Do you talk about race with your friends of a different race?

5 Comments

  • PrinceLeron - 10 years ago

    The key word in the poll is "friend" and how lose you are with that term. I don't consider my coworkers friends so it doesn't bother me if we never talk about race. We have discussed race a number of times but never really discussed Ferguson or any of those types of issues. That doesn't bother me because I don't want to talk about any type of politics with them. And it's not because I fear their POV, it's because I really don't care about their POV. We just work together. I also kicked it with a group of nerds where we talked about race whenever it came up i.e. Fantastic four and Black Panther. And I have a multicultural group of friends(we really are just black and Puerto Rican plus two white girls) and we discuss racial issues without having to force the conversation. Those issues come up naturally because we discuss those type of issues.

    I also must admit that I can't stand people that are pressed to talk about race or any heavy subject in a work environment. If police shootings and activism are the only thing you want to talk about, I will avoid you most of the time. I would not invite someone to a party if the only subject they ever discussed was their cause, no matter how much I believe in that cause. Some people need to make the decision on how comfortable they are with have superficial acquaintances. If everyone around you has to talk about race you have be okay with your number of people you interact with to be small. When you set out to shock people out of their comfort zone, most people will resist.

  • Gem - 10 years ago

    i don't shy away from talking about race, discrimination, or the like with anybody. whether it's non-Black friends or non-Black coworkers, i will speak my piece if and when the spirit moves. i don't let other people's hang ups about race deter me from saying what i hate to say. thankfully, i've never had bad experiences as a result. most of the conversations i have are respectful.

  • Cappadonna - 10 years ago

    With my Latino or Asian friends, Yes. White friends from college, of course, they already know. White people from the job. No. It's like trying to explain cloud computing to my parents. It just makes my head hurt.

  • Jasmine Symone - 10 years ago

    When I was younger, yes! But now I don't have the energy to talk to my own race about race! I'm all burnt out.

  • Dr. Doughstax - 10 years ago

    I voted Yes, but I feel like I could have picked the second option as well. I have a lot of white friends and I talk to the ones that "get it" about race and for the ones that don't? Well, I don't talk to them about it. Although that episode earlier this week has got me thinking about how much me and those folks in the latter group are really friends.

    My best friend that I grew up with is white and he's pretty ignorant about racial stuff, such to the point where right now he's been trying to "catch" me saying something racist or prove that I am only fine with certain things if black people do/say them. He also thinks that Chael Sonnen from the UFC constantly saying racist shit about black fighters was satire and that Sonnen was no different than Dave Chappelle. And shit like that makes me reconsider our like-15 year friendship because he expects me to teach him about this shit rather than doing any work on his own to read about it.

    Sorry for the long ass response but this shit got to me. Peace y'all.

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