Ask Lemmy

My whole family is racist, so I've spent a lot of time un-learning shit while being mindful of my subconscious biases. The last time I was with my family, I had to leave the room because they were all sitting in a circle talking about how black people are genetically inferior. Literally, that's just how they spend some evenings, being overtly racist to each other.

I've had a few black friends throughout my life, all wildly different. One was a stuffy nerd with alopecia. One was a little person grunge rock bass player. One is the most eloquent, kind, and fanciful gay man I've ever met.

There is one, lone insight I think I've gleaned from my experiences with black culture. My family often complains about black people being loud, and I think I have an understanding as to why they sometimes are. One is, like you said, they aren't as afraid to express emotion and that can be as loud as the strength of the emotions. Another reason, I think, is that throughout history they have been marginalized, ignored, and forced to live in out-of-the-way areas. This is not lost on them. I think a way of reclaiming their humanity is in reclaiming their right to be seen and heard. They are THERE. You can ignore them and the issues facing them but you cannot ignore 24" subwoofers. You can't ignore bright colors, dazzling chrome, and the shaking hydraulics of a lifted car.

Also, I'm with you. Whenever black folk are around, I just feel safer. Like, when I go out, I fear right wing nutjobs and their violence, and that just feels less likely to occur when I'm around non-white people. If I'm somewhere and there's only other white people, I'm nervous because one of them is guaranteed a brain dead red-tin-foil-hat wearing psychopath, and with no minorities around he's likely to let everybody know exactly how racist he is.