I recently moved to Florida after living in a not-so-big city in Colorado my entire life. I've never met a "ghetto" black person before my move here, and now I'm surrounded by them at my high school. I'm by no means a racist, but I'm curious about the reason why some black people act "black," or why they act "white," as I can only put it with confusion. These black people aren't loud, don't wear gold teeth and may never use the word "crunk." Why are some black people this way, while others are loud and rather "hood"-like?
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Name : Jessica, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Jacksonville, State : FL Country : United States, A black person's speech, behavior, style, and dress are heavily influenced by his/her upbringing. I'm a quiet, nerdy person who did not grow up listening to slang. My parents frowned upon baggy clothes and gold teeth. I speak proper English and dress conservatively as a result of my upbringing.
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Name : Sherry27213, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 24, City : Bakersfield, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Nursing, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Middle class, Sometimes ,it depends on how you are raised and also your influneces ( such a friends, family, may be even the televison). I speak english fluently because that's how I was raised to speak. Some other black people may have been raised in a household where slang was spoken very commonly and so , they go on speaking in slang where ever they go.
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Name : Chrisitine24249, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, City : Hartford, State : CT Country : United States, I thiink you should take a closer look at your question before you say you are not racist. Never generalize people, there are whites who act ghetto, who are loud ect. I assume you feel that you are better and that the way these people act are unacceptable to you. While you have a lot of growing to do because the world does not revolve around what you think you should worry about the way you act and respond to people before making judgements why don't you ask the people you call ghetto why do they act this way or are you afraid?
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Name : Adele24250, Gender : F, City : Philadelphia, State : PA Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, There is a new evolving thing between us black people thats starting. SOme of us act 'black' and some of us act 'white'. Its our upbringing that makes the difference. the ones that are real ghetto and gangsta, grew up in the hood. They didn't have nothing growing up but their personality. They didn't have the same level of education as such ones (kinda like myself) to grow up in the upper middle class surroundings. Beleive it or not jessica, I usually get problems with my own race
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Name : Rich, Gender : M, Race : Black/African American, Age : 25, City : Lunenburg, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : life insurance sales, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, First of all, what do you deem acting black versus acting white? Maybe if you can rid your mind of that prejudice then you would realize that there are just people around you, not black folks that act black. Secondly, I am sure that the difference in people in general has to do with a regional (cultural) change in where you live. People in the south are different from people in the north. People in the west are different than people in the east.
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Name : Monika, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 28, City : Houston, State : TX Country : United States, Occupation : Programmer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Colorado and Florida are both in different climates and sub-cultures. The people from these places act differently because they have different lives. Why do people from the south speak with a southern accent? Because that's the culture they were raised in. They would speak French and probably dress differently if they had been raised in Paris. The idea of someone acting 'black' or 'white' is really only an issue in the U.S. We stress our differences much more than people in other countries. We actually tend to resist being a 'melting pot'. A guy named Bob from Nigeria is acting like a guy named Bob from Nigeria. He isn't acting white, or black, or asian, or anything else. Bob is just behaving the way he is.
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Name : aysha, Gender : F, Age : 27, City : Ammon, State : ID Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, u lived in Colorad, thats why you dont know what the difference is. the only black people u saw were the white ones because no real black people live in Colorado. it just depends on how you were raised, that depends on the way you act
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Name : Alicia25524, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 15, City : Atlanta, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, how you behave is directly related to how you have been socialized. we have to be careful of the mesages we are sending when saying 'act white' 'act black' 'sound white' 'sound black'. no color comes out when talking or behaving. only how you were socialized and educated. everything white is not positive nor is everything black negative.
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Name : tyrone, Gender : M, Age : 39, City : washington, dc, State : DC Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, Are you serious? Do you actually think that every Black person in the world behaves the same way? You have to be kidding me,now I know you're not that ignorant.
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Name : lea, City : philadelphia, State : PA Country : United States, A person can have many reasons for acting a certain way. I think the most important reason is where the person grew up and who they learned their mannerisms from. I guess it's cultural. When you see black people acting 'black' some of that is because the people who raised them acted that way. I didn't grow up 'ghetto' or even in a real ghetto. When I was in 3rd grade my sister and I went to visit my cousin and she asked us if we acted 'white' because we thought we were better than her. That was totally not the reason, we were just two little kids, we were ourselves and just weren't raised around people who acted in accordance with her standard of black. Some 'ghetto' black folk may just be playing it up as well because they're normally seen as not 'black enough' or for the harmless reason of embracing Hip-Hop. Nowadays my sister is trying to be a dancer. she's doing lots, tap, ballet, jazz but wants to focus on hip-hop. After going to many dance classes and being around more people she embraces hip-hop style because it's fun and she feels comfortable doing so.
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Name : Dawn-J25238, Gender : F, Race : Black, American Indian, irish, Age : 20, City : Davis, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, In my personal opinion it sounds racist or n the least an uneducated comment to distinguish either behavior as being 'white or black'. There are several white people who act as much 'ghetto' if not more than some black people. I think it is all a matter of the upbringing, whether that be inner city kids or poverty in general. Even white collered kids white or black may have been brought up into the hip hop culture. In the least, you should view each person seperately, not everybody with a 'ghetto' aura about them is bad. If I dislike a person, it's because of that person.
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Name : Dan21802, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 27, City : Chicago, State : IL Country : United States, Occupation : Credit Mgr, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, Just like all white people aren't the same, that goes for blacks, too. The ones who act 'hood'-like might be from the 'hood' or think it's cool to act that way. 'Acting white' is a term other blacks use to describe a black person who they believe is rejecting their culture and trying to only be associated with white people. The definition of 'acting white' varies within the black community. In poor areas, it could even mean being educated or having goals. Why this is so is up for interpretation. Coming from the black middle class of Jacksonville, I believe a person is 'acting white' when they refuse to talk to blacks, have friendships with blacks or date blacks because they don't want to be thought of as being black.
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Name : Selene, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 20, City : Tallahassee, State : FL Country : United States, Occupation : College Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, I certainly understand your culture shock, Jessica. To answer your question, one would first need to know your definition of 'acting black'. Since this information isn't fully given, I can try to help you understand by applying the same concept to white people. There are white people who are mild-mannered and soft-spoken, there are also those white people who are rowdy and boisterous. In this manner, the same is true of black people as well.
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Name : Lynn-H, City : Louisville, State : KY Country : United States, They do so for the same reason some whites behave like whites(hillbilly, redneck, banjo-playing), and others behave like normal average Americans.
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Name : Akeem, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Jewish, Age : 38, City : Miami, State : FL Country : United States, Occupation : Businessman, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper class, 
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