It's not racism, for me, it's instinct. In New Orleans, white people are the minority, and some people can be violently racist against me for being a small white chick. Of course, I fear all strange men. They are scary.
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Name : Liz, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, City : New Orleans, State : LA Country : United States, wouln't you say that all people no matter what race tend to do the same thing.
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Name : lorraine22590, City : Memphis, State : TN Country : United States, I think the reason why many people, especially women, feel the need to 'clench up' when passing by black men has a lot to do with the way our media presents crime. African American men are, much more often than white men, shown on tv as being the main perpetrators of crime. This does not mean African American men (and women) are more violent by nature, but rather this seems to be a common bias among our mass media. Seeing this often enough instills us with the idea that we should more often fear 'men of color' than white men.
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Name : Holly Traynor, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 21, City : Gettysburg, State : PA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, I think its all the news and 'crime drama' propaganda that loves to scare folks to death. Even though they have whites as offenders at times also, most of the stories are told in a way that would make me afraid of Black men too. And I grew up with them.
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Name : Chaka, City : detroit, State : MI Country : United States, Why? Because we watch the evening news, and read the paper. I've never seen nor heard of Amish boys knocking women down and grabbing their purses, nor have I ever seen or heard of a yarmulke flying from the head of a purse snatcher. Amish boys do not keep sparkplugs in thier pockets to throw through passenger windows of cars stopped at traffic lights, then reach in and grab the purse as the glass is still bouncing off of the dashboard. Oh, I almost forgot, where would an Amish boy get a sparkplug? But then again, I've never had horseshit thrown at my car either.
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Name : Gayle-Larkin, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 50, City : Harrison, State : OH Country : United States, Occupation : backhoe operator, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 
JJParticipant
Sometimes if people see that you are scared they will take advantage of that. Just like a dog, if it sees that you're scared of course its going to attack. Now I'm not saying that these men are like dogs, that was just an example.
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Name : JJ, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 15, City : Detroit, State : MI Country : United States, I think white people clutch their bags or purses when a black male passes by them because people in our sociaty are so used to seeing stereotypes on television and the media.
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Name : Ashley, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 17, City : St. John's, State : NA Country : Canada, Occupation : student, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Upper middle class, 
meParticipant
You are horrible to think that our black men will jack you just because they are black.There are very well respecting black men everywhere. Statistically you should be more afraid of a white man to jack you other than a black man because they have a higher crime rate
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Name : me, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 14, City : rockford, State : IL Country : United States, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Upper middle class, As a police officer I see the aftermath of many assaults. It is definitely better in my opinion to be cautious and survive, than to be nieve or politicaly correct and become a victim. It also may have to do with the area the people are in when these encounters take place such as high crime areas.
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Name : Dennis, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Baptist, Age : 42, City : Atlanta, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : Police officer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, New York is a state where everyone that lives there is very rude and always seems to be very aggressive. So for you to come out and say that is very closed minded.
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Name : Edward25584, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 34, City : Milwaukee, State : WI Country : United States, Occupation : Medical Insurance, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class, Any woman who has been in a room with a television, newspaper, radio, or magazine, in the past several years has every right to clutch her purse or lock her doors when ANY person she doesn't know approaches. I don't want to live in fear, but what other choice do I have? Whether you believe it or not, there are some EVIL people in this world. To ignore that would put you and your children in danger!
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Name : Pumpkinoel, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Methodist, Age : 28, City : Peoria, State : IL Country : United States, Occupation : Mom, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, Everytime I am out and white people see me they clutch their purses and lock their doors. I do not dress like a thug or portray myself as one. I am an educated black person. Every time this happens I laugh and shake my head, because I know who the real ignorant person is.
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Name : Mr. California, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 24, City : Los Angeles, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Computer Software, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Where I live, the people most likely to commit petty crimes like this are blacks. It's unfortunate but true. Yes, there are some whites that do this and some hispanics even but the blacks commit most of these type crimes from where I'm from. It's just a fact of life when that happens in Downtown Charleston. So it's not out of the ordinary when women clutch their purse. If those individuals didn't commit those type of crimes, then why would they clutch their purse when they see someone who presents thereselves in that manner?
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Name : Stevo27714, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Lutheran, Age : 24, City : Charleston, State : SC Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Wow, your description also describes white, hispanic, and asian men as well. So black men are the only ones who dress poorly, have bad manners, have bad hygiene, and engage in aggressive talk? Where in America is this place you encounter this behavior? Personally, I see this manifested in everyone, not just black males. Reality check, white people beg on the streets too. So if you look at the big picture, it is not just black men. Yes, you receive crap, but what did you say or do to receive the crap? Don't be scared of black men, because while you are being scared of them, they might be feeling the same way about you. Think about it!
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Name : Nicole, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 22, City : Long Beach, State : CA Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Yes! This stupid, annoying action still exists today. Today, I walking behind a couple of women (Christmas crowd), not knowing what would happen because I was minding my own business at the time. As I continued to walk I find that a majority of the women were being very careless with their bags. This woman looks back and grabs her purse as if I (with 4 bags of my own) was going to steal her christmas presents-knowing that my butt is too big for those size 2 pants she brought at the gap.
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Name : Stefanie, City : Milwaukee, State : WI Country : United States, 
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