# white men are obsolete **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 16, 2007, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694 "2007-11-16T15:35:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/141 "2007-11-18T01:15:43Z")
[QUOTE=monstro] If you can find anything on this board that proves I’m racist, by all means, post it. Otherwise, shut the hell up. [/quote] Now, now. I’m not calling you a racist. How would I know? What I frequently hear is that I’m racist because I’m white. The healing process can never really begin until I admit that I am in fact a racist because I’m white. It’s like an alcoholic can never really start to get better until he admits he’s an alcoholic. So what I’m giving you is the same advice I get. Just admit you’re racist, then you can start the healing process. It’ll never start until you do. You find that irritating? Me too. > [@](#): > > You just went back to school? Higher education or high school? Eh, decent slam. Not great, but okay. > [@](#): > > Are you saying none of your professors were white guys? None of the deans are white guys? The president of your school, the board of trustees–none of them are white guys? I can’t even think of a historically black college/university that has no white faculty. I’m saying at my level I don’t deal with whites much. Why is that? I don’t know. I don’t particularly care. It just is the way it is. You’d think I’d interact with at least some white males at school, but I guess all the white guys are too busy being wealthy privileged CEOs or something. > [@](#): > > I had a coworker like you. A white guy constantly surrounded by the guys he supervised, mostly Cubans (white guys, but they speak Spanish and therefore don’t count). No. No, you haven’t had a coworker like me. > [@](#): > > He was constantly talking about how he felt like the minority all the time–how he didn’t really fit in with them. How no one liked him, because he was the lone white guy. He would tell me this, forgetting that I was the “lone black girl” and yet I still managed to fit in. Nope, totally not my life experience. I’m gay, and totally get along with all my minority contemporaries. I just keep quiet when they start bashing on white men like I’m not one. > [@](#): > > But I couldn’t help but feel that his complaints were more based on a superiority I’m-too-good-to-be-here-with-these-spics complex than it was simple alienation. You might be right. Or maybe he just hates his job, because his job sucks. Take the same guy and put him in a job where he makes six figures and he’s surrounded by women and minorities who are all equally talented and educated and making six figures as well he’s probably not going to be thinking, “why am I with these people, I’m better than this.” > [@](#): > > Way up with my binoculars? Would you like to schedule a visit to my workplace? I assure you, you won’t need a pair of binoculars to see my office’s composition. Not that I’m complaining. I love white guys. But they ain’t in any danger of being extinct. Fair enough. I don’t know you, don’t know where you work. Your experience is not my experience. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/142 "2007-11-18T01:42:51Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Is that a “wah” I hear? No, but I’m pretty sure I heard an “I obviously have no response to your actual argument, so I’m going to whine and bitch about some other little thing and hope nobody notices”. > [@What Exit?](#): > > We now live in a world where we are afraid to point someone out in a crowd and clarify who we mean by saying “the black guy”. Hell we don’t even know for sure if the person in question should be called Black or African American or something else. BTW: It is almost never a “black guy” that takes offense, but some overly sensitive white guy or gal. Apparently, “the guy in the green shirt”, “the guy in the board shorts”, “the guy with the sunglasses”, “the guy holding his cellphone”, “the guy with the Nationals hat”, etc. aren’t good enough. And BTW: I’ve only ever heard “black guys” take offense to this, and in fact I have been in the position of explaining the most common white motive behind it (ie, that it’s an easy way to communicate exactly who you’re talking about) to offended “black guys”. > [@What Exit?](#): > > We must not take the chance on letting a woman in a workplace know their new hairstyle looks good as that would be sexual harassment. No really, I have been through the generic corporate sensitivity training. I’ve always found that my female coworkers were happy that I noticed their new haircut. Maybe I just live in Anything-Goes Land, but I doubt it. Have you ever heard of someone being prosecuted and/or fired for sexual harassment because they gave women compliments when they got a new haircut? I’m not a betting man, but I’d wager that “I got fired for complimenting my coworker on her hairstyle” is code for “I got fired for making little comments all the damn time and making my coworker feel uncomfortable around me”. > [@What Exit?](#): > > If you use standard words like retard, someone will give you a hard time about it. This includes my own sister who works with the developmentally disabled. She is hyper-sensitive to the word retarded. That’s because “retard” has developed an offensive connotation it didn’t have before, just like “colored” has. Words change sometimes. I know, shocking and awful, oppression against the white man, etc., but hey, that’s our cross to bear in this anti-white-man world. > [@What Exit?](#): > > Condemn Sharia law and see how many idiots pop up to compare you to Hitler. Og forbid if you mention most terrorist today are Extremist Islamic. Oops, I just proved I am a racist. OK, I’ll give it a shot: Sharia law is oppressive and outdated. It’s an orgasm of male dominance for people who like to whine and bitch all day about how other people live their lives. It has no place in the modern world, or in any historical context, for that matter. It’s repulsive and disgusting. Saudi Arabia is a disgrace upon the Earth for enforcing Sharia law and should be ashamed of itself. Also, most terrorists are Extremist Islamic, but only for some definitions of “most”. I hand-counted the [terrorist incidents that have occurred since 2002](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorist_incidents#2002) (for a paper, not for this thread) and 52.2% of them have specifically Islamic motives and/or were committed in Israel (not counting the very high numbers of suicide bombings in post-Hussein Iraq, which have tended to either target Coalition troops or be perpetrated on Muslims by other Muslims). Others were political and secular in nature; a sizeable portion of world terrorism is perpetrated by Communists in Latin America. From 1991 to 2001, out of 143 terrorist incidents around the world, only 34 had specifically Islamic motives and/or were committed in Israel. BTW, being a world civilian has become a lot more dangerous since we started the War on Terror: 293 terrorist incidents have occurred around the world in the last five years (again, excluding post-Hussein Iraq), as opposed to 143 in the ten years before that. But that’s a whole 'nother can of worms, ain’t it? > [@What Exit?](#): > > Hell defending Israel seems to get you called a racist on this board. OK, I’ll try it: Israel, despite its flaws, is a beacon of democracy and freedom in the Middle East. Any and all humanitarian problems it may be associated with pale in comparison to those inherent in the governmental systems of every single country surrounding it. In addition, Israel is a much safer place for peaceful Arabs than the Arabic world is for peaceful Jews. And let me chime in to say I had no beef with **smiling bandit** before reading this thread, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/143 "2007-11-18T01:43:53Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] Well damn, I hope I was right about \*\*elucidator \*\* at least. [/QUOTE] Probably. What did you say? ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/144 "2007-11-18T02:20:03Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Perhaps if you continually get called racist you should just stop denying it. As a white guy, I’ve received this advice more times than I can count. Really? Because I’m white and I can’t remember the last time somebody called me a racist. Maybe we’re doing something differently. But whatever could it be? 😕 > [@monstro](#): > > But I couldn’t help but feel that his complaints were more based on a superiority I’m-too-good-to-be-here-with-these-spics complex than it was simple alienation. To be fair, IME (and I’ve had the same feeling, even though I’m apparently part of the offenderati myself) it’s not so much “too-good-to-be-here-with-these-[fill-in-the-blank]” as “do they like me? do they think i’m a Bad Guy? am I going to offend them accidentally? do I have to talk differently?” Of course, the answer is generally “maybe, probably not, probably not, probably not”, but it does provoke anxiety for us white folks–because we’re aware of the connotations that come with our skin color. Of course, it could be that this guy is a racist asshat. There are certainly enough of them around. But it could also be that most of us white people have never had to be “the lone X person”, which can be a near-daily experience for people in minority groups–and women, in some fields. It makes us anxious. YMMV; I was actually one of about a dozen white kids in a grade school of several hundred students, so it doesn’t (usually) make me nervous, but I think that’s all it is for most white people–especially the first few times they ever find themselves in that position. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/145 "2007-11-18T02:28:21Z")
> [@](#): > > **fetus** : Joking at the expense of Jews, women, blacks, whatever is not that bad because you don’t have to believe the stereotypes mentioned to joke about them or find them funny…\*\* In a way I know what you mean. We used to tell Polish jokes and I didn’t even know anyone of Polish descent. Before that it was Little Moron jokes. Now it’s “Blond Jokes.” I told a blond joke to my granddaughter and she had to remind me that she _is_ a blond. Damn. But for a lot of people, making Jews, women and blacks into stereotypes for the sake of a joke just perpetuates a stereotype _that isn’t true_. Not everyone is smart enough to know that it isn’t so. Some people out there are so stupid that they actually _want_ to believe those stereotypes. It makes them feel secure. That kind of ignorance doesn’t need to be encouraged. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/146 "2007-11-18T02:39:25Z")
> [@](#): > > **What Exit?** : We must not take the chance on letting a woman in a workplace know their new hairstyle looks good as that would be sexual harassment. No really, I have been through the generic corporate sensitivity training. Nyah! If you were told that, that’s not the generic corp. sensitivity standard. It’s better to leave off personal comments on appearance on the job unless you are good friends with the employee, but one nicely worded comment about a hairstyle is not going to be considered sexual harassment. Repeated comments about personal appearance might be or repeated compliments or comments about looking “sexy.” ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/147 "2007-11-18T02:40:04Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] Really? Because I’m white and I can’t remember the last time somebody called me a racist. Maybe we’re doing something differently. But whatever could it be? 😕 [/QUOTE] My head isn’t so far up my ass I have no idea what goes on in the world? 🙂 Seriously though, if you’ve never been called racist even though you’re white, you’re just not getting out much and I have to wonder how much time you spend with your fellow Americans. I’m not talking about walking down the street and having people throw rotten tomatoes at you or something. You hang around with minorities enough, you’re going to get dished on for being part of the privileged class. Sometimes jokingly because they know you’re not really. Sometimes seriously because you’re dealing with some sort of activist. Look, I understand where the OP is coming from, and I don’t think his feelings are completely without justification, but neither do I personally feel all victimized or anything. I know my skin color and all humility aside, my stunningly good looks give me an advantage in life. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/148 "2007-11-18T03:20:29Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] Seriously though, if you’ve never been called racist even though you’re white, you’re just not getting out much and I have to wonder how much time you spend with your fellow Americans. I’m not talking about walking down the street and having people throw rotten tomatoes at you or something. You hang around with minorities enough, you’re going to get dished on for being part of the privileged class. Sometimes jokingly because they know you’re not really. Sometimes seriously because you’re dealing with some sort of activist. [/QUOTE] I don’t think I have ever been called a racist unless it was in handful of threads on the dope. I was born in the Bronx, I grew up in a very mixed raced school in Jersey, I was in community college, the Navy and at no shortage of Baseball games in the Bronx. I seemed to have mixed pretty well without managing to get called a racist. [QUOTE=Zoe] Nyah! If you were told that, that’s not the generic corp. sensitivity standard. It’s better to leave off personal comments on appearance on the job unless you are good friends with the employee, but one nicely worded comment about a hairstyle is not going to be considered sexual harassment. Repeated comments about personal appearance might be or repeated compliments or comments about looking “sexy.” [/QUOTE] **Zoe** , I have to ask, what makes you an expert on this. I mentioned the hairstyle thing as it was specifically brought up at two different jobs. Maybe my state is just a lot more litigious than yours. **fetus** , have you never been at a sporting event where nearly half the people all have the same colored shirts on and the same hat? If not try a Yankees, Cubs or even an Angels game and of nearly any NFL game. Jim ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/149 "2007-11-18T07:10:03Z")
I’m half white. Does that mean I can be undead? ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/150 "2007-11-18T14:04:13Z")
[QUOTE=Sophistry and Illusion] There is, but there are enough shitstains on this board who think anyone who disagrees with them is the Antichrist that sometimes the middle gets obscured. [/QUOTE] …he said, thus further obscuring the middle. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/151 "2007-11-18T14:44:20Z")
[QUOTE=buttonjockey308] …he said, thus further obscuring the middle. [/QUOTE] ??? No; I’m just critizing the tendency of certain posters to demonize people on the opposite end of the political spectrum from themselves. I think it is exactly this type of political behavior that is most damaging to a republic. Most posters aren’t like this, but there are some, and I think we all know who they are. ---
**Author:** ![Resistance\_is\_Character-Formin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/90db22/32.png) [@Resistance\_is\_Character-Formin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Resistance_is_Character-Formin)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/152 "2007-11-18T15:05:22Z")
If there were no white men, then there would (eventually) be no white women, which would probably depress a lot of non-whites. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/153 "2007-11-18T16:44:20Z")
[QUOTE=Sophistry and Illusion] ??? No; I’m just critizing the tendency of certain posters to demonize people on the opposite end of the political spectrum from themselves. I think it is exactly this type of political behavior that is most damaging to a republic. Most posters aren’t like this, but there are some, and I think we all know who they are. [/QUOTE] Of course we do, but aren’t those people simply a part of the spectrum itself? I mean, by demonizing a person for what he or she believes, simply because it is opposite to what YOU believe automatically earns you a place on the spectrum below the people you’re attacking. I would rather know the people and who they are than have them exist and abide their natures in secret. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/154 "2007-11-18T16:54:14Z")
[QUOTE=Resistance is Character-Formin] If there were no white men, then there would (eventually) be no white women, which would probably depress a lot of non-whites. [/QUOTE] So funny joke with a slightly racist overtone or pure racism? I just need someone to tell me. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/155 "2007-11-18T18:52:17Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] So funny joke with a slightly racist overtone or pure racism? I just need someone to tell me. [/QUOTE] Why do you need someone to tell you anything as if you don’t have the sense to figure out things for yourself? Oh wait, you must be continuing on the whiny theme that white men are a bunch of emasculated wusses that don’t know whether they’re coming or going because society is forever beating them down with PCness. Okay, I’m following now. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/156 "2007-11-18T19:12:17Z")
[QUOTE=you with the face] Why do you need someone to tell you anything as if you don’t have the sense to figure out things for yourself? Oh wait, you must be continuing on the whiny theme that white men are a bunch of emasculated wusses that don’t know whether they’re coming or going because society is forever beating them down with PCness. Okay, I’m following now. [/QUOTE] Yes, you got it. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/157 "2007-11-18T20:13:09Z")
[QUOTE=smiling bandit] There they will be shipped to the Grand Canyon and will walk off the edge. [/QUOTE] Just to say that this wouldn’t necessarily have the desired effect. I have been to the Grand Canyon and walked off the edge. Actually very enjoyable. It’s called the Skywalk. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/158 "2007-11-18T20:42:21Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] So funny joke with a slightly racist overtone or pure racism? I just need someone to tell me. [/QUOTE] Naw, just this black man’s cue to go git himself the white woman he’d been fiendin’ for all his life before they’re all gone. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/159 "2007-11-18T22:28:04Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > But for a lot of people, making Jews, women and blacks into stereotypes for the sake of a joke just perpetuates a stereotype that isn’t true. Not everyone is smart enough to know that it isn’t so. Some people out there are so stupid that they actually want to believe those stereotypes. It makes them feel secure. That kind of ignorance doesn’t need to be encouraged. I’m not sure exactly what policy you’re advocating, but have you been to a Hollywood comedy club lately? The jokes are almost all racial, ethnic, linguistic or sexual in nature–the latter category generally playing on the stereotypes of one or more genders–and the audience laughs not because the jokes are new or creative–they aren’t–but because it’s a great, relaxing way to release the tension we feel inside as a result of the battle between our natural psychological impulse to separate people and things into well-defined but essentially meaningless categories\* and our social obligation to keep that category-thought from influencing how we treat our fellow citizens. There’s a long sentence if I’ve ever written one… \*Black/drives a Volvo/drinks lattes/drinks tea/has a degree/doesn’t have a degree/etc. > [@levdrakon](#): > > Seriously though, if you’ve never been called racist even though you’re white, you’re just not getting out much and I have to wonder how much time you spend with your fellow Americans. I’m not talking about walking down the street and having people throw rotten tomatoes at you or something. You hang around with minorities enough, you’re going to get dished on for being part of the privileged class. Sometimes jokingly because they know you’re not really. Sometimes seriously because you’re dealing with some sort of activist. I hang out with plenty of “minorities”, and I can’t remember the last time I was seriously called a racist, if ever (not counting grade school, where the other kids probably just called me a racist because that’s what their peers and their parents told them to do). Jokingly, sure. More often, I’m the butt of Jew jokes by the white people who know me well. But they’re _jokes_. I’m not bothered by “you’re an oppressor” any more than “you’re a penny-pincher”. > [@levdrakon](#): > > Look, I understand where the OP is coming from, and I don’t think his feelings are completely without justification, but neither do I personally feel all victimized or anything. I know my skin color and all humility aside, my stunningly good looks give me an advantage in life. I suppose I can get behind that. Well, not literally. 😉 > [@What Exit?](#): > > I don’t think I have ever been called a racist unless it was in handful of threads on the dope. When were you called a racist here? I’m genuinely curious–I can’t remember that, and I’ve always thought of you as one of the more tolerant people around. I always assumed you grew up as part of a white minority in your neighborhood like me. > [@What Exit?](#): > > fetus, have you never been at a sporting event where nearly half the people all have the same colored shirts on and the same hat? Well, sure. But that’s a different kettle of fish (although you can probably still use “the tall one”, “the short one”, etc., but not for many people), and I think anyone who got offended by it in that context (assuming they even hear you) has something strange going on. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694/160 "2007-11-18T23:21:27Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] When were you called a racist here? I’m genuinely curious–I can’t remember that, and I’ve always thought of you as one of the more tolerant people around. I always assumed you grew up as part of a white minority in your neighborhood like me. [/QUOTE] Not often enough to care or worry about. Once in a thread about the French\* and once ironically in a thread where I was partially defending Al Sharpton and mainly not condemning him and a guest poster seemed to think I was an African American and that was the only way anyone could defend him. I think probably one or two other times. But hey, I get accused of being a righty and a lefty at different times. I find it humorous. I grew up in a school system that was probably 60-65% white and 35-40% black. So, I wasn’t part of a white minority but I guess I grew up in an environment where we mixed freely. That and wandering around my grandmothers south Bronx neighborhood in the late 70s & 80s where looking back, I probably should have had some fear, but still didn’t. Strange thing, apparently if you are friendly and unafraid or at least unaware you get treated as a fellow human and not some punk white boy from the burbs. 😉 Jim - As Og is my witness, I thought we were still aloud to make French jokes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-men-are-obsolete/426694.md?page=9)