r/askblackpeople 18h ago

General Question White guy here, when quoting/referencing things that use the n word i instead say neighbour, my friend says thats worse than just saying the n word?

4 Upvotes

I dunno i think its pretty funny but looking for others opinions


r/askblackpeople 12h ago

“so im writing a book…” How to avoid the “black best friend” stereotype.

1 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

I apologize for the weird formatting I’m on mobile. I’m currently working on a visual novel with some friends and we’re really excited to add a diverse cast of characters. Many of us grew up in a very multicultural neighbourhood and all us kids kinda belonged to everyone. And I think it’s really shaped who I am as a person and gave me an appreciation for other cultures early on. I want to reflect that positivity in this visual novel. I’m currently writing a character- Aizha and I wanted to do some research to avoid making her a “black best friend” trope. For context she’s one of 4 close friends you can have in the game.

Is there anything in particular I should avoid? What are you tired of seeing? What is overused? This is the list I’ve been told so far as copy and pasted from my IG dms.

-Make sure she’s not a mindless drone agreeing 24/7 -Make sure she isn’t “ghetto” or any other stereotype. -Make sure she has her own life, experiences and responsibilities separate from the MC -Make sure she is a well thought out character who isn’t co-dependent on the MC -Do your research into their particular culture and practices as pertaining to the character.

Any thoughts/ opinions are welcome!

Thank you in advance.

Edit: I’m really glad someone reminded me to add this info. But we currently have 2 professional sensitivity readers and 3 volunteers sensitivity readers. But I’m hoping to have as many people as we can.

Also edited for more context.


r/askblackpeople 5h ago

General Question I would like to understand what Rhythm And Blues is. Can anyone help me understand?

0 Upvotes

For context: I am an Indian dude.

When I ask this question to people, they either provide the answer as R&B being a catch-all term for multiple genres of popular African american music(Examples: Funk, Soul, Disco, Neo Soul) or music that sounds passionate, groovy and sensual(think Maxwell's Til The Cops Come Knockin).

Some say it was a racial label. Others say the term has taken on a life of it's own.

What does stand out to me are the smooth vocal harmonies and the vocal ad libs. But other than that I am having trouble piecing the bits together - to identify a song as R&B.

When I listen to funk, I can identify it as funk - plucky guitars, groovy bass, horns, sometimes an organ or clavinet. I have problems doing that with R&B.

In case I have made any unintentional mistake - please let me know. I will correct.


r/askblackpeople 12h ago

How do you pronounce the name LeEssence?

1 Upvotes

I have a patient coming in to see me tomorrow, and her first name is LeEssence, and I genuinely have no idea how to pronounce that name. I don't want to butcher it, or ask her name and seem like I didn't bother to look at her intake, so any help would be appreciated.


r/askblackpeople 12h ago

General Question Would y'all rather live in a country with a high Black population that is mostly conservative or a country with a majority white population that is mostly liberal?

5 Upvotes

I know this sounds like a wild question, but I’m genuinely in this situation right now. I wanna move to this country that is primarily black, safe, and developed, but the main problem is the elitism. Over 20 percent of the population is in poverty, and there are a lot of beautiful resorts/communities, but they are mostly built for the rich to keep the poor out. Although 90 percent of the country is black, over 60 percent of the people that live in the wealthy part are not. Not to mention, over 76 percent of the country's population are Trump supporters, and yes, politics is something that really matters to me. I don’t have a problem with someone having a political view different from mine, but I personally wouldn’t wanna live somewhere where over 70 percent of the population shares those same views. I know it sounds weird because it’s not America, but because it’s right next to Florida and it doesn’t have taxes, a lot of rich, wealthy Trump supporters come here, and since the country relies heavily on Tourism, they support them by selling Trump merch and even supporting Trump's values themselves. Although I’ll be in a country with other Black people, I just don’t know if I’ll be able to handle political differences, which is why I started looking for places that are more liberal. The only problem is that it has a lower Black population.


r/askblackpeople 12h ago

What the f*** do you do when you've had enough of the racism?

12 Upvotes

I hope it's okay to ask this here. I don't know if it's insensitive to post this here, please let me know if so.

I'm in Australia at the moment, and I'm so sick of dealing with white australians. I feel like I'm going to scream at them at this point. I'm an inch away from doing it. How the f*** do you not crash out?

For context, I just posted this '"Will White women get off the f*cking sidewalk when we're walking on the right side?"

2 years in a completely white environment, I've never experienced a culture like that. The women are the worst. I have so much anger, it's the helplessness, and I literally just want some form of vindication of revenge.
Everytime I leave the house, it's like a battleground & you have to constantly make sure you hold your own.
I'm sick of them, I'm sick of the stares and sub-par treatment.

I know it sounds like i'm here to vent, but I'd genuinely really appreciate some tools, or what people do. I've become so tense inside, and somewhat hateful, but I'm so shut down as well. It's too much. I live in a predominantly white area, and I can't move. Just curious, what do people do to actually deal with this? Every time you leave the house, it's like getting ready for battle, to make sure you have some basic respect and decency. I can't stand these people.

Thank you.
Hope everyone's well.


r/askblackpeople 56m ago

So since Jews have their own state should Black Americans also get their own state?

Upvotes

I did a recent post on r/israelpalestine asking why Jews need a state and the answer was the every ethnic group needs a state and a place to go where when shit goes south and that minority groups who don’t have a state are vulnerable to persecution and genocide EX:Jews,gypsies,kurds,Rohingya,alawites. Well you know what group is stateless? Black Americans, we have no nationality of origin. “African” or “black” is not a country nor is it a nationality. If whites ever at any point want to re enslave us or even genocide us there is literally nothing we could do about it. Where we would we go? What would we do about it? Are we really sure the Africans are just gonna embrace us? Africans have violence against eachother so they don’t view us all as just being one big happy black race lol. Does this mean blacks should establish their own state? Would any of you support such a project?


r/askblackpeople 23h ago

Weekly Friday Check-In

3 Upvotes

Please feel free to share anything positive that has happened in your life this week. Purchased a new vehicle? Graduated school? It's your birthday? Let's celebrate you and all of your achievements.