# Despite horrible treatment, why don't African-Americans hate white people? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 27, 2015, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753 "2015-02-27T07:55:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/101 "2015-03-02T20:47:41Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Ok. But Blacks who had drugs on them and were caught, are they imprisoned “by virtue of skin color”? Or by virtue of breaking the law? In the example of meth versus heroin, if they were white then they would not have been in jail. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/102 "2015-03-02T20:51:20Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > In the example of meth versus heroin, if they were white then they would not have been in jail. Do clarify. If they were white caught with heroin, they would not have been in jail? If they were black, but caught with meth, they would not have been in jail? And are you clairvoyant, that you can tell me what would not have happened? I mean, seriously, you (and others) exaggerate by claiming that there are “many” people who are in prison “by virtue of their skin color”. Then, of course, you cannot give even one example of such a person. It’s complete bunk. So either admit you fibbed, or provide the example. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/103 "2015-03-02T20:52:08Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Ok. But Blacks who had drugs on them and were caught, are they imprisoned “by virtue of skin color”? Or by virtue of breaking the law? Both. See [#CrimingWhileWhite](https://twitter.com/hashtag/CrimingWhileWhite?src=hash) (White people recounting personal incidents of criminal misbehavior and police leniency) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/104 "2015-03-02T20:52:10Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > In the example of meth versus heroin, if they were white then they would not have been in jail. I’m sure a fair number of white Caucasians go to jail every year for meth. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/105 "2015-03-02T21:06:49Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I think, that today in America- it is far more your socio-economic status, and where you grew up that tilts the game in your favor. A poor white guy from Compton will not have it easier than a rich black kid from Beverly Hills. That said, of course American culture does tend to keep certain minorities in those poor areas. How much? Let’s stipulate that $10 million in wealth above the median wealth is enough to offset racial disparities. You’ll live in a fancier neighborhood, any drugs you want to do you can do inside your house, you can afford private limo service instead of relying on cabs, your kids can go to private schools of your choice, etc. Will $1 million offset the difference? Will $100,000? Will $20,000? Will $1,000? How much wealth does a black person need to have above the median income in order to offset the influence of racism? You get to be reincarnated as a kid growing up in Compton, black or white. How much money would reincarnated-you have to be offered to think that being reincarnated as a black kid was the better offer? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/106 "2015-03-02T21:09:48Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > How much? > > Let’s stipulate that $10 million in wealth above the median wealth is enough to offset racial disparities. You’ll live in a fancier neighborhood, any drugs you want to do you can do inside your house, you can afford private limo service instead of relying on cabs, your kids can go to private schools of your choice, etc. > > Will $1 million offset the difference? > > Will $100,000? > > Will $20,000? > > Will $1,000? > > How much wealth does a black person need to have above the median income in order to offset the influence of racism? > > You get to be reincarnated as a kid growing up in Compton, black or white. How much money would reincarnated-you have to be offered to think that being reincarnated as a black kid was the better offer? I’d say $1 million, maybe less, maybe $100k. But a black kid from rich parents in Beverly Hills, who can send him to USC or Harvard is better off than a white kid from a trailer park in Compton. How about you? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/107 "2015-03-02T21:13:20Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I’d say $1 million, maybe less, maybe $100k. > > But a black kid from rich parents in Beverly Hills, who can send him to USC or Harvard is better off than a white kid from a trailer park in Compton. > > How about you? You’re almost certainly right that the super-rich black kid is going to have an easier life than an impoverished white kid. I don’t know many people who would disagree with that. I don’t know exact numbers. But isn’t it interesting that you figure not having to deal with racism would be worth somewhere between $100K and a cool million? Perhaps that’s a starting point for reparations :). ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/108 "2015-03-02T21:41:47Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > …maybe $100k. > How about you? I make north of this…let me think a sec, nope. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/109 "2015-03-02T22:07:16Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > How much? > > Let’s stipulate that $10 million in wealth above the median wealth is enough to offset racial disparities. You’ll live in a fancier neighborhood, any drugs you want to do you can do inside your house, you can afford private limo service instead of relying on cabs, your kids can go to private schools of your choice, etc. > > Will $1 million offset the difference? > > Will $100,000? > > Will $20,000? > > Will $1,000? > > How much wealth does a black person need to have above the median income in order to offset the influence of racism? > > You get to be reincarnated as a kid growing up in Compton, black or white. How much money would reincarnated-you have to be offered to think that being reincarnated as a black kid was the better offer? I want to cry bull on this question because I work with children and adults born with special needs. Down syndrome, autism, blind, deaf, mental issues, dwarfism, cerebral palsy, etc… The one common theme I’ve gotten from working with those is that skin tone becomes irrelevant and people rise above and work together despite it. So my opinion, I’d rather be born nearly any race than be born with some of the issues I see kids have to deal with. If you got 2 eyes, ears, hands, and feet that are working and you’ve got a good brain, consider yourself damn lucky and then go from there. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/110 "2015-03-02T22:12:45Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > If you got 2 eyes, ears, hands, and feet that are working and you’ve got a good brain, consider yourself damn lucky and then go from there. I’ll add “and born in a first world nation”, but yes, you make a excellent point. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/111 "2015-03-02T22:14:10Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Do clarify. If they were white caught with heroin, they would not have been in jail? If they were black, but caught with meth, they would not have been in jail? And are you clairvoyant, that you can tell me what would not have happened? > > I mean, seriously, you (and others) exaggerate by claiming that there are “many” people who are in prison “by virtue of their skin color”. Then, of course, you cannot give even one example of such a person. It’s complete bunk. So either admit you fibbed, or provide the example. All right, look - if you built a statistical model to explain the likelihood of people going to jail, you’d have to include lots of specifics in it, like socioeconomic level, and education opportunities, and urban versus rural address, and lots of other things. Race would absolutely have to be one of them. All sorts of studies find that people are targeted by police and sentenced (and hired and educated and disciplined in school and other things) in ways that depend on race. And in such a model you could separate out race and say how many more people would have wound up in jail if you changed that one variable. That’s the best estimate of how many people are in jail by virtue of their skin color. Studies that look at overall outcomes, and experiments that test specific hypotheses, overwhelmingly find a dependence on race. But it’s going to be very rare that you can attribute specific cases to skin color. They have a pretty good idea how many people get lung cancer by smoking, but in the case of any one individual lung cancer patient there’s no way to say his cancer was certainly caused by smoking. The fact that huge statistical trends aren’t built of individual certain anecdotes does not make them false. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/112 "2015-03-02T22:39:54Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I want to cry bull on this question because I work with children and adults born with special needs. Down syndrome, autism, blind, deaf, mental issues, dwarfism, cerebral palsy, etc… The one common theme I’ve gotten from working with those is that skin tone becomes irrelevant and people rise above and work together despite it. > > So my opinion, I’d rather be born nearly any race than be born with some of the issues I see kids have to deal with. > > If you got 2 eyes, ears, hands, and feet that are working and you’ve got a good brain, consider yourself damn lucky and then go from there. That’s completely missing the point. It’s like saying that being blind isn’t an issue in our society, because there are people with 20/20 vision BURNING ALIVE IN A HOUSE FIRE RIGHT NOW. The question isn’t whether it’s better to be white and blind or black and sighted. The question is whether, **everything else being equal** , racism disadvantages black people. If you’re already blind, is being blind and black harder than being blind and white? ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/113 "2015-03-02T23:42:00Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I want to cry bull on this question because I work with children and adults born with special needs. Down syndrome, autism, blind, deaf, mental issues, dwarfism, cerebral palsy, etc… The one common theme I’ve gotten from working with those is that skin tone becomes irrelevant and people rise above and work together despite it. > > So my opinion, I’d rather be born nearly any race than be born with some of the issues I see kids have to deal with. > > If you got 2 eyes, ears, hands, and feet that are working and you’ve got a good brain, consider yourself damn lucky and then go from there. This kind of comment right here is why I posted that Dunbar poem. I’m smiling and LOLing like a good little darkie, but I’m screaming and raging inside. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/114 "2015-03-03T00:55:56Z")
I provided a cite. I’ll bring it up [again:](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/racial-disparity-drug-use_n_3941346.html) > [@](#): > > White Americans are more likely than black Americans to have used most kinds of illegal drugs, including cocaine, marijuana and LSD. Yet blacks are far more likely to go to prison for drug offenses. > [@](#): > > Nearly 20 percent of whites have used cocaine, compared with 10 percent of blacks and Latinos…Still, blacks are arrested for drug possession more than three times as often as whites, according to a 2009 report from the advocacy group Human Rights Watch. > > Of the 225,242 people who were serving time in state prisons for drug offenses in 2011, blacks made up 45 percent and whites comprised just 30 percent, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Ok. So I will amend any and all statements to say this: Blacks are more likely than whites to go to jail for drug possession despite the fact that whites Americans are more likely to use most drugs. Another quote > [@](#): > > Although the majority of those who shared, sold, or transferred serious drugs in Seattle are white (indeed seventy percent of the general Seattle population is white), almost two-thirds (64.2%) of drug arrestees are black. Once again, even though the majority of the drug uses are white, Blacks are still more likely to go to jail for drugs. Being white means one is less likely to go to jail for drug use than if one had been Black. [Source.](http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/8%20Fellner_FINAL.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/115 "2015-03-03T05:32:08Z")
I would like to add that in the 19th century so many people immigrated to the US and they brought with them no history of racial bias to black people. Now they did bring the old world biases with them about say Jews, Catholics, or Armenians in fact the “N” word where I was brought up was “Norwegian”. So to them blacks were more of a curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![BOOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c4cdca/32.png) [@BOOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BOOM)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/116 "2015-03-03T08:02:11Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I want to cry bull on this question because I work with children and adults born with special needs. Down syndrome, autism, blind, deaf, mental issues, dwarfism, cerebral palsy, etc… The one common theme I’ve gotten from working with those is that skin tone becomes irrelevant and people rise above and work together despite it. > > So my opinion, I’d rather be born nearly any race than be born with some of the issues I see kids have to deal with. > > If you got 2 eyes, ears, hands, and feet that are working and you’ve got a good brain, consider yourself damn lucky and then go from there. This doesn’t even belong in this thread. Surely you can see that? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/117 "2015-03-03T10:20:25Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I would like to add that in the 19th century so many people immigrated to the US and they brought with them no history of racial bias to black people. Now they did bring the old world biases with them about say Jews, Catholics, or Armenians in fact the “N” word where I was brought up was “Norwegian”. > > So to them blacks were more of a curiosity. The history of the city of Chicago does not bear this premise. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/118 "2015-03-03T11:33:42Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I would like to add that in the 19th century so many people immigrated to the US and they brought with them no history of racial bias to black people. Now they did bring the old world biases with them about say Jews, Catholics, or Armenians in fact the “N” word where I was brought up was “Norwegian”. > > So to them blacks were more of a curiosity. Ain’t the melting pot grand? Most famous of these immigrants and their attitudes toward black people, perhaps, are 19th century Irish immigrants to the US. Racial politics are weird, and there was an attitude in NYC among some folks that the Irish were subhuman and little better than black people, and were relegated to a similar social status. The Irish race riots of 1863 were in part motivated by a frustration with this social status and a desire for Irish immigrants to distinguish themselves from black people; the result was a lot of dead black people in NYC. Even stipulating your idea that immigrants don’t bring a history of racial bias–and I’m mightily skeptical of that idea–once those immigrants got here, there was a lot of American culture they adopted, and anti-black racism was a very common bit of culture that got adopted. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/119 "2015-03-03T12:21:37Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I would like to add that in the 19th century so many people immigrated to the US and they brought with them no history of racial bias to black people. Yes, 19th C Europeans had no history of racial bias. [None](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo_Free_State). [Whatsoever](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_White_Man%27s_Burden). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/120 "2015-03-03T17:52:20Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > Ok. So I will amend any and all statements to say this: > > Blacks are more likely than whites to go to jail for drug possession despite the fact that whites Americans are more likely to use most drugs. I’d say it is really “_Poor_ dudes are more likely than _rich_ dudes to go to jail for drug possession” With wealth comes better lawyers- and with even middle class respectability comes roots, family, etc, the kind of person a judge doesnt like to throw in prison. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753.md?page=7)