# African-Americans' aversion to cold temps **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 1, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499 "2011-11-01T15:02:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/21 "2011-11-02T01:36:48Z")
My guess is that the strongest factor is natural acclimatization (at least in the US, more black people live in southern areas) with maybe a very weak race-based physiological factor going on as well (increased heat radiation from dark skin vs light? Body morphology? Fat distribution? Body/head hair type? Who knows.) Speaking re: acclimatization: My Aunt (white, mother’s sister) grew up in the same weather climate (Madison, WI) as I did. She moved south a while back. After living there for about a decade, she visited us in Madison. This was early March some years back. With temps in the 50s, I was loving it outside in a t-shirt and jeans. She was bundled up in full winter gear (heavy coat, hat, scarf, mittens) and was absolutely miserably freezing cold. And of course the counter examples. There _are_ black people in colder climes (shock!) and at least the ones I know and work with deal with and dress for the cold about the same as everybody else. And I’ve heard no complaints about the office being kept in the low 70s in winter. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/22 "2011-11-02T01:58:09Z")
I have a friend who came from South India; she hates the cold MN winters. Her husband is American black with some Pacific Islander and White blood; he hates the cold. Their son, born in Calif., loves the cold and suffers in the heat. Of all the countries and climates he’s been in, he wants to settle on the Iron Range of MN. Go figure. We either adjust to the temps or we don’t. I doubt race plays into it very much. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/23 "2011-11-02T05:09:45Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Black people make far less vitamin D than white people (about 10x less per amount of sunlight) due to more melanin. Not entirely true. > **[Racial pigmentation and the cutaneous synthesis of vitamin D - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1848745/)** > > The varying epidermal melanin content that produces racial pigmentation determines the number of photons that reach the lower (malpighian) cellular layers, where vitamin D3 synthesis takes place. We investigated the effect of racial pigmentation on... > [@](#): > > The varying epidermal melanin content that produces racial pigmentation determines the number of photons that reach the lower (malpighian) cellular layers, where vitamin D3 synthesis takes place. We investigated the effect of racial pigmentation on vitamin D3 formation, stimulating the process with a fixed dose of UVB radiation (wavelengths, 290 to 320 nm). Vitamin D nutritional status was further assessed measuring serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and the most active serum metabolite, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. **Experimental subjects were young (third decade of life) and healthy, representing the white, Oriental (East Asian), Indian (South Asian), and black races**. Basal serum vitamin D3 levels were similar among groups, ranging from 2.3 +/- 0.6 nmol/L (mean +/- SEM) for blacks to 3.4 +/- 1.0 nmol/L for Indians. Following whole-body exposure to 27 mJ/cm2 of UVB, there was a significant racial group effect on serum vitamin D3 levels. Post-UVB levels were significantly higher in whites (31.4 +/- 4.4 nmol/L) than in Indians or blacks (12.8 +/- 2.9 and 9.1 +/- 2.1 nmol/L, respectively), while the levels in Orientals (27.8 +/- 4.4 nmol/L) differed significantly from those in blacks and Indians but not in whites. \*\*Race had only a marginal effect on serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, with higher levels in whites than in blacks (69.9 +/- 12.7 vs 29.7 +/- 6.2 nmol/L). \*\*Serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D and vitamin D binding protein levels were similar in all groups. **We conclude that while racial pigmentation has a photoprotective effect, it does not prevent the generation of normal levels of active vitamin D metabolites**. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/24 "2011-11-02T05:16:10Z")
how fat are those afro-americans you’re talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/25 "2011-11-02T05:40:10Z")
This being the Dope, I’m surprised no one has chimed in on this discussion of temperature with the perennial “Isn’t that due to black body radiation?” ---
**Author:** ![Hennessy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hennessy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hennessy)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/26 "2011-11-02T08:52:58Z")
Is all human skin the same thickness? ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/27 "2011-11-02T10:30:16Z")
Nothing scientific to add here. I do find the topic interesting because of my family’s make-up. My mom’s extended family, who are black, reside solely in the mid-Atlantic / Northeast, i.e., Maryland, NJ, NY, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. My dad’s extended family in the US, however, who are white, reside primarily in the South, Southwest and Midwest, e.g., Georgia, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Florida, Arizona, etc… I have absolutely no idea if members of my mom’s extended family in, say, Providence, crank up the heat higher in their homes than non black local residents, just as I have no idea if my dad’s extended family in, say, Wichita, crank up the AC higher than black local residents. It’d be an interesting experiment though. I can tell you that my mom visited my brother in Austin a few years ago and doesn’t relish the thought of doing so again solely because the heat was too much for her. Make of that what you will. ---
**Author:** ![Walther\_Ego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Walther\_Ego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walther_Ego)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/28 "2011-11-02T11:28:03Z")
Interestingly, in this thread, everybody assumes that people who are used to cold outside, want cold inside. As someone from Northern Europe, I’m used to warm inside and cold outside. Whenever I go south, I notice the effects of this. Once in a London hotel, the cleaning staff left the window open for hours, in October. When I came back, the temperature inside and outside was the same. Whether in Italy ot Scotland, a winter outside temperature is warm and inside temperature cold. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/29 "2011-11-02T12:40:24Z")
> [@Walther\_Ego](#): > > Interestingly, in this thread, everybody assumes that people who are used to cold outside, want cold inside. As an unfortunately long-time Floridian, ideally it would be cold outside and medium temperature inside (medium = would feel comfortable either in t-shirt and pants or t-shirt and shorts.) Except in shops. There I’d prefer cold inside as well so I don’t have to unbutton or take off my winter clothes 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/30 "2011-11-02T12:51:30Z")
I read about a white guy in Chicago, during a very cold spell, who asked a black guy on the street: “Why don’t you go back to Africa–& take me with you?” I’m descended from the folks who decided to head North from Africa just in time to enjoy a couple of Ice Ages. And hook up with those hot Neanderthals. Does that make us smarter? Houston surely gets hotter than hell–turn up that AC! But I wouldn’t care to live in the Frozen North. I share an office with a diverse group. The one who usually complains when the AC gets cool is a lady from Mexico–of pure Spanish blood, as she gladly informs everybody… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/31 "2011-11-02T13:01:46Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > On the occasions I’ve had to be in colder weather, particularly below freezing, I am in heaven. I know it makes no sense. And yes, I get asked all the time how and why the hell I’ve lived in Los Angeles all my life. Heh. I was born in L.A. and lived in San Diego as a child before moving to the Antelope Valley. I remember sweltering when I was a kid. (San Diego has ‘perfect’ weather? Pfui!) I guess I was about five, visiting a grandmother in Anaheim. It was hot and muggy, and I was sweating. I found a can of Right Guard and sprayed it on me, since my five-year-old mind thought it would stop me from sweating and I’d be cool. Eleven years in the Mojave Desert wasn’t that bad. ‘It’s a _dry_ heat!’ And the swamp cooler did a decent job. Seventeen years in an un-air conditioned apartment just about drove me mad. (OK, there was the noise and traffic, too.) Now I live in Rainland. I’ve noticed that driving on a beautiful 60ºF day I’ll have the window down and my arm out the window. I’ll run down to the store in shorts, T-shirt, and zoriis when it’s 50º and a light rain. If it gets more than 80º up here, I’m likely to have a fan on. Winter? Yeah, it does get a bit chilly. My SoCal roots begin to show when it gets into the 30s. Last year I wore a woolen pullover. It still hasn’t gotten quite cold enough for me to wear my sheepskin flying jacket for any length of time, though. I love New Orleans, but I always seem to go there in Summer. It’s hot. It’s like Africa-hot. Tarzan couldn’t take that kind of hot. But I go anyway. ---
**Author:** ![taffygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@taffygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taffygirl)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/32 "2011-11-02T13:26:02Z")
OK, I can’t stand it any more, so I’ll chime in. 1. Millions of African-Americans live in northern cities. If you’re going to assume that because you’ve heard a few of this group arguing that it’s too cold inside is an indication that this is something true of the entire demographic, you’re succumbing to the logical fallacy of hasty generalization. This is true even if the people in this subset buy into the stereotype. 2. Of the millions of black Americans, many have some white ancestry. According to wikipedia, [URL=“[One-drop rule - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-drop_rule#Racial_mixtures_of_blacks_and_whites_in_modern_America)” the figure is around 78%, but this percentage varies from site to site. You could just as logically say that certain European groups have an aversion to cold weather, as evidenced by the fact that so many African-Americans have some European ancestry and they, along with the non-African descendants, have an aversion to cold. 3. Can we please not get our information on American subcultures from fictional films and generalize from there? It’s just not true that there is some sort of cultural bigotry towards blacks among Italian-Americans.That’s not to say that there aren’t neighborhoods like Jones Beach where there’s historically been prejudice against blacks, but for every bigoted Italian who lives there, there’s one there or elsewhere who does not discriminate, so let’s watch all the ethnic stereotypes, OK? As is usually the case, reality is more complicated than filmdom would have us believe. Whew. OK, I feel better now. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/33 "2011-11-02T16:56:05Z")
> [@taffygirl](#): > > OK, I can’t stand it any more, so I’ll chime in. > > 1. Millions of African-Americans live in northern cities. If you’re going to assume that because you’ve heard a few of this group arguing that it’s too cold inside is an indication that this is something true of the entire demographic, you’re succumbing to the logical fallacy of hasty generalization. This is true even if the people in this subset buy into the stereotype. > > 2. Of the millions of black Americans, many have some white ancestry. According to wikipedia, [URL=“[One-drop rule - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-drop_rule#Racial_mixtures_of_blacks_and_whites_in_modern_America)” the figure is around 78%, but this percentage varies from site to site. You could just as logically say that certain European groups have an aversion to cold weather, as evidenced by the fact that so many African-Americans have some European ancestry and they, along with the non-African descendants, have an aversion to cold. > > 3. Can we please not get our information on American subcultures from fictional films and generalize from there? It’s just not true that there is some sort of cultural bigotry towards blacks among Italian-Americans.That’s not to say that there aren’t neighborhoods like Jones Beach where there’s historically been prejudice against blacks, but for every bigoted Italian who lives there, there’s one there or elsewhere who does not discriminate, so let’s watch all the ethnic stereotypes, OK? As is usually the case, reality is more complicated than filmdom would have us believe. > > Whew. OK, I feel better now. Glad you feel better. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/34 "2011-11-02T20:05:21Z")
> [@taffygirl](#): > > That’s not to say that there aren’t neighborhoods like Jones Beach where there’s historically been prejudice against blacks, You’re talking about [Jones Beach](http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/10/details.aspx) on Long Island, NY? It’s less than ten miles from me. It would never occur to me to refer to it as a “neighborhood.” It’s a state park. Non-residential. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/35 "2011-11-02T23:04:02Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > As an unfortunately long-time Floridian, ideally it would be cold outside and medium temperature inside (medium = would feel comfortable either in t-shirt and pants or t-shirt and shorts.) So… 65 F, then? That’s great weather for shorts in my book… but I do get odd looks from everyone around me so you might have been thinking of something different. If this thread should be teaching you anything, it’s that terms like “medium temperature” and “comfortable” have very little common ground between different people. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/36 "2011-11-03T01:43:54Z")
I’d feel comfortable at 65F in shorts if I were outside, not necessarily even doing a lot, but moving around just a tad. To sit indoors in shorts at 65 would be a couple degrees too cool. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/37 "2014-03-26T12:11:20Z")
whoops, wrong thread - NM. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/38 "2014-03-26T13:52:30Z")
> [@bump](#): > > When in Rome last December, people were wearing thick insulated jackets and scarves when the weather was in the 50s and 60s. My wife and I were pretty amused by the spectacle. I got the same amusement when I was in college, watching people from places like Southeast Asia walk around bundled up like eskimoes, while us “natives” were wearing light windbreakers, or sometimes no jacket at all. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/39 "2014-03-26T14:00:58Z")
Yay! Accidental zombie! > [@bump](#): > > You could just as easily say “Italians” as “african americans”. > > When in Rome last December, people were wearing thick insulated jackets and scarves when the weather was in the 50s and 60s. My wife and I were pretty amused by the spectacle. That’s nothing - some years ago I was in Palermo. It was sunny and in the high 80s and people were wearing long leather coats. Which, you know, was absolutely fine because when in Palermo do not look at the men standing around in expensive coats wearing sunglasses and certainly don’t make comments about their fashion choices. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499/40 "2014-03-26T14:03:29Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > whoops, wrong thread - NM. _“whoops, wrong thread”_ she says, as she resurrects a zombie. That’s how Dr. Frankenstein ended up putting the brain of a maniac into his creation, you know. Still, _“whoops, wrong brain”_, _“whoops, wrong thread”_; I guess it’s all good, as long as you know HOW the catastrophe started. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-aversion-to-cold-temps/601499.md?page=3)