Why are groups of black teenagers so loud?

In My Humble Opinion
101

monstro, I don’t recall ANYONE saying that ONLY black teenagers can be noisy. If someone had, then I think that your story would have some relevance. I’m quite certain that nobody made such a claim, though.

Similarly, I don’t recall ANYONE saying that ALL black teenagers are noisy. Again, if somebody had made that claim, then your objection would be relevant indeed. They didn’t though, so I don’t think that your little anecdoate matters in this case.

Unfortunately, that’s how these discussions often go. If you ask why blacks tend to be noisier than most, you can count on a whole bunch of people to say “What are you talking about? Not all blacks are noisy!” or “Blacks aren’t the only noisy people out there! You can have noisy people of all races!” People should know better than that.

Now, I’ll admit that the OP didn’t specifically affirm that he wasn’t referring to every single black teenager out there… but he shouldn’t have to. He was obviously making a generalization. If somebody says that dogs have four legs, he shouldn’t have to clarify that some dogs have amputated limbs. By the same token, one should have to expect the OP to explicitly state that he wasn’t referring to every single black teen in existence.

102

The OP was making a generalization based on his experience.

I was simply noting that my experience belies his. Most black teenagers, even when grouped together, are NOT loud. As a former black teenager, I can attest to this. As someone who spends their weekends on an urban street, in a diverse area, I can also attest to this. As someone who walks to and from work everyday in an urban environment, passing through a dense university setting, I can also attest to this. As someone who has always lived in cities with a heavy black presence, and was born and raised in Chocolate City (Atlanta), I can attest to this.

As someone who absolutely hates when people get loud, I can also attest to this.

So if most of a demographic is not showing the behavior that is being generalized to that demographic, wouldn’t it be only rational to be :rolleyes: about it?

If it’s simply about observations, how come no one ever posts a thread like, “Why are white people so uptight and anal?” Why are these observations (often dealing with obnoxious behaviors) usually focused on black people and no one else? Are black people just naturally fun to observe? Are we the only ones that fit stereotypes? I could post threads all day long about how annoying white people can be, with their tendency to nick-name you and be overly familiar. And smoke all the damn time. Could it be that I don’t post these questions not for fear of the PC police but because they simply make for stupid topics to discuss? The answer is always going to be the same. You’re always gonna have people who agree with the generalization, others who think it’s only sorta-kinda true, depending on context, and people who flat-out disagree defensively. In other words, there will be no answer ultimately. You’ll only get a discussion about how white people suck, no they don’t, yes they do.

Oh, my bad. That never happens around here!

And “why” is a go-nowhere question anyway. Even if the generalization is true, unless you’re prepared to do some intensive anthropological research, you’ll never know the “why” behind why groups of people do the things they do. So again, the discussion is usually more about talking shit about a group rather than understanding them.

(As for my last post, I was referring to a school trip. We had a 10:30pm curfew every night.)

103

The problem, monstro, is that your previous posting demonstrated nothing of the sort. Rather, you said that you found a group of noisy teenagers who were not black, and that you sat at a table with black teenagers who were not loud. Neither one of these experiences even comes close to demonstrating that “most black teenagers, even when grouped together, are NOT loud.” I think you know this full well.

monstro, I’m not going to say that your experiences are less valid than those of the OP. As far as I’m concerned, that’s another subject altogether. Rather, my point – and I think you know this full well - is that it’s foolish to say “Aha! Yesterday, I encountered some noisy teenagers, and they weren’t black” or “But… but… I was seated with some quiet black teens!” and pretend that this addresses the OP in any way. Intelligent people know that they don’t, and we shouldn’t act as though they do.

104

Why would you think I was posting my comment about loud Asian teens to discount the idea that black teens are loud?

I was just posting a trivial comment to a stupid discussion, not trying to discount the OP. I just thought my observation was funny. The one group that is stereotyped as “quiet” turned out to be the loud and obnoxious one. It shocked me just as much as anyone else.

Of course, I don’t expect anyone to change their idea about black people. We’ve all got our ideas about black people and no single thread is ever going to change that. So that leaves me wondering what the fucking point of these kinds of threads are. Again, they seem like a way for people to talk shit about people they don’t like, to just blow off steam. People have their minds made up that their observations make for accurate generalizations. They don’t want their minds changed. They just want people to agree with them.

105

Because of the very nature of this thread. Not to mention the fact that if this was not your purpose, then that particular anecdote would be completely irrelevant to this discussion.

That and the fact that you said,

“‘Ha!’, I thought to myself. ‘Just goes to show you can’t believe everything you read on the Dope.’”

Based on that remark, I think we both know that you felt that this observation negated the OP’s claim.

In other words, it has no relevance to the topic under discussion. Gotcha.

Again, based on your statement (“‘Ha!’, I thought to myself. ‘Just goes to show you can’t believe everything you read on the Dope.’”), you clearly thought that this incident somehow disproved the OP. We both know that, so why do you keep trying to pretend otherwise?

106

I though she was just being lighthearted and humorous. Maybe half-serious at most.

I guess it is just another illustration of how different people can perceive different tones in plain text.

107

I should start a thread called “Why are white people so uptight all the damn time?”

108

Just got back from St Louis where my nephew graduated from high school this weekend. The crowd was probably 1/3 white to 2/3 black. There were notes on the last page of the program asking people to behave, and the principal (or school superintendent) even said something early in the ceremony. I would expect a certain amount of whooping and hollering and cheering but some folks just didn’t know when to knock it off.

Oh yeah, and the air horns. Don’t EVEN get me started on the air horns. :mad:

109

But somebody will show and say, “I saw an uptight black guy yesterday, so there”. :smiley:

110

Cause they are upset about the loud black teenager ‘problem’. :smiley:

Teenagers are loud.

111

A coworker’s daughter graduated from HS last week. A rather well off district. Yeah, it’s predominantly white.

Somewhere in the middle of the commencement stuff, the Superintendent said it was OK for the kids to take out their beach balls. So, they did and had a grand time.* Even a blow up doll bounced around the crowd to great amusement*. When asked to put everything away, including the anatomically correct doll, the kids did.

I told my coworker, " White kids are so trainable."

I am totally taking a blowup doll to my childrens graduation ceremonies.

112

I attended a HS Graduation in Kalamazoo, MI a few years ago. It was a week before my own son graduated HS in upstate NY. The racial mixes? Oh, about the same. My son’s HS may have been a bit more pale.

The air horns. Really? That’s a show of joy? Of pride? Of support? A kid is supposed to be happy that his family whipped out a device that deafens and angers all within 100 feet?? That’s just pure bullshit. That’s the most insidious mean spirited tiring self-centered " fuck you I get mine and you don’t get to tell me what to do in public " embarassing part of the American cultural landscape. Why blow air horns? Well, because nobody can tell you NOT to. Because one displeased look is answered with " Who the fuck YOU looking at, motherfucker??? ". Because we are rapidly devolving into a classless tasteless tactless manner-less society of boisterous buffoons.

Air horns? Yeah. By Latino families. By African-American families. At both graduation ceremonies, I did not see a single white family use an air horn.

How could I tell? Because the person blowing them stands, waves it while creating an aural assault and grins cruelly at those sitting around them.

People are really something.

:frowning:

113

My son graduated on Friday. There was I think one or two black kids in his class, but that isn’t the issue.

You see, last year when my daughter graduated, we got the ‘please hold your applause’ speech and for the first 10 or so students, people obeyed … but discipline broke down and it was pretty much a hoot-n-holler fest afterward.

This year …eh, fuck it … cheer all you want. It was fun. I mean people were reserved enough to let the students names be heard, but every one of them got a hoot-n-holler from their family. And that’s the way I like it.

114

Vuvuzelas?

115

AIR HORNS.

116

Oh God, those actual compressed-air-powered air horns for boats? What the fuck?! In a graduation ceremony? That’s absolutely insane.

117

Jesus christ. They allow those things to be used in a grad ceremony?? Jesus.

118

Back in college, I asked a black friend why black women were so loud. His reply, “Because black men don’t listen to them.”

119

Now you sense the source, the genesis, the font, the origin of my outrage.

You want to clap, shout, whistle, yell with pride and joy??? That your daughter/ son made it to HS Graduation? My god, go for it. These days it sure is a reason for lustful jubilation.

You want to notify the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier that you are six miles away in the dense fog, adrift without power or fuel, you picked the right warning device.

One event does not justify use of the other device. In an enclosed space. That echoes. With people sitting all around who do not know that a twelve billion decibel horn is about to be blown.

Please.