# Thought experiment for white people regarding race. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 20, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-experiment-for-white-people-regarding-race/589652 "2011-07-20T00:50:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-experiment-for-white-people-regarding-race/589652/101 "2011-07-26T16:11:29Z")
> [@Indygrrl](#): > > As a woman, I’d be a fool to take a walk down a dark alley by myself, regardless of the racial group I might encounter. Five white guys approach and I’d be thinking frat boy gang rape, so I think I would prefer the black guys. I don’t know if it’s rational, but that’s how I’d feel. If one or more members of either group are Hispanic and they get on my case, I can insult his momma in our common language… but yeah, as much as possible, I avoid putting myself in situations where encountering people (of any color) represents a threat. In the US, I’ve been threatened more often by white people than black people, but maybe it is because there’s more white people around; race didn’t seem to be an issue in any of those events (nationality was, quite a few times). Some of them (of both colors) were women wearing business suits, which isn’t something one usually associates with the word “threatening”. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-experiment-for-white-people-regarding-race/589652/102 "2011-07-26T16:14:16Z")
Among the aforesaid Mexican badasses, the one thing you _never_ mention is their mothers. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-experiment-for-white-people-regarding-race/589652/103 "2011-07-26T16:26:12Z")
No, the one thing you never mention is their mothers’ alleged profession. Asking whether these are the manners their dear mothers taught them, on the other hand, has been known to get more than one loudmouth to remember said manners. But being a middle-aged Hispanic woman who’s herded more males than she cares to count helps, it gives you That Voice. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-experiment-for-white-people-regarding-race/589652/104 "2011-07-26T16:28:22Z")
I see. ---
**Author:** ![theR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@theR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theR)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-experiment-for-white-people-regarding-race/589652/105 "2011-07-26T17:52:36Z")
From what I can tell, most studies and statistics indicate violent crime is more often intra-racial than inter-racial, thus white people should avoid the white guys and black people should avoid the black guys. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-experiment-for-white-people-regarding-race/589652/106 "2011-07-27T08:03:58Z")
I also think it’s odd not to include black people in this “experiment.” I’ve never encountered a white person who was randomly beat up by a group of black people purely because they were white and “in their neighborhood.” Although I’m aware that this scenario has occurred more than once throughout the course of history. I have encountered more than one black person who was beat up by a group of white people for such reasons. In fact, I witnessed it more than once as a child. And I’m not that old. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-experiment-for-white-people-regarding-race/589652.md?page=5)