[Tony-L]

I have noticed that African Americans in general are much noisier than whites, for example in libraries or cafes, and when whites ask them to make less noise because they cant work or talk themselves, the African Americans often react very negatively. Why?

User Detail :  

Name : Tony-L, City : New York, State : NY Country : United States, 

[Lucy22425]

I think that maybe it's just a cultural thing as far as African Americans being louder than whites in public places. It's probably just a difference in how people express themselves. Another reason may be a conscious or subconscious challenge of the standard that society imposes on people in general. After all, the norms for our society were established by and large by white people. It may be a mild protest against these established norms. And if a white person tells a black person to keep it down, then that plays right into the idea that whites are constantly telling blacks what behavior is and isn't acceptable. Even though this may not have anything to do with the situation at hand - one person in a library asking another to be quieter so the person can study - these are the dynamics that have developed in our society, and whether consciously or subconsciously, people react to these dynamics.

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Name : Lucy22425, Gender : F, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Age : 26, City : San Jose, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[David A.]

I have spent many years trying to dig deeper into the reasons why blacks do some of the things they do, and it has bothered and baffled me to no end. Their lack of proper tipping etiquette and certain social behavior patterns have at times frustrated and other times confused me. What I have learned is that there is still a lot of hatred/animosity toward whites, for reasons unknown, as most blacks have more opportunities than whites in all facets of life. In situations like the one you describe, having encountered many myself, I have found that the African Americans just don't like to be told what to do by whites, whether it's related to being too loud, etc. I think the tipping is related, as one black friend said to me once, to 'How many times do you think you whites tipped us slaves for our jobs?' I can sympathize with that, but slavery no longer exists, and in any case, I did not enslave them, so why punish me? A lot of this is also related to lack of education. A poorly educated white kid with an attitude is just as likely to not tip/have rude comments for someone asking them to be quiet as a black person. I just feel that education seems to be less of a priority in the black community, and that's a shame, for they have so many opportunities and obvious talents. I don't see things changing anytime soon, especially when the 'leaders' and spokespeople of their race are people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who want nothing more than to perpetuate a continual state of victimhood.

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Name : David A., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 31, City : Glastonbury, State : CT Country : United States, Occupation : Service, Education level : 2 Years of College, 

[T.R.]

Often, groups of black people - especially youths - feel unfairly singled out when white people 'hush' them, and sometimes this feeling is justified. Many times when I'm using public transportation, I've seen people get irritated by the loud banter of black kids, but then ignore or even smile at a group of white kids carrying on in a similar fashion. Black kids are more likely to be harassed by security at a mall, for instance, while white kids will go undetected. Instances like these - whether truly experienced or merely heard about - make groups of black kids suspicious of attempts to quiet them. That said, exhuberant expression - sometimes loud - is a cultural thing.

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Name : T.R., Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, City : Newark, State : NJ Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[Alea29009]

A lot of whites forget that most American blacks are still in the lower/underclass bracket. That said, many don't know what is 'proper' behavior. It is also cultural, too: my mother worked in a hotel in Jamaica and said one that thing about African Americans was that they talked very loud. So the reasons for African Americans talking loud are both class and culturally related.

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Name : Alea29009, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Caribbean-American black, Age : 21, City : New York, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Nelly]

Black people are not noisier, they are just more expressive. The reason it appears that way is that to maintain their sanity, blacks are generally more jovial and friendly and believe in expressing themselves rather than bottling it all up and exploding somewhere else. Whites internalize everything, letting emotions build up, which is very unhealthy and hypocritical.

User Detail :  

Name : Nelly, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Pentecostal, City : Santa Monica, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Rhiannon]

I remember once, a few years ago, watching a young black woman dancing and singing at a bus stop with a Walkman, and I thought, why can't I do that? Why are white folks so darn quiet?

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Name : Rhiannon, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 29, City : Eden Prairie, State : MN Country : United States, Occupation : Professor, Social class : Middle class, 

[Kimber]

While I'm certainly not in favor of loud talking, I've observed that whites seem to become more irate and feel compelled to intervene when it's blacks who are creating the disturbance. I've often been in the presence of white teens, Asian women or old Jewish men who could match the decibel level of ANY black person - but they were never confronted. Most whites just don't want to be reminded that we exist - and that's just too bad.

User Detail :  

Name : Kimber, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, City : Chicago, State : IL Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Crystal31918]

And there's the other end of the spectrum. I have a long commute early in the morning on the train to work daily. At that hour, if you look around, you'll see that most people would like to take a nap, read or just collect their thoughts before tackling a noisy, frantic office. On stops after mine, some people will talk loudly while they're getting their seats, then a few minutes later will quiet down. On some mornings there are a couple of black women who get on the train and talk loudly during the two-hour run, disregarding those who would like some kind of peace and quiet. I have to put my headphones on to drown them out, which defeats my purpose of trying to take a nap. No one's saying don't talk - just keep the volume down. Talk lower or whisper. If someone were to tell them in a nice way not to talk so loud, they'd probably get defiant and either argue, or the next time talk even louder, just to be spiteful.

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Name : Crystal31918, Gender : F, City : Montague, State : NJ Country : United States, 

[Marron-B22130]

I talk loud to be sarcastic. Whtie people are always staring at blacks. The reason I or my friends get loud is to ridicule white people for always looking at blacks like they have never seen a black person before.

User Detail :  

Name : Marron-B22130, 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, 

[Christ-to-da-Mist]

Whites also speak loudly in banks and other places. And they also look at us like we're crazy when we ask them a question. So blacks are not the only one.Its people in general. Holla Back

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Name : Christ-to-da-Mist, City : detroit, State : MI Country : United States, 

[chloe]

blacks tend tyo bo so loud because they often tend to get over excited about hings which causes them to get loud. White folk get loud at times, so don't try to act like they don't.

User Detail :  

Name : chloe, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, City : new york, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

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