khthoniaa :pinkmoon: on Nostr: As a mixed kid, growing up I had a hard time understanding how anyone could hate or ...
As a mixed kid, growing up I had a hard time understanding how anyone could hate or look down on someone based on their race or culture.
Then, I learned about a study that was done that found that 75% of white people didn't have a single non-white friend. And those that did have non-white friends still had significantly more relationships with other white people. A similar study was done recently (linked below), and that number is only slightly lower at 67% having only white friends.
When I first learned about the original study, I was shocked. After all, my friend groups have always been racially diverse, even when I lived in predominantly white towns. I was even more shocked when I started talking to my white friends.
One "friend," (in quotes because this friendship did not last very long), confessed that I was his only friend of color even though his social group was significantly bigger than mine. He was visibly surprised when I told him that I had more non-white friends than white friends. Then he made several remarks comparing us to the United Nations...
Several of my other white friends echoed the same thing, though: Either I was their only Black friend, or I was their only friend of color period. As uncomfortable as it was to realize, I suddenly understood why white people had such a hard time seeing multiple poc in media or outside of stereotypical caricatures:
To a lot of white people, we (poc) don't exist in their reality.
Outside of movies, music, TV, and the occasional bump in with a stranger, they have no meaningful interactions with us. We might as well be mythical creatures.
I'm not saying that racism would disappear if every white person had more friends of color, but the fact that the social lives of white people are so segregated is definitely enflaming racist sentiments. It's much easier to believe in stereotypes and racist fairy tales when your only frame of reference for a culture comes second-hand from bigots.
https://www.prri.org/press-release/prri-survey-friendship-networks-of-white-americans-continue-to-be-90-white/
Then, I learned about a study that was done that found that 75% of white people didn't have a single non-white friend. And those that did have non-white friends still had significantly more relationships with other white people. A similar study was done recently (linked below), and that number is only slightly lower at 67% having only white friends.
When I first learned about the original study, I was shocked. After all, my friend groups have always been racially diverse, even when I lived in predominantly white towns. I was even more shocked when I started talking to my white friends.
One "friend," (in quotes because this friendship did not last very long), confessed that I was his only friend of color even though his social group was significantly bigger than mine. He was visibly surprised when I told him that I had more non-white friends than white friends. Then he made several remarks comparing us to the United Nations...
Several of my other white friends echoed the same thing, though: Either I was their only Black friend, or I was their only friend of color period. As uncomfortable as it was to realize, I suddenly understood why white people had such a hard time seeing multiple poc in media or outside of stereotypical caricatures:
To a lot of white people, we (poc) don't exist in their reality.
Outside of movies, music, TV, and the occasional bump in with a stranger, they have no meaningful interactions with us. We might as well be mythical creatures.
I'm not saying that racism would disappear if every white person had more friends of color, but the fact that the social lives of white people are so segregated is definitely enflaming racist sentiments. It's much easier to believe in stereotypes and racist fairy tales when your only frame of reference for a culture comes second-hand from bigots.
https://www.prri.org/press-release/prri-survey-friendship-networks-of-white-americans-continue-to-be-90-white/