Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 22 replies, 23 voices, and was last updated 19 years ago by
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Why is it common to see black people talking to themselves in public? I’m not talking about muttering a thought quietly to oneself (I think we all do that), but rather having full conversations in a loud voice. It happens frequently enough that it can’t be just some random, mentally deranged person. Is it a cultural thing? Does it have to do with socio-economic status (I don’t see well-off or professional black people walking around talking to themselves). Please enlighten me…
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Name : Jen, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Dover, State : DE, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I’ve always assumed most people loudly carrying on a conversation in public alone are talking on a cell phone. Perhaps you don’t see the cord?
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Name : Christina32061, Gender : F, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States,I think what you may be noticing (especially among black males) is the tendency for many of them to rap lyrics or sing while going along with their day. My boyfriend raps the lyrics to his favorite rap tunes multiple times during the day, and if you did not know him, you could understandably think he was talking to himself. Other than that, I really do not see a difference in the way blacks and other races ‘talk to themselves’.
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Name : Amber, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 23, City : Greenville, State : NC, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Are you sure they’re not using one of those new cell phones with the headphones? I’ve been taken aback by people (of all races) who I thought were talking to themselves, only to discover they were using one of those new-fangled devices.
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Name : ED25478, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 48, City : Kansas City, State : MO, Country : United States,I am black and don’t talk to myself, nor have I seen any blacks talking to themselves. Maybe it’s just Delaware, where you live. Anyone who does talk to themselves I stay far away from because they have too many ‘bricks missing from their wall’.
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Name : Cocoa31985, Race : Black/African American, City : Tampa, State : FL, Country : United States,Jen, do you live in or close to a predominantly black neighborhood that houses an outpatient mental health clinic? That’d be the only logical conclusion to your question. I currently live in a neighborhood in the heart of downtown in my city, and the racial split of residents is about 75% white, and the rest mostly black and Hispanic. On a daily basis as I walk through my neighborhood casually or on my way to work, I see a handful of people strolling around talking to themselves. But (and this is a big but) I am aware that there is a city-sponsored mental health day clinic within a few blocks. And in keeping with the racial breakdown of my neighborhood, most of the people I see walking around babbling to themselves are white. So again, you must find yourself regularly in areas where there are more black people than not. And if that’s the case, then it makes sense that of all the mental ‘categories’ out there – sane, insane, stable, unstable – you’re likely to see more black people fitting all the molds than people of whatever race is least represented in your area. But I can assure you that lower class blacks are no more genetically predisposed to babble to themselves in public than upper class whites are to dance stiffly and awkwardly to urban music.
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Name : JH, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 31, City : Milwaukee, State : WI, Country : United States, Occupation : Professional, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I think I know what you mean. I’ve seen it AND I’ve done it (and I’m not black). My guess is, you didn’t witness the entire situation. This person is (obviously) upset and ranting (to no one in particular) about a situation they’ve just come away from. That experience left them incredulous and angry; they’re still venting. It catches you off guard, and then you realize that this person is addressing everyone and no one. Perhaps this sort of behavior is more common among African Americans than it is among other groups(?) In my experience, black Americans tend to express anger more openly than others, which might also make them a healthier group, on average.
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Name : Bill, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 52, City : SAN JOSE, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : engineer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I don’t know about Dover, Delaware, but in New Jersey, it is not uncommon to see white people walking around talking to themselves, carrying on whole conversations or just muttering. I think it is reflective of the times, that a lot of people are dealing with issues that are hard for them to cope with, and find themselves debating those matters with themselves as they try to come to grips. PErhaps the reason it seems that only blacks are doing it is because you have some issues yourself when it comes to other races, and therefore, what sticks out in your mind is the black ones who are talking to themselves, while the white ones become somewhat invisible based on your own preconceptions or, dare I say it, prejudices. Believe me, there is enough insecurity and insanity going around, and it does not limit itself to any particular ethnic or geographic group . Maybe you should check yorself, as well as honestly checking out the people you see talking to themselves on the street. If you were non-judgmental and did not harbor any negative stereotyupes of others in your mind, I’m sure you would agree that no race holds any singular grip on babbling to themselves.
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Name : Sanjulo, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 55, City : Newark, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,i’d have to ask the circumstances in which you witnessed this.. were these folks clearly by themselves, or were others near them? is this a particular neighborhood that this happens in? ..did the person seem angry or upset? did they seem to have an earpiece for a cell phone, or walkman/ipod? ..did their dialogue seem to be religious in content (keywords: ‘Jesus.. hallelujah.. Praise God..’) …unless it is an individual with mental and/or emotional and/or substance abuse issues, i don’t see this happening on a recurring basis.. I do know that in this current economic climate, less government money has been made available for mental health care, many communities, especially poorer communities, have less outlets for this now.. many such clinics have been shut down or services severely downscaled.. by extension of this, many mental health/substance abuse halfway houses and related programs that address helping people with these issues have faced closing down.. thus, more people are walking the streets with these issues, some homeless, some semi-homeless.. On a further ‘side note’, African-American culture has never placed a high premium on ‘mainstream’ mental health resources (i.e., psychiatrists/psychologists), partly for the economic issues (generally looked at as a resource for the upper middle class & above) as well as the issue of predominantly white professionals in that field and the cultural gaps many feel in expressing issues to a stranger that is not of your culture.. most black folks who seek counseling tend to depend on prayer and clergy.. also, openly religious exhortations are common in african-american communities, people may be by themselves (or in a group), and facing a crisis, or some fortuitous circumstance may befall them, prompting religious praise or entreaties. ..if angered or upset, i’ve seen some individuals may ‘vent’ for a time, at no one in particular.. how long it lasts depends on the individual..
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Name : christopher, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Catholic, Age : 30, City : Detroit, State : MI, Country : United States, Occupation : student/journalism, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,Quite often, the only intelligent person your going to see and talk to,and who is honestly interested in what you have to say, is the face in the mirror!
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Name : therocdoc24746, City : aurora, State : CO, Country : United States,I have noticed the same thing as the commenter above – more people rapping and freestyling out in public than before, which i often enjoy hearing – but i have also noticed that a lot more people in general are talking to themselves now than in previous times. i grew up in berkeley and recall a higher than usual population of mentally ill people on the streets for a variety of reasons i won’t go into here, but even among them only a certain few talked out loud to themselves – most were fairly quiet. now, though, i see all kinds of people talking to themselves, even without the hands-free cell phones. in addition i talk to myself more. i think what may be happening is that we are so barraged with media from all sides all day long, we have to do something positive to push back against the input so we can hear ourselves think. or, maybe we’re all going a little bit crazy. the only ones that worry me, though, are the ones that are shouting and yelling to themselves incoherently as they go down the steet – those people make me nervous.
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Name : Jim30520, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 38, City : Seattle, State : WA, Country : United States, Occupation : artist, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,I’ve never seen black people talking to themselves. At least no more so than white people. Perhaps they were talking on a cell phone? (My boss does this and I wonder who he’s talking to).
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Name : Patrice-R19879, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 29, City : Birmingham, State : AL, Country : United States, Occupation : Accountant, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,To be honest , I live in a city with a population that is predominantly african-american, and I’ve seen more white people talking to themselves then blacks. This is one of the most obsurd questions I’ve seen thus far.
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Name : S. Willis, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : New Age/Metaphysical, Age : 23, City : New Orleans, State : LA, Country : United States, Occupation : Retail Management, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Middle class,I have no idea how you can see this observation as one indicative of a full race of people. It may be that you don’t see a lot of black people and think that the few you see represent the whole of black america. We are no more a monolith than any other race. We do, however, have one thing in common that no other ethnic group in America has ….skin and/or hair that is vastly different than all other Americans. These identifiers cause many non-blacks to make biased assumptions about the group. If there were some way to check, I think you might find that there are probably ten times more whites who talk to themselves than blacks because there are ten times more whites than blacks in this country.
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Name : bert23375, City : columbus, State : OH, Country : United States,Jen – What are the circumstances surrounding these individuals? Are they homeless? Are they preaching on the street corner? I really don’t think that any one race has a monopoly on a certain behavior. Generally speaking, environment will have more of an impact on individuals behavior. Quite often when I’m at the transit center downtown or when I’m on the Light Rail I’ll see any number of different people of all races acting oddly. But how do I know that what’s odd to me is normal for them? Personally I enjoy the ‘theatre’ of the city and marvel at how so many different people coexist relatively peacfully!
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Name : Frankie, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 37, City : Dallas, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : IT, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,
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