[Steve]

Well written.

User Detail :  

Name : Steve, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 33, City : Omaha, State : NE, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[John25887]

You wrote this as if black comedians on BET’s comic view didn’t make 90% of their jokes about weed,and pimps and hos. So, it’s not only white people who think that way.

User Detail :  

Name : John25887, City : Albany, State : NY, Country : United States, 

[ranger]

I agree with two folks who said the original poster is guilty of generalizing about we caucasian people. Please take a look at your post and substitute the word black for white and see how you feel about it. Also, it always amazing me how little credit white people got for supporting the black people in their struggle for equal rights, etc. Take a close look at those pictures of the civil rights marches. You’ll find a fair amount of white people in them and not only those in uniform. Also, going back to the civil war and before, many, many white people supported the cause of the black american at great personal risk and sometimes expense. So please, when you’re generalizing about white people, remember that it’s just as uncool as white people generalizing about black people.

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Name : ranger, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 45, City : kansas City, State : MO, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Omodiende]

I don’t know about other white people but I grew up with images such as Different World, etc… which focused on college students that weren’t fornicating weed smokers. Most of the shows today, even ER, have room for strong black characters who are massively educated – so perhaps your own viewing is limited. Also, King and Malcolm were not ‘on the same page’ – Separatist Agency and Integration are hardly both against ‘white ideology’. Your question implies that this (educated blackmanaphobia) has been an issue for you yet you seem unaware of the purposes and goals of even these two heroes.

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Name : Omodiende, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 40, City : Philadelphia, State : PA, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Jane20947]

I’m white and am happily intimidated by and interested in anybody who is smarter and/or more educated than I. What threatens me is under-educated folks of any stripe. I don’t feel quite comfortable saying that, perhaps it sounds elitist. I don’t know your personal experience, but it seems to me that many folks take pleasure in bringing down anybody whom they perceive as having something over on themselves; whether it’s education, wealth, a happy marriage, etc.

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Name : Jane20947, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 41, City : Dallas, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : pastry chef, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

[Ben22573]

Because the thug gangsta image reinforces a comfortable stereotype. Maybe the reaction you see is another form of ‘white guilt’ where the white person doesn’t quite know what to do with himself. Many educated liberal white Americans are not prejudiced, and they feel very worried about appearing so, and may withdraw from you to defend against making a slip-up and being branded racist.

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Name : Ben22573, Gender : M, City : Savannah, State : GA, Country : United States, 

[Mike]

I’d much rather see a black man with an education than another Snoop Dog preaching more empty values through MTV. I could see how white people might see a black man with an education occupying a higher station in society than they and therefore having the power to ‘Lord it over’ them, as it were. I think, though, that this is kind of an almost primitive instinctual fear that exists in the back of white pople’s minds, but is not rationally considered.

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Name : Mike, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 35, City : denton, State : TX, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Lash]

When non-whites level the playing field in our society and gain an education, some whites are disturbed by this because 1) it challenges the current staus quo and their current world view, 2) it forces them to see people of color as individuals and not a racial group, 3) it forces them to ask themselves what social barriers are in place that certain people of color attain an education and so many others don’t and 4) it forces them to look at the things they take for granted, as a result of their ‘normative’ status and realize that they don’t have that status because they’re more deserving or smarter or more ambitious than other racial groups, but simply because they were born into it and do nothing to challenge current societal inequity. A person of color with an education, especially a black man or woman, can be intimidating to some white people for all those reasons.

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Name : Lash, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 24, City : San Francisco, State : CA, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[C19323]

I feel you, I am a minority man (not African-American) in this country and I find white people often shocked when they first meet me. Like they can’t believe a brown-skinned man could speak ‘good English.’ Well, let’s see…English is a white language, but being in this country, we have to learn it to survive. Why not learn it (and other things) well? What, because we’re brown or black men we automatically have to set a lower standard? I think whites are threatened by smart black men (and brown!) because they don’t want to believe we could ever surpass their intelligence.

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Name : C19323, Gender : M, City : Cali, State : CA, Country : United States, 

[Tali24834]

It’s the same reason why white guys are threatened by Asian American guys who can get more girls than them. The group in power always gets scared when they feel that their power is threatened. Some white folks have a stereotype that black guys are tougher and stronger than them. That’s combined with a stereotype that black men are ‘ghetto’ or noneducated. So if a racist white who feels inferior toughness-wise to a black guy runs into a black guy who is also smarter than him, he feels threatened because he thinks that the black guy is better than him in every way. Although stereotypes are wrong, unfortunately, they are still around.

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Name : Tali24834, Race : Asian, Age : 20, City : New York City, State : NY, Country : United States, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Lower class, 

[Bobby]

Good attempt white man, No disrespect. Why is it when a black ideologue outwardly promotes the black agenda white people think they are a problem or like you said, ‘I fear the bigger problem might be that prominent voices in the ‘black community’ like Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan, Maxine Waters, Sheila Jackson Lee, Al Sharpton…?’ The conservative educated folks DO NOT promote the black agenda. So, if, Jesse or Al or others, doesn’t promote our agenda, who will, George Bush, you? You said you don’t fear the black educated but you do fear the vocal black educated because that’s exactly what you said. You fear them being or becoming a problem…correct me if I’m misunderstanding what you are saying.

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Name : Bobby, Gender : M, Race : Black/African American, Age : 32, City : Lisle, State : IL, Country : United States, Occupation : Research Scientist, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Sara]

A lot of times, perceiving threats are just that…perceptions. I’ve never been threatened by someone of any color being intelligent and educated, in fact it makes me happy and hopeful. I think if you surround yourself with others who are educated and intelligent you won’t find people feeling threatened. For a long time, I thought I just wasn’t liked, but now I realize that a lot of women feel threatened by me because I’m educated and young…and ready to move into a better position anywhere in life. A lot of people are threatened by people who have more than they do. Look at the people who feel threatened, and examine why they might feel that way, but please realize that not all of us do.

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Name : Sara, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 27, City : Scranton, State : PA, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Cal24905]

I certainly don’t fell threatened by a black man with an education. Just the opposite, I find the I have much more in common with them. I suspect that what you are picking up on is the white peoples’ reaction to the enormous chip on your shoulder. If you go into a relationship expecting it to be negative, it will almost certainly turn out that way.

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Name : Cal24905, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 45, City : Lakewoof, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Barry]

I do not know of any white people threatened by black men with education …it seems like a rare thing here in the South to find a black man even willling to be educated…most seem to see education as uncool or even unattainable. As I know several high school teachers in this area I am aware that, at least in this area, the teachers have to attend special classes to assist them in the ‘special’ learning needs of area black students. They are given special ways to teach, grade, and test the black students in an effort to give them a ‘fair’ chance at graduating or passing from one grade to the next.

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Name : Barry, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Age : 31, City : Dothan, State : AL, Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[NE24339]

I don’t care if a person (be they black, white, or purple with green polka-dots) is well educated, and I have no idea how an educated black person could possibly be threatening to me. I know plenty of well-educated black men, and I certainly wouldn’t say that my only experience with blacks is from rappers on TV. That would sort of be like your experience of whites being confined to the rednecks in movies like ‘A Time To Kill,’ don’t you think?

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Name : NE24339, Gender : F, Age : 19, City : Binghamton, State : NY, Country : United States, 

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