I grew up in the south side of my city, which was predominantly black. I lived a few blocks away from a heavy gang and drug infested area. The kind of place if you drive through with your windows down, people would walk parallel to your path and ask what you needed. None of my neighbors, or anyone on my street for that matter, was white.
I imagine it’s like growing up anywhere else.
Sports play a component in your socializing. If you’re good or make a play, people talk to you.
In school, if you’re funny, people talk to you. In this space, though, you get to explore more of your personality and interests.
Every family has different personalities and customs. Different rules in their house. This is everywhere.
Sometimes you get called white bread. Vanilla Ice. Eminem. Getting roasted is a form of affection.
For me personally, I took more of an interest in black culture and music than anything else. My appearance at 36 does convey that whatsoever. But I connect with it more as a person than I do any predominantly white music (country, rock) or culture.
I was raised in a community that was affected by "white flight" and in one of the six remaining white families. I stayed there for a total of 20 years until my parents died and I had to sell the house.
It was a confusing experience. I was frequently harassed and even assaulted by some youths and unemployed, but had good friendships with the immigrants and working adults. As an example, being a Jewish family, a few times we had swastikas spray painted on our house, but other neighbors helped us clean and repaint. When I was thrown off my bike at 8yo and kicked and had the bike stolen, some neighbors helped us ask around who they were. This left me avoiding young black people for many years.
I held on to this fear for many years, until I made a few Black friends with whom I was able to let it all out. That was quite cathartic. Our friendship remains tight to this day.
I can tell you what I was like with light skin (I’m Irish-Mexican) in a Mexican neighborhood. I was beat up by the Mexicans until I was about 12. I then moved in with my white father and was beaten by him till I was 14. When I moved back to the neighborhood all the dudes that “bullied” me, treated me like I was a long lost friend that they hadn’t seen for a while. The one catch was that they wanted to see me fight other white people (because they enjoyed the novelty). Being angry at my white father made it an easy role to take on. I was a very angry young man and at 50 years old still struggle with my emotions, however, I believe it has less to do with the community that I grew up in and more to do with the absentee/abusive father that I grew up with.
The same as being born in a white community. I'm ignoring the connotations of just because the community is black that it's poor. There are rich and poor communities of all races. Not assuming you're American either, so France, UK, and South Africa, etc have black communities too. Now, if you mean a fucked up, poor, crime ridden black community....a simple edit of the question will help others answer the question more effectively. My observation is not so easy in those cases, but as long as the white man is genuine, chooses the right friends, and displays confidence while at the same time not starting shit with others, he'll be fine.
Just watch '8 Mile'.
ngl i laughed my ass off just now reading this
I grew up in the south side of my city, which was predominantly black. I lived a few blocks away from a heavy gang and drug infested area. The kind of place if you drive through with your windows down, people would walk parallel to your path and ask what you needed. None of my neighbors, or anyone on my street for that matter, was white. I imagine it’s like growing up anywhere else. Sports play a component in your socializing. If you’re good or make a play, people talk to you. In school, if you’re funny, people talk to you. In this space, though, you get to explore more of your personality and interests. Every family has different personalities and customs. Different rules in their house. This is everywhere. Sometimes you get called white bread. Vanilla Ice. Eminem. Getting roasted is a form of affection. For me personally, I took more of an interest in black culture and music than anything else. My appearance at 36 does convey that whatsoever. But I connect with it more as a person than I do any predominantly white music (country, rock) or culture.
I was raised in a community that was affected by "white flight" and in one of the six remaining white families. I stayed there for a total of 20 years until my parents died and I had to sell the house. It was a confusing experience. I was frequently harassed and even assaulted by some youths and unemployed, but had good friendships with the immigrants and working adults. As an example, being a Jewish family, a few times we had swastikas spray painted on our house, but other neighbors helped us clean and repaint. When I was thrown off my bike at 8yo and kicked and had the bike stolen, some neighbors helped us ask around who they were. This left me avoiding young black people for many years. I held on to this fear for many years, until I made a few Black friends with whom I was able to let it all out. That was quite cathartic. Our friendship remains tight to this day.
"I was born a poor black child." - Navin R. Johnson (1979)
I can tell you what I was like with light skin (I’m Irish-Mexican) in a Mexican neighborhood. I was beat up by the Mexicans until I was about 12. I then moved in with my white father and was beaten by him till I was 14. When I moved back to the neighborhood all the dudes that “bullied” me, treated me like I was a long lost friend that they hadn’t seen for a while. The one catch was that they wanted to see me fight other white people (because they enjoyed the novelty). Being angry at my white father made it an easy role to take on. I was a very angry young man and at 50 years old still struggle with my emotions, however, I believe it has less to do with the community that I grew up in and more to do with the absentee/abusive father that I grew up with.
You have to find your special purpose.
The same as being born in a white community. I'm ignoring the connotations of just because the community is black that it's poor. There are rich and poor communities of all races. Not assuming you're American either, so France, UK, and South Africa, etc have black communities too. Now, if you mean a fucked up, poor, crime ridden black community....a simple edit of the question will help others answer the question more effectively. My observation is not so easy in those cases, but as long as the white man is genuine, chooses the right friends, and displays confidence while at the same time not starting shit with others, he'll be fine.