I ask this solely to improve other. my understanding of differently situated people, and how we perceive and act towards each other.
I live in a suburb west of Chicago. A bike path runs east-west. My town is largely white, as are the towns to the west. To the east is mostly Black. I usually bike west- as the path is longer, prettier. The other day I rode east. I’m not often in a situation where I am so clearly in the minority. I did not see another white person. And the path went through some not affluent areas. Gave me some insight as to how people of color may feel in my town.
Tho I notice skin color, I really don’t care or act differently to people I pass. Would you imagine people even noticed me and had any impressions from my mere presence? I suspect I felt more conspicuous than I was, and the majority of folk couldn’t care less about this sweaty old guy on a bike.
I did perceive different expressions. To the west, when you pass someone on the path - of any color/ethnicity—- the practice is to at least make eye contact and maybe smile, nod, wave. The majority of Black people I passed to the east did not make eye contact. Of the few that did, they looked at me without expression or acknowledgement.
I really don’t care how they act towards me, but I ask this to help me avoid drawing incorrect conclusions.Thanks in advice for your opinions.
I can’t speak for others, but as a minority American, I used to live in a community here in Texas where white people were relatively few and many people were either East Asian, Hispanic, or Indian/Pakistani. But yet white people still didn’t stick out to me when I saw them, because I knew in the overall American big pond, white people were still the default majority.
Something I have noticed that seems to be getting worse is that in my own community which is very diverse no one really sticks out. I have always made eye contact when walking and say hello when passing. The reaction I am getting from blacks more and more often is to simply turn away and not acknowledge the greeting. This is still a minority reaction but never the less it has become much more common to the point where I almost expect it. Not a good sign. 5 or 6 years ago I would have been set back by a reaction like this.
Yeah - if Black culture is simply to not acknowledge people, that is fine. Or not to acknowledge non-Blacks. No reason they have to be pleasant towards me, but the stoic expressions could be interpreted negatively.
And yes, plenty of Black folk have plenty of reason to act less than pleasantly towards white folk.
I’m a friendly guy by nature and will often make eye contact or say hi when I’m out walking. I haven’t noticed any particular difference between how black or white people respond to that; some people are friendly and some just aren’t. It has a lot more to do with personality than with skin color, I think.
I think this is almost certainly a feature of the culture of the particular neighborhood you were in, not black culture in general. Where I live in small-town Mississippi, the usual practice is to nod or say hello to everyone, and to the extent that there’s any racial difference in how consistently people do this, it’s in the opposite direction from the one you’re describing.
I used to travel for work. Tied to the outside of my carry-on bag (a backpack) were always my running shoes. I’ve run in a lot of cities.
I’ve always ‘gauged’ a city by whether or not its joggers make eye contact, say anything, or wave. In lots of places, they don’t.
But it may have zero to do with individual demographics and more to do with the nature of the town, its density, its societal issues, customs, and mores, affluence/poverty, etc., etc.
I’ve jogged lots of miles through places where people who look like me (Cauc) would generally never set foot. or even drive through.
Most often, there, people waved and greeted me enthusiastically.
Sorry about the incoming double post but I have a semi-serious but short question first. You mentioned you were out for a bike ride but was your attire more like the first picture or the second one?
I’m far more likely to initiate a greeting with someone dressed like the person in the second picture than I am with someone dressed like the person in the first picture.
The longer answer is more involved but I’ll give it a try. For background, I’m a black male in my late 30s.
I’ve made a habit of going on 3-5 mile morning runs for the past 20 years of my life. When I was younger I lived in a predominantly white suburban neighborhood in NJ. Contrary to the unfriendly reputation of the northeast, most people would exchange a quick wave or head nod of acknowledgement. The people who declined to acknowledge me as I ran by were overwhelmingly white but occasionally I would fail to get a return greeting from non-black minorities. I honestly can’t remember a single instance of a black person not greeting me back.
I have lived in Austin for the past 10 years and even though the demographics are very different from NJ, the response from people is about the same. Most people that I pass will return a greeting. However, folks who fall into the BIPOC category always return my greetings while white people are hit or miss.
Occasionally, I like to switch up my route for variety and I have noticed that the number of people who acknowledge me tends to go up as my presence becomes more regular in the area. This makes sense to me because I do notice unfamiliar white people passing through my neighborhood when they are on foot or bike. My greeting definitely becomes more enthusiastic and engaging when I see folks who are familiar to me, so if you become a more regular presence then I will start to verbally greet you in addition to the standard wave and/or head nod.
There are a few cycling clubs/groups that ride through my neighborhood every weekend. Our street has protected bike lanes and it connects several neighborhoods while avoiding the major highway and busy roads that surround us. This brings us back to my question about the pictures. If you’re dressed like the first photo then I would return your greeting but I would not really be prepared for it. I usually treat people in cycling gear like cars, so I will return a greeting but I never expect one from these folks. People in cycling gear are usually on a mission, but I have noticed that they will exchange morning pleasantries with passersby if they are waiting at a light.
At the risk of sounding like a cranky old man, it’s also possible that people in general just aren’t as friendly as they used to be. My parents retired to a sleepy village in NY that is mostly white with a small but deeply rooted black community. I grew up visiting relatives there and it always struck me as the friendliest place outside of the south. When we were kids, my cousins and I (from NYC and suburban NJ) always loved that everyone waved to us regardless of race. This was surprising because outside of the south we had never seen that many white people extend friendly unprompted greetings. Unprompted greetings declined a little as we got older, and more new people moved in, but you could still count on white people passing by to at least return your greeting. After I got my vaccination, my first plane trip was back east to see my folks and I was stunned at the number of white people who didn’t greet me back on my morning runs. As I mentioned earlier, the outgoing behavior had been in decline for years but it felt like a slow and gradual process. Even with the decline in friendly unprompted greetings, I could still count on white people to at least return or acknowledge my own greeting.
Second this. I’ve lived in a lot of places and the thing of saying “Hi” to people passing you in a street varies a lot between cultures and regions.
In the UK, it’s considered one of the differences between northerners and southerners, although the difference probably aligns more with rural vs urban.
Of course, just cycling a few miles down a road one would not expect such a drastic difference in culture and living style, but then, we may also not expect we’d go from seeing predominantly one ethnic origin to another. So the implication is that indeed “north-south” divides may exist over relatively small distances.
Ha! You’ve never heard my sister and me discuss “fancy pants” bikers! On a good day, the second guy might allow us to hang around him!
Years ago I think I posted about pedestrians in an even whiter suburb not even making eye contact as we passed. So yeah - I imagine whatever the causes, they are unlikely to be racial.
I was nodding along and saying “yeah, this is me and my neighborhood.” But I came to a screeching halt when you said you were getting less reaction from Blacks. Nearly everybody I say “good morning” to acknowledges me back (and I don’t live in the over friendly South). The few people who don’t say anything back are usually older white guys.
Many years ago I started a thread asking about the friendliness of black males. It seems that whenever I encounter them, there’s a chance that they’ll say “How ya doin’?” or “What’s up?” or “Sup?” or “Yo.” I don’t get this from anyone but black males. I’ve encountered this in several locations.
Couldn’t quite a lot of it be because you usually ride the West path, so people know you there - not intimately, but you’re a recognisable shape on a bike. On the other route, you’re a stranger.
I live in/near the centre of a big city and don’t nod hello to people on the main roads, but on the shortcuts it’s not uncommon at all. They tend to be people I sort-of half-recognise.
*Depends how you consider it, but it’s very far from being a suburb
That’s been my experience, too. I live in a diverse-but-still-mostly-white suburb on the east side of Atlanta. I will occasionally do a Saturday long run that takes me to historically black neighborhoods west of the city; more times than I can count, I’ve gotten cheerful, encouraging comments from black residents and passersby. Last time I was in Washington Park, I was standing with my hands on my knees, gasping for breath and awaiting Death’s sweet kiss, when a black teenager stopped, asked me if I was okay, and offered me a bottle of water.
I think it’s more a generational than race thing - it’s middle-aged and older folks who comment. Teens and twentysomethings of either race just ignore me.
Where do you people live that most people you see on the street say hello or wave? I’m sure it’s happened, but I can’t recall a specific time that’s ever happened to me in my life. I’ve lived in Illinois and the DC area.
I’ve found that this depends on local customs at the micro level in many cases. When I first moved into my Atlanta neighborhood, people ignored each other. As I had moved there from a “waving” community, I would open my hand on the steering wheel in a casual wave and often got one back. 15 years later, we are a waving community.
Ride east more and wave, nod, say hi, etc. It might take a while, but some people will come around rather quickly. Other people will see those people react and some of them will come around as well. Next thing you know, you’re riding through a “waving” community.
It seems like we think about the same things when out for our morning run/ride. Proper cycling outfits are intense but I definitely respect the commitment
Do you ever bike on trails and have you noticed any differences? One thing I’ve noticed when I run through parks is that it feels like there are established groups for different times. If you go at 7 you run into certain folks, but it’s a completely different group at 8.
I walk my dogs on trails all the time and have noticed that people smile and nod about half the time. I never make eye contact first…I am terrible at eye contact in general. I didn’t realize I’m supposed to be doing it all the time. Eep!
