What do only black people say

An ignorance that can restrict authentic and respectful relationships between black and non-black individuals.

It can create an embarrassment and a discomfort in interactions that may cause hurt, offense, or just an utter confusion over the legitimacy of the question, and whether it stems from a sincere place of unknowing or is fully intended as a racial slur.

The putative prevalence of this issue spurred me to create an informal hour online poll to quantify and qualify the experiences of a small, yet diverse selection of black people in Britain. Contributors were male and female professionals, aged , middle or working class, of an African American, Caribbean, Latinx, or East, West or South African heritage. Eligible responses were first-hand; made by non-black individuals. Results included unique entries; omitting those of an explicit nature. For brevity, we report the 50 most staggering.

While I initially chuckled at some of the shared experiences, my reaction ultimately reflected an internal discomfort at their sheer absurdity, and the demonstrated oblivion to true experiences of black people in Britain. Surprisingly, despite discernible racial undertones, many contributors added that much of what was said came from the most unexpected people; who, by all other intents and purposes, were educated, kind, and even actively anti-racist.

There was also evidence of message assimilation, echoing content from major media outlets and scientific discourse about societal inequalities. Overall, contributors shared a difficultly in addressing this manner of discourse composed and straight faced , since they appeared bizarrely innocent, or were intended comically, and yet were wildly strange and grossly ill-informed.

This epitomises the common misconception that people have to be racist to say or do racist things. Further, offensive comments are hard to address without causing offense to the original offender, and so often, the gravity of the situation goes unnoticed, and inappropriate comments persist. Although some tropes may resonate with other ethnic communities, this is a small step toward making clear what things are not appropriate to say to black people even in satire.

Irrespective of race, most will have the human capacity to appreciate the absurdity, and, to some degree, the farcicality of this terrain of insults that black people are forced to traverse.

Some readers may be alarmed by what is yet to come, so take a deep breath, relax… then imagine living it daily! Are all lives undervalued? Having made it through to the end — mostly unscathed — try to unravel those comments from egregiously racist slurs. It is uncomfortable and not straightforward.

There is no expectation of an espousal of views, but rather an attunement to these common experiences, as we take preliminary steps toward honest and respectful dialogues that challenge such benighted messaging.

While genuine friendships that cross racial lines absolutely develop in the workplace thankfully , there seems to be a tendency for white people in particular to misinterpret work or project specific affiliation with broader friendship with black colleagues.

People will tend to self-select into groups where they feel most comfortable and at ease, and for black employees this often means huddling or chatting with other black employees. For more on the psychology of self-segregation, consider reading Dr. Yes, you guessed it - zero. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the following breakdown in weekly earnings by race and gender for 1Q Source: U.

Truth 5 — Even though there may be one or two black faces in leadership, your organization may indeed have a rampant racial injustice problem. Over time, immigration to the United States increased , and people who identify as black in America were also likely to be first and second-generation immigrants without a direct connection to the history of slavery in this country.

People who are coming from Africa, from the Caribbean, from Europe, who identify as black but don't identify as African American. Darien LaBeach, the director of diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy at the digital marketing agency Huge Inc. But my blackness is the overarching umbrella of those different flavors of my identity.

LaBeach's experience is just one example of the complexities of black identities, especially in the United States. Some people originally from other countries who live in the U. The hate has progressed from people not eating food at Asian restaurants to real violence.

On March 16 , a white gunman opened fire in three massage parlors in Atlanta, killing six Asian women. This is one data point in a much larger problem: there have been nearly 3, anti-Asain hate incidents in the past 11 months, according to a Stop AAPI Hate National Report. Howard believes only those descended from slaves brought to America should be allowed to say the n-word.

During segregation, when Black people were called the n-word, it was used in a demeaning fashion. It was a slur shouted by white supremacists as they lynched Black people in the south. It was painted on picket signs and screamed in their faces. The argument can be made that Black people have claimed the word and given it new meaning, but it can also be argued that Black people are one of many groups of people who have claimed that word.