Anybody else shun their own race/culture?

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That's exactly right -- it all has to do with corporate profits.

Back in the 80s, most hip-hop was relatively benign -- very few rappers did any "gangsta" rapping, and they were almost exclusively East coast rappers from NY, NJ, etc.

At the end of the 80s, N.W.A. became an underground phenomenon. What made them stand out from other small acts in the West Coast area was that their promoters did a lot of PR work at skate meets, places where mostly middle class white kids would be. Their popularity spread very quickly via white kid word of mouth (I should know, I was one of those first kids), and it spread like wildfire to other areas of the States.

This is where corporate America took notice. It was one thing when just urban minority kids were buying rap and hip hop -- those kids were the minority (duh) and didn't have a lot of spending dollars. When middle class kids suddenly jumped on the fad, so did the corporations.

MTV went from barely playing any rap (outside of maybe 1 hour a day, on "Yo, MTV raps") to playing it almost exclusively. Companies like Time Warner stumbled all over eachother to sign up "gangsta" rappers, and when they were all taken, they invented new ones. The market got flooded with relatively low-talent acts that were basically ex-cons who were given a quick crash course in rapping, a new PR paint job, and put out there on a label. Because of the commercialization, quality fell in the music as well.

In parallel to this was a cultural movement of white guilt -- tons of 80s sitcoms about white families adopting black kids (Webster, Different Strokes), the Cosby show (which was one of the first mainstream black TV shows to have a lot of white viewers), and in the early 90s, the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Affirmative Action was at it's height (until the pendulum swung back the other way in 1995), and lots of children of baby-boomer/60s hippies, who had been there for all of the pro-Civil Rights propaganda were finally hitting their teens. Those same parents turned a blind eye to what was happening, figuring that this was their way to be "diverse."

Fast-forward to now -- Gangsta rap and hip-hop in general has sort of hit a dead end in some ways, though obviously not permanently. Those same teens grew up, and the ones that didn't become sagging-pants idiots back then now don't want their kids doing the same thing. The music industry has become barely profitable, and technology has made it harder than ever to make a profit....

But the damage remains, the gangsta lifestyle was exported (much as Japan's culture becomes the norm for Asia), and we're still hearing echoes of it from Asia, Eastern Europe, and the more clueless here in America.

No, I get it. Even though I'm black, black girls are at the bottom of my totem pole of interest. I much prefer asian women, though sadly, all [straight] the asian women I've met are into white or asian guys. Apparently, I need to move to CA to find any that might be into me (which I was planning to do anyway).

Yeah, there is the occasional Asian chick that goes black here in L.A., but it's fairly rare. You'd actually do better in Japan (as snobby as they are there), because you will A) stand out and attract those who go black and B) there are entire areas and bars dedicated to women there who just go black or white (they are different bars/areas). Most of them are looking for a green card, so be warned.

Too bad you don't like heavy-set white chicks -- black guys clean up a bit with them here in L.A., especially after the pro-black 1990s.

I live and go to school in the South, unfortunately. My city is 2nd worst in terms of violent crime, right behind Detroit. Roughly 31% white, 63% black, with a small Asian population. As a result, most of what the local government and school system does is catered specifically to African Americans. Which means I have to eat greasy, fried crap at the "college" cafeteria. Many students protested the lack of healthy food options, and the university responded by adding a Burger King "Whopper Bar" and a Taco Bell. The only place that offers healthy food is a buffet, which completely defeats the purpose of it being healthy. Also, any kind of stores or entertainment that caters to whites or Asians, they closed long ago. Except for bars. But I don't drink often which leaves me with nothing to do.

Not to mention my Audi A4 got $1800 worth of damage because some idiot didn't know how to park, hit my car and ran off.

Interesting topic! As a child and young adult, I generally avoided black people, because since I am part black, I got a lot of stress from them. They seemed to always have expectations of me that were not realistic or possible. Nerdiness was not popular, nor was my "white" way of talking. Introversion, love of books, were also not popular. Even today, I am vastly misunderstood by the majority of black people that I may happen to interact with. They just don't "get" me. When I finally gave myself permission to stop thinking that I had to relate myself to some mostly foreign culture, and stopped thinking that I had to call them "my people," I developed a better sense of who I was. After all, Wrong Planet is filled with my people.

There's so much wrong with your post I feel a little sick on the inside.

Which post are you referring to?

I'm hispanic myself, however I was raised in italian/white/black areas. I can understand quite a bit of spanish but I can't form my own sentences... I really need to work on that.

He probably doesn't know the stark reality that there is a strong current of dedication to ignorance in the African American community that hates on and seeks to break down, persecute, or exclude anyone from that community that actually tries to better themselves or adopt cultural practices that have worked for the rest of the population.

Sad to say, many African Americans have been dragged down by jealous or ignorant peers who can't stand to see others do better than themselves.

I know exactly what you are talking about (friends and people at work who have done what they needed to do distance themselves from the "bad" side of African American culture), and you have my support.

I'm white & I have issues with the white culture in my area. They are Catholic redneck republicans who brag about how they are county folk but they talk ghetto & they are obsessed with getting drunk stoned & laid. I'm a straight-edge, borderline asexual, Secular Humanist. I'm liberal & I HATE the country & ghetto culture

So true! When I was in grade school, I was constantly ganged up on, chased home from school, and physically assaulted for raising my hand too much in class.


Again, thank you. For me, this shunning has been necessary for my own safety and well being.

Hmmm...I'm a woman, but I agree with you a bit. Although I "look white" to americans, I am actually puertorican. I went through a whole issue during highschool because "whites" wanted me to date them, and I felt I had nothing in common with them. I also didn't have much in common with the "hispanics" in my school, as we were actually not from the same country (and it mostly makes a HUGE difference...some countries being more similar than others)...so I only dated african-american guys.

Funny but years later I married a puertorican...but then again, although he's almost as white as me, he feels much closer to the african-american culture than most...so we "act" white, "look" white, but I think we enjoy that we both are more into the african-american culture, etc. and thus that might be a reason why we get along so well...had he probably been just another white puertorican, I probably wouldn't have dated him.

Personally I dont really have a preference but since I moved to America I find it hard to understand the slang the African Americans use, words like "fenna". I'm from a very diverse family of Anglo-American and African origins and I speak English in the standard and clearest sense possible and it makes me feel very awkward when I'm talking to an African American and they say I sound white. I guess that just a matter of articulation more than that of preference.

Same with me! I get so tired of being told that I sound "white." What do these people have, synesthesia or something?

I guess speaking standard English is something only white people do. Since I didn't grow up in America I can't speak about the topic to definitively because I don't know if thats how it is generally. I think I haven't even answered what this thread is about, here goes: Since being in the USA I find myself more attracted to Caucasian, Latina and Asian people but its just because they tend to speak fairly good standard English and non standard English irritates me a bit.

I shun all cultures and incorporate what little positive aspects they possess into my own uniqueness.