# "Black" as a lifestyle signifier, anyone else hate it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 18, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-as-a-lifestyle-signifier-anyone-else-hate-it/644451 "2012-12-18T20:36:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-as-a-lifestyle-signifier-anyone-else-hate-it/644451/1 "2012-12-18T20:36:13Z")
> **[Do you think Obama counts as a black president?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=675811)** > > I see a lot of Americans being extremely happy about the fact that they have a Black president. Cite. I find this slightly surprising. Does Obama really even count as a black man? He’s only half black for one (by birth I mean, although to me he also... Seems from this thread the only way to have a pure black president is if he grows up in tha’ ghetto and slings crack. Fact is anyone elected president is going to have a wealthier and more privileged background than average, whatever race they are. Then you have stuff like What White People Like and similar humor. And it quickly goes from things like “Martha Stewart” to “education” and other pretty basic goods. Which makes you wonder so what is on the list “stuff black people like”. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-as-a-lifestyle-signifier-anyone-else-hate-it/644451/2 "2012-12-18T20:55:00Z")
Actually, I think ‘‘Stuff White People Like’’ is a project intended to point out the fact that white people do, in fact, have a culture, whether we are aware of it or not. Obviously not everyone of every ethnicity shares a single culture, but whites are the majority in this country and as such, we sometimes take it for granted that what we consider ‘‘normal’’ or ‘‘mainstream’’ is some kind of absolute, instead of just a social construction influenced mainly by white people. Other cultural values/ideas/beliefs/experiences get drowned out in politics, entertainment and the public dialog. I think Stuff White People Like is just poking fun at that concept, and as such is a reasonably effective anti-racism tool. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-as-a-lifestyle-signifier-anyone-else-hate-it/644451/3 "2012-12-18T21:29:16Z")
> [@grude](#): > > [Do you think Obama counts as a black president? - In My Humble Opinion - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=675811) > > Seems from this thread the only way to have a pure black president is if he grows up in tha’ ghetto and slings crack. Well, that is sort of exaggerated caricature of what the thread’s OP was tentatively suggesting. Just about everybody else in the thread strongly rejected the idea, so far as I could see. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-as-a-lifestyle-signifier-anyone-else-hate-it/644451/4 "2012-12-18T23:24:46Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Then you have stuff like What White People Like and similar humor. > And it quickly goes from things like “Martha Stewart” to “education” and other pretty basic goods. Which makes you wonder so what is on the list “stuff black people like”. I actually don’t see either Martha Stewart or Education on the [Stuff White People Like blog](http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/full-list-of-stuff-white-people-like/), although they might be in one of the books. The Stuff White People Like author is clear about the things on the list not being limited _only_ to white people ([The World Cup](http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2010/06/01/133-the-world-cup/) is obviously of interest to many non-white people around the world), and the whole thing is written as if it’s a guide to non-white people hoping to understand white people better. I’d say part of the joke behind it is also that many white people are fine with making generalizations about what black people or other non-white people like but, as \*\*olivesmarch4th \*\*said, treat stuff white people like as just “normal”. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-as-a-lifestyle-signifier-anyone-else-hate-it/644451/5 "2012-12-19T14:21:10Z")
I’m not a fan. It’s very othering.