# Caucasians and agression **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 19, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caucasians-and-agression/529686 "2010-02-19T21:00:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caucasians-and-agression/529686/21 "2010-02-22T13:57:44Z")
> [@heavyarms553](#): > > I’m not sure if anyone else has seen the viral video, but Epic Beard Man vs. Tyrone seems to be a pretty good synopsis of the whole situation It would seem though that that bearded fellow is _always_ looking for a fight though, I’m not sure what it qualifies as a “pretty good synopsis” of. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caucasians-and-agression/529686/22 "2010-02-22T14:05:46Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Or if a Muslim/Arab does it, he’s branded a terrorist. Without any proof of ever having been linked to a terrorist group, too… ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caucasians-and-agression/529686/23 "2010-02-22T15:15:51Z")
Seriously, I guess that begs the question of “what is a serial killer”? To me, a serial Killer is someone who murderd multiple people to get their jollies. Does gang warfare or killing for profit, or commiting a multiple homicide in a moment of rage (or two) really qualifies as the same thing? A “black widow” is just someone trying to get rich by combining the two great American dreams, get rich by marrying and get rich by inheriting. You might be able to argue that someone who callously kills in pursuit of wealth, or because of power issues is a serial killer in the technical sense. I think that modern society equates serial killer with someone who seems to kill for no other reason than to satisfy some inner need to get their jollies in a sick and twisted way - sort of a misplaced sexual urge. In that sense, the serial killers tend to be overwhelmingly white. I think this is because most poor minorities don’t have the luxury growing up to sit alone and ignored and stew in their own private fantasies. As for aggression and race - before the black migration north, th Irish immigrants in Boston, NYC and other palces were reputed to be irascible drunkards just looking for a fight. The Vikings in the middle ages were notorious for “berserkers”, guys who would just lose it from time to time. In close combat with fists or swords or battleaxes, I suppose having someone like that on your side was a plus. Read the history of Eric the Red and his ilk; banished because he just lost it one day and killed another guy… Middle class white people have it drummed into their heads that they have to control themselves. Parents make special effort (we hope) to control their tantrums, and from the day they understand good and bad, they are told in many ways, direct and subtle, that if they are bad when older, the policeman will put them in jail; they will not be able to get a job and have all the nice stuff mommy and daddy have; and that all their friends will think they are horrible for going to jail. How do you send that same message to kids when half the male parents are or were in jail at some time, they don’t have nice stuff anyway, and no matter how clean you stay or how hard you work you likely won’t be much better off than your single parent? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caucasians-and-agression/529686/24 "2010-02-22T15:52:35Z")
I think the incidence of serial killing is so vanishingly small that it’s hard to draw any meaningful conclusions from it. I agree with the earlier commenter who noted that the prevalence of whites in this area probably just reflects the overall population. There have been minority serial killers – Wayne Williams and Richard Rodriguez are two that leap to mind. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caucasians-and-agression/529686/25 "2010-02-22T16:25:58Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I think the incidence of serial killing is so vanishingly small that it’s hard to draw any meaningful conclusions from it. I agree with the earlier commenter who noted that the prevalence of whites in this area probably just reflects the overall population. There have been minority serial killers – Wayne Williams and Richard Rodriguez are two that leap to mind. That’s what I think. I bet the majority of serial killers in China are not Caucasian. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caucasians-and-agression/529686/26 "2010-02-22T16:40:01Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > That’s what I think. I bet the majority of serial killers in China are not Caucasian. It’s more than that. The number of non-white serial killers in not in proportion to poulation, it is significantly smaller, if I recall some statistic about this. The only non-whites that come to mind, who fit the classic son-of-sam, ted bundy or zodiak pattern - the Washington snipers, and the chinese accomplice of a serial killer in California. I forget his name, but he was arrested in Calgary many years ago; became a big news story when California refused to promise he would not be executed - leaving Canada with the dilemma - let a serial killer go free to roam Canada, or extradite him to face the death penalty. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caucasians-and-agression/529686/27 "2010-02-22T17:04:33Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > It’s more than that. The number of non-white serial killers in not in proportion to poulation, it is significantly smaller, if I recall some statistic about this. You recall incorrectly. > [@](#): > > **Serial killers** > > Serial murder lends itself nicely to the analytical methods developed here provided suitable data are available. Only a few systematic accounts of the race and ethnicity of serial killers exist. There is an exhaustive study of African American serial killers (Homicide Studies 2005; 9; 271) by criminologist Anthony Walsh, and also Eric W. Hickey’s book, Serial killers and their victims, Brooks/Cole, 1997. That’s about it. > > Walsh identified 90 African American and 323 white American serial murderers, all men operating between 1945 and 2004. (Though Asians, Hispanics and Native Americans were not included in the study, their addition would not alter the fact that most serial killers are white men.) African American serial killers made up 22% of Walsh’s sample, a figure in close agreement Hickey’s enumeration. But, as blacks number well below 22% of the U.S. population, they are actually overrepresented among the ranks of serial killers – roughly by a factor of 2. > > So, why are most serial killers white men? The short answer is that serial murder is primarily a male enterprise, and in the U.S. white men outnumber black men seven to one. From [here](http://lagriffedulion.f2s.com/serial.htm). Among [famous serial killers](http://www.alternet.org/story/14431/), > [@](#): > > During the 1980s, Wayne Williams was convicted of multiple murders in Atlanta and authorities think he may have killed even more. Coral Watts claimed that he killed 13 women in several states. In the early 1990s, Cleophus Prince Jr. stabbed six women in San Diego, and authorities in East St. Louis strongly suspect a black man is responsible for a string of still unsolved killings of prostitutes in the area. > > The victims of black serial murderers almost always are other blacks, who most often live in the poorest inner city neighborhoods where the murder rates are far higher than in middle-class suburbs. Because black on black violence is so entrenched and pervasive, it is far too often considered routine, and police are often more lax in their attitudes toward the violence than if the victims were white. This makes it much easier for black serial murders to go undetected for far longer times. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caucasians-and-agression/529686/28 "2010-02-22T20:01:22Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Seriously, I guess that begs the question of “what is a serial killer”? Serial killer is a term that has a fairly well-accepted [standard definition](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_killer): > [@](#): > > A serial killer is a person who murders three or more people over a period of more than thirty days, with a “cooling off” period between each murder, and whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caucasians-and-agression/529686/29 "2010-02-22T20:23:45Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Most women have no problem satisfying their sexual drive if that’s what they want. Not as many men do. Being socially awkward makes it harder for men than women to “get laid”. In our society, a woman will get approached while a man has to (a) have the confidence and assetion to approach a woman and (b) the social grace and sufficient social smarts to “follow through”. Whoops, **md2000** , you hit one of my buttons. In my experience, this is just not true. It is true that it is easier for someone of any gender to get laid _ **if they are willing to fuck anybody.** _ Guys who think that all women have to do is go sit in a bar for 5 minutes to get laid are frequently guys who have watched the hottie at the next table deflect man after man – and guys who never noticed the equally socially awkward girl over in the corner who thinks they’re cute. Many guys who think that they “can’t get laid” know at least one woman who would fuck them **right now** if only they were interested. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caucasians-and-agression/529686/30 "2010-02-22T20:31:08Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > The only non-whites that come to mind, who fit the classic son-of-sam, ted bundy or zodiak pattern - the Washington snipers, and the chinese accomplice of a serial killer in California. I forget his name, but he was arrested in Calgary many years ago; became a big news story when California refused to promise he would not be executed - leaving Canada with the dilemma - let a serial killer go free to roam Canada, or extradite him to face the death penalty. [Charles Ng](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ng) ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caucasians-and-agression/529686/31 "2010-02-23T17:02:49Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > Whoops, **md2000** , you hit one of my buttons. In my experience, this is just not true. > > It is true that it is easier for someone of any gender to get laid _ **if they are willing to fuck anybody.** _ Guys who think that all women have to do is go sit in a bar for 5 minutes to get laid are frequently guys who have watched the hottie at the next table deflect man after man – and guys who never noticed the equally socially awkward girl over in the corner who thinks they’re cute. > > Many guys who think that they “can’t get laid” know at least one woman who would fuck them **right now** if only they were interested. Hmmm… Maybe women have higher standards than men. (No maybe about it.) Actually it’s a different perpective I suspect. Men know lots of women that want them to be a steady partner/marry/move in/etc. Women know lots of men that will hop in the sack and be gone by 7AM, and may call again if the pickins are lean in a few months. If there were plenty of women looking for the same thing as most men, the bars would be emptied out by 10PM (and full up and re-emptied again by 1AM. Or they’d be perpetually repairing the counters in the restrooms…) PS. Thanks Freddy - I learn something new everyday. (Whatever happened to the “Freddy the Pig” stories? I haven’t seen them since Grade 6.) ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caucasians-and-agression/529686/32 "2010-02-23T21:40:10Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > (Whatever happened to the “Freddy the Pig” stories? I haven’t seen them since Grade 6.) I started posting on here instead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caucasians-and-agression/529686.md?page=1)