I had to answer since I am from New Orleans. The gold tooth thing is a regional oddity, like coconuts or beignets. In the early '90s, rappers from New Orleans, theretofore unheard of, used it as a publicity stunt. Why that particular thing, I don't know, but in any case it is part of what propelled rappers from New Orleans to the national scene. Of course that had the effect of perpetuating it. These days every young person thinks rap is cool, and rappers are cool, so they want to imitate. If you're still wondering why only black people do it, it's because (duh) New Orleans is 80 percent black. You'll have to go to Michoud to see Asians with gold teeth, or Chalmette to see whites with gold teeth.
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Name : Mandi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 21, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Perhaps some of them afford it by being well educated and having good jobs. My boyfriend is 23 and has a job that pays ~$75,000 (senior software test engineer). He's single and has no dependents, so he can well afford the Navigator he drives. But if you saw him driving past your work place, you would probably say he lives in the hood and has a minimum wage job. Oh well, he can't hear you over his Bose car speakers.
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Name : Mandi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 21, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Someone will probably try and post some response about coloring of the skin being complementary or not, so let me try and stop such nonsense before it starts. The best way to answer your question is to say that most men look good in suits. It may be that you have had more instance to notice a black man in a purple suit, a rare experience on the whole, because some black men will tend to wear colored suits to stand out in a crowd. Being originally from Louisiana, where purple is one of the official state colors, I've had a chance to see several men of both races in purple suits. The better-looking the man, the better-looking the suit.
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Name : Mandi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 21, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, There is and has been for some time a clothing label called 'NO FEAR' that targets the young urban and suburban market. The clothes and accessories can be purchased at most major depatment stores. About 2 or 3 years ago, David Duke, a former KKK member from Louisiana who once had political aspirations, incorporated his own white supremacy group called National Organization for European American Rights. He claims it's just a coincidence that the initials spell out 'no fear.' But no one believed that, especially not the clothing label of said name. It sued David Duke and his group for trademark infringement, and won, sending Duke once again with his tail between his legs to his cave to lick his wounds.
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Name : Mandi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 21, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, For the same reasons one uses body lotion: to moisturize, smooth and enhance general appearance.
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Name : Mandi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 21, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, It isn't true. It's a myth that stems from a slavery-based perception that blacks are more savage, therefore more instinctual, and therefore more sexual, than whites. It has perpetuated for so long in its most simple form because of the taboo nature of the subject (it isn't discussed openly in any context and is usually only referred to in jokes). In truth, however, 80 percent of men of all races in America fall within an inch of the statistically average size.
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Name : Mandi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 21, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Perhaps the other respondent does not mind generalizations, but I do. Particularly in this case, because the generalization is so obviously the result of a poorly applied heuristic (the same reason people are more afraid of airplanes than cars, even though airplanes are statistically much safer). The reason African Americans appear louder to you and others with similar beliefs is that you look for it. Whenever you see it, you apply it to your preconceived notion. In reality, you have probably been in the presence of just as many loud European-Americans or Hispanics, you just didn't pay attention to it in the same way.
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Name : Mandi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 21, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, As an 'American black' Southerner recently transplated to New York for school, I am unaccustomed to the idea of different ethnicities of black in America (there aren't such large populations of non-African-American blacks in the South). I have notcied that different groups tend to have different views of the ways that blacks should carry themselves, but I haven't noticed that those ideas extend to politness. My first reaction to the question was: how can you tell what they are? Since I've been here, most of the blacks I thought I met as African-Americans have actually been Caribbean-American. Unless they still have an accent, I can't imagine in what context you would know this; but perhaps that particular context has something to do with how you are treated. People react differently in different circumstances. And if they do have an accent, maybe they haven't been in New York long enough to know that all New Yorkers, of any race, ethnicity or creed, are supposed to be rude. It's their trademark.
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Name : Mandi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 21, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, I wasn't going to answer this question until I started anwsering another question and brought up JonBenet Ramsey. I had no choice but to realize the absurdity of attributing 'invented names' to African Americans. JonBenet? Come on; it doesn't get much better than that. I was reminded of an episode of 'Designing Women' when Anthony (the lone black male in a business with white women) was talking about old TV shows and then said '...Opy, Beaver? Where do you white people get these names for your kids?' Anyone who thinks about it will realize that 'unique names' come from everywhere. Furthermore, all 'normal names' were 'unique' at one time. How many women over 50 do you know named 'Heather' or 'Tonya'? Some people do get ridiculous, but if no name ever got created, we'd all be named 'Eunice' or 'Ethel'(no offense intended for anyone with those names).
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Name : Mandi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 21, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, I have nothing to say about whether or not 'blacks are happy' about O.J.'s acquittal because to think that we all have one view is utterly ridiculous. But,for the record, I want to say two things 1)most people could not have cared less what happened to O.J. It was just one those media-hyped things that ends up being a topic of lunchtime conversation because you're bombarded with it through mass media. Kind of like JonBenet Ramsey. 2)O.J. did not get acquitted because he was black. Have you honestly ever heard of such a thing? He was acquitted because he was rich, famous, and therefore powerful.
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Name : Mandi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 21, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Most aren't. Most convenience stores are run by white people. In places where there is a significant Indian/Southeast Asian population, convenience stores are staffed by Indians who need to put food on their table. If you come to this country without established connections or an advanced college degree, you work where you can until you can do better. It may seem particularly so where you live because a lot of immigrants settle in and around New York, but if you drove into an area where the inhabitants were largely of some other group, you'd find the convenience store workers ironically also belong that group; unless there's an established higher and lower class.
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Name : Mandi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 21, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, It's funny you would ask this when just today, I was watching Judge Mills Lane and there were two Latina-Americans who kept saying 'you know' after everything they said, even after the judge pointed out that he 'didn't know.' And last week, there was a white couple on who kept saying 'like' every other word. While not grammatically necessary, these and other such phrases have become interjections in contemporary American English. It always seems to bother the old people, though.
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Name : Mandi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 21, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, I've answered questions on Y similar to this, and I'll keep answering until people learn enough to stop asking. Black men DO NOT hate black women. Particularly since you are my age, I suspect you've run into men who display the maturity gap that is so common in males 13-26. A lot of males those ages are just plain stupid,NOT just blacks. Look at the news, and the daytime talk shows, do you see white women getting trated any better? Take the numerous posts from hispaninc and asian men, one added just today, who date white women, because being able to date white women is seen as some sort of achievement. Black people should stop being so hard on themselves, and black women should stop being so hard on black men. If you attribute such behavior specifically to them, you'll tend to act on it and have lower expectations. Lower expectations, of anything or anyone, always bring lower quality.
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Name : Mandi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 21, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, It's a well-kept secret that white and black kids talk pretty much the same way. Some of the slang words each use are different, but they pretty much run the same themes and are used in the same ways. The perceived extreme variance occurs because what white kids say becomes 'mainstream' and what black kids say becomes 'ebonics.' Once people get older, the novelty of making up your own words is lost, so all adults pretty much sound the same, with some differences accounted for by region and educational level. How many black adults ('adult' defined as over 30) do you know who use the words used in rap and R&B music? Probably about the same number of white adults I know who use the words used in pop and rock music.
User Detail :
Name : Mandi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 21, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Yes, I am offended when I see slovenly dressed white people, on the grounds that being poorly dressed below your ability of grooming and presenting yourself shows a lack of respect and consideration for the people around you.
User Detail :
Name : Mandi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 21, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
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