We don't smile because we are too busy taking shit from a society that would rather not see us or have anything to do with us.
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Name : Sherman, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 34, City : Richmond, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Contractor, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Middle class, As for myself, I keep that look on my face to garner respect. It seems that when you are a nice black person, white people tend to try to run over you. However, whenever there is a look of contempt on my face in a room full of white people, I always get respect, this is speaking from most of the experiences I have had.
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Name : Marron-Bella22131, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 24, City : Anniston, State : AL Country : United States, Occupation : clerical, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower class, I think you find what you look for. If I decided that all white people did was scowl then I would walk around only noticing those white people that fit MY description. I highly doubt that even a noticeable amount of the black people in your area make mean faces, but that it is all in your perception of them. Not to say that you are racist, but maybe your dislike for black people isn't a result of their facial expressions. I believe that deep inside you are looking for a reason to explain some feelings you have about Black people without admitting some of the inappropriate feelings of resentment or anger that you may feel toward African-Americans, but this is something you must determine for yourself. Hopefully, you will consider this as a possibility.
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Name : Ashley-M23488, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Presbyterian, Age : 18, City : Charlotte, State : NC Country : United States, Occupation : student, Social class : Upper middle class, I have wondered about this but in a different context. When I see white people, I can tell their mood -- usually from quite a distance -- by the expression on their face. However, for black people -- because the skin tone is so dark and, therefore, the facial contrasts are less evident (to me, anyway), it's hard for me to see mood. I usually can't tell until the person is fairly close. I suspect that I 'stare' as well. (i.e. I am looking for a facial cue which takes a while so I spend more than a 'usual' amount of time looking at a black person's face. I could understand that the black person could interpret this as 'staring'.) So, if a black person is walking towards me, I don't know how to read their mood at a distance. I wonder if this is the same for black people. Or, perhaps, because contrast just is what it is, I wonder if black people use other cues to communicate mood. Perhaps the 'black walk' is a substitute. (e.g. If a black person is swaggering down the street they are in a good mood.) It would seem that it would be very important to be able to assess -- from a reasonable distance -- if someone is potentially dangerous -- which is why mood assessment is so important. So my question is: How do black people know each others mood from a distance. With respect to the Korean posting, I think it is the eye configuration. White people 'narrow their eyes' when indicating a threat. Because oriental eyes are always narrowed, there could be some misinterpretation of facial cues (in the context of the caucasian norm) in the same way. In that way, however, it's a bit easier because, after a while, you can understand that this is just the way it is. As far as 'mean looks' go, though, I have two white friends who have the meanest faces I have ever seen. Just standing there, they look dangerous but they are a couple of the nicest guys I know. I was told one time that when you are speaking to foreigners you have to give them wide latitude. Because so much of what we say is idiom (i.e. cultural), you just HAVE to give these folks a break. (Like the time when the nice looking young Italian lady asked me if I 'would sleep over' when what she wanted to know was if I 'would over-sleep'.) I think this area is the same. Instead of judging in the context of your own norms, you need to try and judge in the context of the norms for the person you are seeing. The question is: How do you figure out what those norms are?
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Name : M-Maurer19474, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 52, City : Poughkeepsie, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : Programmer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 
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