I think this sort of thing is probably more common in racially homogeneous areas. If a white person doesn’t know many blacks, they might subscribe to silly stereotypes.
I suppose it's possible. When I was small, we had a house keeper/cleaner who was black. She was like a mother to me. The area I grew up in was not racially diverse. There were two black families who had children in our neighborhood and my grade school with a few additional families with kids in the high school. They were all very nice normal people.
I had a friend who found himself in a predominantly black area of Oakland California one evening, and his overly insecure demeanor led him to begin frantically looking for any means possible to extricate himself from this dilemma. In the end, he was forced to resort to sprinting even though no one was chasing him.
I also used to occasionally find myself in these exact same areas, but my initial exposure was to enjoy some good ol' fashioned blues in a place called "Ely's". My naivete was on display, but I suspect that there's a fine line between the appearance of naivete and fearlessness.
A few years later, my naivete had vanished, but a drug addiction had replaced it, and along with it an engraved invitation to wander freely anywhere I pleased due to the fact that I had money to blow. As Booker T Washington noted, "their money is green". In other words, voluntary exchanges of goods and services, contracts, etc. are a great way to quench any lingering racial opposition, or feelings of prejudice. However, I can also concede that those who were taught to hate other races will have a tough time overcoming those inculcated prejudices even when huge profits are on the table. Fortunately, those people are long dead gone.
I live in a racially diverse area, and am much more likely to judge someone by how they dress and carry themselves than their race.
I would only add their actions. Years ago I was hanging out at one of the local taverns where everyone knew my name. The lone black patron of this establishment approached me one evening to inform me that he had seen my girlfriend with another man. He explained that he was under the impression that my girlfriend and I were a bit of an item, and that if the shoe were on the other foot he would appreciate it if someone made this information known to him. I shared his views, and thanked him for being the only person in the entire world who cared enough to tell me.
This works both ways. Notice how lily-white areas, like Portland are the strongholds of BLM protests? They have simplistic stereotypes too. Just because someone’s black doesn’t mean they’re nice. It infantilizes black peoples.
Well said! I wholeheartedly agree. Treating them as if they're victims is equally, or perhaps even worse.
