Re:On Being a Black Man
by PhasmaFelis on Wednesday July 13, 2016 @06:11PM
(#12090071)
I am a white guy of about the same size, and scruffy to boot, and I do get some of the same thing with strangers being a little nervous around me, particularly smaller women; but it's definitely not as bad as he's saying here. Hell, I feel a bit nervous when I see a black guy my own size coming towards me, which really bugs me; I know it's stupid but I can't seem to suppress it. Racism is insidious.
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"I see a black guy my own size coming towards me, which really bugs me; I know it's stupid but I can't seem to suppress it. Racism is insidious."
But is it necessarily racism? Possibly it is a survival mechanism? After all, don't you notice a white guy of your own size or larger coming toward you?
I think it is natural, and likely a genetic trait, to pay attention to and/or even avoid persons of larger size. Color may add to this wariness, since it is common knowledge that black men are more dangerous than white men. Neither is racism: the first is IMO genetic, the latter is based on statistics.