How’s about you step down off your moral high horse there. I’m not without flaws and prejudices, but calling somebody a racist is just about as bad as an ethnic slur of any kind, I don’t appreciate it. I never said I would turn anybody down just because they were black. What I said was that I was less likely to believe them, all other things being equal, because I think there is a shared cultural belief that an honest black person who lives in my part of the country has more pride and self-respect than to let themselves look like a shiftless, no-account beggar in front of a white stranger. However, I’ve been in tight fixes before and had to ask for help from strangers, and it’s humiliating, and I would like to be able to help a person if they are honestly having a crisis without accusing them of being cheats and liars, if it’s at all possible.
In this sentence you used the word help, not believe.
Some common synonyms of “help”… aid, support, assist.
So, yes, it is less likely you will aid/support/assist this person if they were black.
If you don’t want to help someone because you don’t enjoy giving money away, have suspicions, bad vibes, etc., then don’t help them. But less likely wanting to help, believe, whatever, someone simply because of their skin color…
Okay, so what if this black man wasn’t from the South, but was there on a vacation and was unaccustomed to this “culture”? Does this mean that because of his skin color he’d be turned down. By your standards, most likely. Maybe this guy was coming to you because you were the only person around. He’s not going to go find the closest black person to help him because he’s not worried about skin color, he just needs help.
Or let’s say this black man is from the South and approaches you. Why did he approach you? Maybe because he really is homeless and needs help and has no friends or any connection to money and you just happened to be the closest person nearby who appeared to have their head on straight. I guess he’s not getting help because he’s already been categorized.
I’m not saying you’re a bad person. Hundreds of millions of people suffer from this on on many different levels. Where you live, it becomes so natural to distrust black people specifically that it effects the black race as an entirety. Because now, when Mr Business Owner from the South moves his business out of the South and Mr Blackman who isn’t from the South wants a job… I wonder what happens there.
ETA: Forgot this part.
What if this black man asked all of the other black people and none of them wanted to help him? I he now supposed to disregard the fact that other people are around simply because they are all whites…
My solution is just to not give beggars of any stripe money and not feel guilty about it.
To all the people calling the OP a racist, I’m curious how you arrived at this conclusion. Does the OP’s statement as repeated below in (1) automatically qualify her as a racist, regardless of the rationale behind it?
(1) “I find myself a lot less likely to want to help if the person asking is black.”
If not, then does the rationale stated in (2) automatically qualify her as racist, regardless of whether it is an empirically true statement?
(2) “[…]if there are a mix of black and white people to ask in a public place, a black person in a temporary fix would not ask a white person for money.”
If not, then what does make her a racist? And what do we accomplish by labeling her as such?
I usually kick down whatever change I can spare when I get panhandled, without troubling myself over what my contribution will buy (after all, once it is in the other’s hand, it’s their money, and none of my business what they plan to spend it on).
That said, after the first couple-three times I had the “can you spare a couple bucks for gas?” thing used on me, I started resenting it because it’s so transparently a hustle. And around here for some reason it is generally youngish, “presentably” dressed (i.e. in suits or somewhat “preppy”) black men who approach one with that line. I’d rather be simply asked for a buck or some change than have my street-savvy impugned in that fashion.
I laughed with the phrase “know if they are telling a story or not,” because by god, that is definitely the Southern way of saying “know if they are a damned liar or not.” Classically Southern.
That is a scam 99% of the time. You also have to take in to account that most people do not want to appear racist in any way, shape or form, and would MORE likely give the money to a black person.
My new job has a gang of panhandlers that work the corners regularly. They are all white. I’ve driven past them enough, now they wave. Slow times during the day, you can see them all hanging out together in various places. They only work morning rush hour, lunch time and night rush hour.
I think the opposite is more true. A black person would ask anyone, but a white person would be more hesitant to ask a black person.
That said, I think that 95% of anyone claiming to be in this situation regardless of race is a scammer, or at least lying about why they want the money. I usually mentally pretend that they asked me for money to get a beer or some smokes instead, and if I still feel generous then I might give them something.
That said, I’d probably find any story more or less believable based on the state of mind and dress of the person regardless of race. Are they in a suit or reasonably well dressed and well versed? Do they seem drunk, slovenly, smelly, out of it?