# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/121 "2015-03-03T18:14:15Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > This thread is making this black person hate certain Dopers, that’s for sure. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Explain please. > [@monstro](#): > > No. As a person who is not on either side of this issue, I don’t think your posts are very useful, **monstro**. That is not to say that I think **DrDeth** is genuinely interested in your answers, but others are. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/122 "2015-03-03T18:49:56Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > As a person who is not on either side of this issue, I don’t think your posts are very useful, **monstro**. That is not to say that I think **DrDeth** is genuinely interested in your answers, but others are. I’ve spent 13 years playing good African American ambassador on this board. I don’t need to waste my time being “good” with someone who isn’t going to appreciate it. And if you know I wasn’t talking about you, why should you care who I was talking about? I’m not here to explain my every thought and feeling to you either. Seriously, a black person could be posting on this board with a KKK noose literally hanging around his neck, and you’ll still have posters like **DrDeth** and **Urbanredneck** telling them to “get over it”. And you’ll have even more acting all “u mad bro?” because they are too stupid to put themselves in another person’s shoes and actually be a human being for a change. I can engage thoughtful posters who actually care enough to listen. I actually have compassion for some level of epathy deficit. But the days of wasting my breath schooling internet jerkfaces is over. Not unless Ed Zotti starts paying me. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/123 "2015-03-03T18:54:52Z")
I don’t know you weren’t talking about me, or at least I wouldn’t if I had posted above you. As for why I should care who you were talking about, I don’t. I’m curious about which posts - not posters - provoked your response. ---
**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, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/124 "2015-03-03T19:01:50Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > 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. Sure. Poor people are more likely to go to jail for drug possession than rich people. Doesn’t change the fact that a Black person is more likely to go to jail for drug possession than a white person. ---
**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, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/125 "2015-03-03T19:08:58Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > you’ll still have posters like **DrDeth** … telling them to “get over it”. Except I never said that or anything even close to that. The OP asked\*\* "despite horrible treatment- why dont African Americans hate white people?\*\*…\*When you look at the Middle East, you see people willing to strap on suicide vests or behead people. For religious or ethnic reasons, the hate is really deep. Same thing with the Rwandan genocide back in the 1990s. Sri Lanka, Cyprus, etc. Lots of places. But it hasn’t really happened in the US. Despite the fact that black people were brought here as slaves and treated like absolute shit for a few hundred years (with issues obviously continuing today), African-Americans are pretty damn nice to the people who have been assholes to them. If there’s violence, it’s usually been white people lynching and destroying black neighborhoods (Tulsa, etc.). Yes, there have been some black riots, usually after something pretty big goes down. But for the most part, black people don’t aim a lot of violence and don’t seem to resent white people all that much…"\* My reply: \*"Few alive remember the really bad times. None remember the days of slavery, and the days when the KKK could run amok lynching as they wanted are also long gone. Not to mention, by and large it has always been a minority of Whites who have treated Blacks badly. Sure in the Civil War period casual racism was the rule, but most Americans were against slavery. Only about 1% of all Americans or 5% of Southerners actually owned even one black slave. "\* Which answered why, by and large, there’s not much _hatred_ of white people by black people. Resentment, yes, but hatred- not so much. Certainly racism still exists in America (and around the world, for that matter), and we all should strive to end it. _You can’t do that by “getting over it”_, but of course _constructive_ methods are better than _destructive_ methods. Are bomb vests ever the right answer? ---
**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, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/126 "2015-03-03T19:15:48Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > Sure. Poor people are more likely to go to jail for drug possession than rich people. > > Doesn’t change the fact that a Black person is more likely to go to jail for drug possession than a white person. _Mostly_, I’d say it is due that black people are more likely to be poor. Hell, OJ got off a _murder charge_ by being able to hire a really good legal team. ---
**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, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/127 "2015-03-03T19:43:58Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > 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. If you’re going to parse things in a way that misses the point, why not say that dudes with drugs are more likely to go to jail for drug possession than dudes without drugs? Because that’s even more true and equally irrelevant. The question isn’t whether rich black dudes or poor white dudes are likelier to go to jail for drug possession. The question is, **all else being equal** , who is likelier to go to jail for drug possession: a black guy, or a white guy? Remember that all else is equal: same level of actual offense, same wealth level, etc. ---
**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, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/128 "2015-03-03T19:47:32Z")
**monstro** and **stuffy** and other black posters who’re in this thread, I hope you’ll feel free to tell me to shut it if I’m speaking presumptuously. This is really a question that a white guy can’t answer very effectively, and I hope I’m limiting myself to discussing historical facts (about which I believe I can speak accurately) and not trying to Kreskin my way to an answer. Please feel free to tell me to shut it if necessary. ---
**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, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/129 "2015-03-03T19:50:54Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > The question isn’t whether rich black dudes or poor white dudes are likelier to go to jail for drug possession. The question is, **all else being equal** , who is likelier to go to jail for drug possession: a black guy, or a white guy? Remember that all else is equal: same level of actual offense, same wealth level, etc. I hope and think that in liberal states like CA, that with _all else being equal_, it’s about the same. I can’t say the same about the South, however. It depends on the cop, the DA and the jury, of course. But yeah, unfortunately, it’s harder to get a fair shake if you are a minority. However- will you agree that income level now means more than skin color in\* todays\* justice system? ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/130 "2015-03-03T20:28:06Z")
I’m sure [Ferguson](http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/03/politics/justice-report-ferguson-discrimination/index.html)is far from the only town that does this. ---
**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, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/131 "2015-03-03T21:10:45Z")
> [@](#): > > They concluded that, over the past two years, African-Americans — who make up about two-thirds of the city’s population — accounted for 85 percent of traffic stops, 90 percent of citations, 93 percent of arrests and 88 percent of cases in which the police used force. > > Black motorists were twice as likely as whites to be searched but were less likely to be found in possession of contraband such as drugs or guns. [Source](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/04/us/justice-department-finds-pattern-of-police-bias-and-excessive-force-in-ferguson.html?module=Notification&version=BreakingNews®ion=FixedTop&action=Click&contentCollection=BreakingNews&contentID=30607495&pgtype=article). I’m sure it’s all economics. ---
**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, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/132 "2015-03-03T21:16:39Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > However- will you agree that income level now means more than skin color in\* todays\* justice system? How much income level? A black billionaire will have an easier life than a white pauper, sure–but I’m far from convinced that a black person living at $50,000 a year has an easier time than a white person living at $40,000 a year. ---
**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, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753/133 "2015-03-03T21:22:13Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > How much income level? A black billionaire will have an easier life than a white pauper, sure–but I’m far from convinced that a black person living at $50,000 a year has an easier time than a white person living at $40,000 a year. Of course I am talking levels, not a few bucks. Poor vs middle class, middle class vs wealthy, etc. Yeah, that $10 might not make a big difference. But $100K would. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-horrible-treatment-why-dont-african-americans-hate-white-people/713753.md?page=6)