, student, Less than High School
Diploma, Middle class, Mesg ID 321200115919
Responses:
I think it has to do with change and the realization of older
people that they are physically getting weaker and cannot defend
themselves the way they were able to in their prime. Some years ago,
my parents were uncomfortable riding a subway late at night with a
group of teens sporting colorful mohawks. The hairstyles and dress of
the youths were totally unfamiliar to my parents, thus the
discomfort. This unfamiliarity (ignorance, though that's a harsher
word) leads to much prejudice and bigotry in this world.
POSTED 4/3/2001
Nancy, Akron, OH, United States, 45, Female, Mesg ID
328200194536
I think the attitude you are talking about could be from several
things. For example, because they are from a generation during which
good manners and courtesy were more common, they may not understand
teenagers of today. I've noticed that when I'm waited on at a grocery
store, some of the kids that work there are rude in general and don't
even bother to say 'hello' or 'thank you.' At times all you see of
them is a sort of 'blank stare.' This, to a person who grew up in an
age when this kind of behavior would not occur, is no small thing. I
think that because many elderly folks have found this kind of
interaction with teens to be the most common form, they may
generalize. If you think about the changes that have taken place in
society in their lifetime, it may give you a better perspective of
what they may be dealing with. I would try not to take it too
personally, and would even maybe try to go a little out of your way
to prove them wrong by smiling and just saying a nice friendly hello
- it just might make their day.
POSTED 4/3/2001
Cynthia, Chicago, IL, United States, Female, Mesg ID 328200192943
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Question:
Why do (Asian) Indians shake their heads when they speak?
POSTED 4/3/2001
Charly, Washington, DC, United States, 32, Male, Jehovahs
Witness, White/Caucasian, Straight, waiter, High School Diploma,
Lower middle class, Mesg ID 330200163342
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Question:
Why does it seem that many members of the Jewish community have
a lot of money, power and smarts? From Einstein to Streisand, and
Hollywood to diamond dealing, where does it come from?
POSTED 3/19/2001
G. Chan, Monréal, Quebec, NA, Canada, 18, Male,
Agnostic, Asian, Gay, student, 2 Years of College, Lower middle
class, Mesg ID 316200111512
Responses:
Until recently, Jews were discriminated against when looking for
work, so they had to become self-employed by opening a business or
becoming a doctor, etc. And you know the saying, 'You never get rich
working for someone else.' So with a lot of hard work and sacrifices,
they made their fortune. With this money, they can help their kids
start or continue the business or go on to higher education. Also,
Jews tend to be smarter than average because for centuries they were
persecuted. Only the smartest ones survived; the dumber ones got
weeded out of the gene pool. Currently, anti-Semitism is very low in
North America, and professors are finding that Jewish students don't
score as highly as they used to; now there is no pressing need to
overachieve.
POSTED 4/3/2001
Ronit, Toronto, Ontario, NA, Canada, 38, Female, Jewish,
White/Caucasian, Straight, Technical School, Lower middle class, Mesg
ID 326200173150
I always understood that it was because early Christianity forbade
the charging of interest on loans (much as Islam does today). Judaism
had no restrictions, so the Jews ended up being the moneylenders to
all (religious persecution also limited what else they could do).
Thus the Jews were forced into doing what they have been historically
derided for doing - being the moneylenders.
POSTED 4/3/2001
Sean H., London, NA, United Kingdom, 37, Male, Atheist,
White/Caucasian, Straight, Geologist, Over 4 Years of College, Lower
middle class, Mesg ID 328200162026
I know several Jews through work, and none of them has any money.
The only Jewish family with any money that I have known was that of a
doctor. Jews I work with now are journalists. If all I knew of blacks
was gathered from television, I'd probably think they were either
ghetto poor or NBA rich. People of all races litter every platform in
our society.
POSTED 4/3/2001
Brian, Peru, IN, United States, 25, Male, Methodist,
White/Caucasian, Straight, journalist, 4 Years of College, Middle
class, Mesg ID 329200181728
I don't think it's just time that has helped Jews to become a
force in American culture. It's the fact that Jews, maybe more than
some other cultural groups, seem to put a heavy emphasis on literacy,
higher education and hard work. It's true that Jews do have a
disproportionate representation in the media, and in many
high-profile occupations. It's not a plot to take over the world, as
some seem to think. It's just a culturally ingrained drive to excel.
Also, perhaps because of their history of persecution, Jews do tend
to have a certain solidarity. They help each other by supporting
Jewish businesses and charities and lending a hand to new Jewish
immigrants. There is a stereotype that Jews only help each other,
though, and that is not true. Many Jews put themselves on the
frontlines during the Civil Rights Movement in the '60s, and have
been active in countless other causes. If you want insight into
Jewish society and Jewish attitudes about civil rights, I suggest you
read the book, 'The Temple Bombing.'
POSTED 4/3/2001
Theo, Atlanta, GA, United States, 30, Female, White/Caucasian,
writer, 4 Years of College, Middle class, Mesg ID
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Question:
Why is it that no one wants to acknowledge that the reason U.S.
society 'acts' like whites are in the majority is that they ARE in
the majority? According to statistics from July 1999, the percentage
of the U.S. population with regard to ethnicity is as follows: White
- 82.3%; Black - 12.8%; Hispanic - 11.5%; Asian/Pacific Islander -
4.0%; and American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut - 0.9%. Yet I keep reading
or hearing statements like 'Bush's Cabinet is racially diverse, but
not racially diverse enough,' or 'There aren't enough 'black' shows
on television,' or 'There aren't enough 'black' ______ in the
country,' or 'When I look at advertisements, I'm reminded that I live
in a 'white' country because I always see more white faces than black
faces on them,' or 'A good school should be no more than 50% white.'
POSTED 4/3/2001
Brian H., Brooklyn, NY, United States, 23, Male,
White/Caucasian, Straight, Network Admin/Student, 2 Years of College,
Lower middle class, Mesg ID 3282001100529
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Question:
I've moved back to my hometown, a 'minority majority' city in
which the Chicano population outnumbers the Caucasian population.
I've met up with an old friend (who is white), and it seems like we
might get together romantically. What really bothers me, though, is
that every time I've spoken with him since returning to our hometown,
he's made derogatory comments about 'those Mexicans' in kind of
hushed, confidential tones, like he expects me to agree with him
(which I definitely don't). Has anyone had any experience trying to
change someone's racist views, or has anyone gotten romantically
involved with someone like this? What was your experience like?
POSTED 4/3/2001
S.R., San Antonio, TX, United States, 23, Female, Humanist,
White/Caucasian, Straight, Over 4 Years of College, Mesg ID
412001103736
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Question:
Why do Italian Americans dislike or hate blacks, use derogatory
terms to descibe them such as 'Mullis,' chase blacks out of their
neighborhoods and, in the worst cases, beat them with bats, when to
the best of my knowledge blacks have never done anything to
Italians?
POSTED 3/23/2001
Wam, Baldwin, NY, United States, 36, Male, Baptist,
Black/African American, Straight, Over 4 Years of College, Middle
class, Mesg ID 322200120330
Responses:
Because Italians are, overall, congenitally ignorant thugs who
can hardly string two words of English together, but because they had
an empire 1,500 years ago and one of them is responsible for
discovering (more like falling back-assward into) this continent 500
years ago, they think they are entitled to respect. Despite this -
they, the whites who wrote the book on how whites behave - consider
themselves an ethnic minority, and every time they're portrayed in
the media as organized criminals or ignorant thugs, the Italian
Anti-Defamation League (i.e. the Mafia) whines to the media that
that's 'racist,' and that 'if blacks were portrayed that way, no one
would stand for it.' What a joke. In short, most Italians are type-A
personalities who feel the world owes them automatic, unconditional
respect because of accomplishments their
great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfathers made.
And when they see a black guy living the same way in the same
neighborhood as them, it forces them to acknowledge that they aren't
the superior race anymore, and that burns their ass in ways they're
too stupid to express any other way than violently.
POSTED 3/26/2001
Sean, Boston, MA, United States, Male, White/Caucasian, Lower
middle class, Mesg ID 323200131347
There is some real merit in Wam's original question about the
extremely hostile attitudes of some Italian Americans toward blacks,
which should not be lost in the rush to criticize Sean's response.
Some of the most anti-black sentiments I have heard or have been
informed of have come from Italian Americans, and not necessarily all
on the East Coast. Choosing to see this as just an example of
'insular communities' comes across as a self-serving attempt to
contort this ugly behavior into something acceptable, using the
argument that 'others do it' under similar circumstances of
insularity. But such a degree of insularity in any society as open as
ours is viewed under most other circumstances as downright sickness,
or at best medieval. Sean's response, while colorful and somewhat
extreme around the edges, may be much closer to the truth than many
of his critics here are aware of or are willing to admit. The truth
does not necessarily have to be cloaked in pretty dressing -
especially if the truth itself is not pretty.
POSTED 4/3/2001
I. Moses, Columbia, MD, United States, Male, Black/African
American, Over 4 Years of College, Mesg ID 328200153308
Sean, it sounds as though you are from my neighborhood. Or
Southie, or Quincy. No matter, though. Italians are certainly not the
only white ethnic group that is racist. History has shown that.
However, in the last 20 or so years, there have been several
high-profile racist incidents involving Italian Americans. I believe
it lies more with their class than with their ethnic group in those
cases. Most of those were crimes performed by blue-collar,
working-class whites. Because I've spent 21 years among people like
them, I know that their racism is probably the same as any other
group of white people, but their roots cause them to deal with it
differently. Their low monetary status means they can't discriminate
in the job market, so they use violence to put blacks down and feel
better about themselves. They use the excuses of keeping the
neighborhood safe and clean, but it's really xenophobia and fear of
change. I reiterate, I've spent 21 years in Charlestown, where until
forced integration of our housing projects, a black person or any
other minority would've been in danger to walk through here. And
Charlestown is predominantly Irish American.
POSTED 4/3/2001
Seamus, Charlestown, MA, United States, <madskat@home.com>,
Male, Irish-American, Student/Construction, Mesg ID 3302001123822
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Question:
I am an outspoken female leaving for India. I want to know if
there is anything I should be worried about, such as covering my face
or how I dress, drinking at bars, etc. I do not want to offend
anyone, and I do not want to put myself in danger. Are there any web
sites I can visit to find out what is acceptable, or does anyone have
any advice? Also, I will be meeting my boyfriend's parents for the
first time and wanted to know some dos and don�ts.
POSTED 11/16/2000
Marie, Tampa, FL, United States, 22, Female, White/Caucasian,
Mesg ID 1113200094504
Responses:
People will always be asking 'what country?' Unless they are
people your boyfriend introduces you to, don't tell them. If you tell
people, they'll try to cheat you, and if they're male, they'll also
sexually harass you. If you get inappropriately touched, the best
thing is to tell the person you are offended, or yell at them. Don't
let them get away with it so they'll treat other foreigners the same
way. It doesn't matter what you wear, if people know you're a
foreigner and they're not educated about other cultures, they will
sexually harass you, so try not to go anywhere without your
boyfriend.
POSTED 4/3/2001
Diana, Sacramento, CA, United States, 18, Female, Catholic,
Chicana, Straight, Student, Less than High School Diploma, Middle
class, Mesg ID 328200125627
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