Aspergers and (dislike of) black culture?

Post Reply New Topic

When you refer to "black culture" what do you mean.

Is the current "gangsa rap" the same as the Motown sound? Is it the music of Harry Belefonte and Paul Robson or Sammy Davis Jr or the Supremes?

If you don't like nasty rap does that mean that you wouldn't like the callipso sound of Jamaica?

I already kind of answered this.............

I'm only talking about contemporary black culture since about 1980 or so. I'm not talking about the Supremes, Motown, Ragtime, or any of that stuff. I'm kind of neutral on all of that. I don't hate Motown or anything but it doesn't really do anything for me.

I'm talking more about the commericalized stuff like MTV rap videos, saggy pants, FUBU, and other stuff that seems to inspire mass conformity.

I hope some black Aspies have insight on this but it seems that almost all black kids in America conform em masse to the MTV/BET culture......... Yes, I know there are exceptions and other black cultural things out there but I'm talking about the Lowest-Common-Denominator material that gets mass-marketed.

Not an Aspie but I am a shy introvert and I like black culture. I love rap music, I love the beats and I love the angry, energized, and sometimes dangerous lyrics.

In fact, rap music is kind of what helped me start to some out of my shell wayyy back in middle school. I just the attitude, love the vibe. I've also been around a lot of black people(close relationships, I'm talking about) and although the culture is known to be a little boisterous I find that it is actually very affectionate once you break through the superficial barrier, A lot of the black people I've been close with showed me an d each other more affection and caring than my own family or , "people" ever did. I actually lived in the foster care system for a few years in my teens with mostly black people, and it was probably the happiest time of my life. I just felt very loved.

It may seem very different and possibly abrasive on the surface but you may like it if you take a closer look. I have heard a lot of people say that black culture isn't as tolerant of mental illness or social awkwardness and and I DO find this be somewhat true, but I made some concessions and learned to use social skills to get by. This was very good for me ultimately, and once I became adapted to the culture they were fond of my "oddities'.

It's ironic that peoples excuses that they aren't racist is 'claiming' they have black friends, or that they enjoy hip-hop music.

I am in the UK, but it seems to me that I feel a similar way to you about this, although given how I am viewed on this forum that might not be of any comfort to you.

And I say this as someone who was a default liberal until the age of 26. I listened to "world" music. I hung ethnic drapes on the walls of my student dorm. I got angry at myself for not caring more about the Third World masses. I never questioned why refugees would make their way across a dozen safe countries to settle in Britain. I thought the Serbs were the bad guys in the 90s because the TV said so. I thought laws against "hate speech" made perfect sense.

Yet despite this - and despite the inevitable alienation from society in general that comes with having - I have been repulsed by black "ghetto" culture since my early teens. The aggression, the machismo, the mannerisms and the style over substance are all extremely alien to me.

It should be pointed out of course that this sort of culture is starting to rub off on young people of other races. And I take the point (that others have made) that black people have been the originators of many other modern cultural forms (certainly musical forms), some of which I enjoy. I also take the point that blacks such as Bill Cosby have spoken out against "gangsta" culture. Even so, "gangsta" rap is an undoubtedly "black" cultural form, and I can only view it as the product of a particularly "black" mindset and a rootless urban existence in a permissive society.

I sometimes wish I could get more pampered liberals to experience the delights of "gangsta" culture. I've seen more than enough of it myself.

I seriously doubt that other than maybe you lived somewhere vaguely shady and merely hid from everyone in sight who wasn't white. Which, you're in the UK so it's not THAT hard and your ghettos aren't THAT bad.

I've lived in ghetto areas. I've seen the gangsta culture and all of that. It's no different from whites other than more of a feeling of alienation from society and so therefore a rejection thereof and an embrace of anything that's labeled as "black culture" like that BET* garbage.


*Owned by Viacom

Well, I am very jealous of your life experience, but when I say I've seen enough I mean I've seen enough to make up my mind what I think about it. In fact, I'd probably made my mind up by the third or fourth time I had to share public transport with a bunch of young blacks and listen to their meaningless "freestyle" drivel.

Aw, you poor darling. It must have just been awful for you having to share public transport with THEM. And them freestyling in front of you, no less! How dare they flaunt their linguistic superiority to you, don't they know that you have a problem?

Right. I'm sure the WrongPlanet members familiar with my posts will be convinced by your suggestion that I'm insecure about my linguistic skills and that what I really want in this world is to be able to make up rhymes about "b*****s" and "hos". That can be the only reason why I would possibly object to witnessing other people doing such things on public transport, right? Who could possibly be so old-fashioned as to expect their fellow passengers to behave with civility, right?

One of the infellicities of public transit is that you will meet many kinds of people aboard who are, as the Russians say, Nyeh Kultornyeh. (Devoid of Culture, Barbarians).

ruveyn

I usually just tune out the "freestylin" when I'm unlucky enough to chance across it. I've gotten very good at tuning things out over the years.

Don't worry codorac..... I understand completely.

Even if the "intellectual establishment" tries hard to keep you suppressed, know that there is one other man in the world who is going/has gone through the exact same things and is right there with you.

Who, exactly, do you claim this designer is?

I liken R&B to the Manhattan project,
The theory was sound and could have been put to good use, but instead it ended up in abhorrent acts.

I always thought myself to be non-prejudicial.
Have and have had many friends and aquaintances
of all ethnic backgrounds.

However I have endured several of the experiences
mentioned here...The one that gets me the most perhaps
has been witnessing the times my only child, 16 next week,
imitating the mannerisms and vocabulary of this culture
at times. I cannot stand to see my gentle, sensitive son...
straight A student (Likely aspie like myself) being influenced
by the degraded side of the black culture. As a single aspie
mum, I can only do so much to keep his heart light and
compassion alive. "Yo,yo" "Wha's up" then there's what I hear
on the street"Ho" and"b***h"...
makes me cringe and
you don't even want to know what a group of black men
were doing right in front of me (I'm a middle aged woman)
while on the bus one night. It got so crude I finally, despite
my fear, confronted them twice before they stopped.

If the black, or any other ethnic community, doesn't want to
be judged, then they need to encourage their young men
and women to come into a higher level of consciencousness.
And as Mr. Cosby has encouraged, the men of the community
need to step up and mentor the younger boys so they have
healthier role models to look up to.

Anjie

Holy crap! any females among them.

We are forgetting about African immigrant in London. Their culture is very much different then the afro Caribbean. In London they are probably more African Church goers then white folk.

They are probably the richest immigrant in London. Many become doctors, businessmen etc.
They are not stereotyped as being violent and they don't generally have a bad boy image. I never seen an African gang.

However, they do make a nuisance at car boot sales. They go there to do a bit of hustling to make some money. They often skirmishes with handbags and valuable console games etc which they sell on. The scene is like handing out food in a famine you see on the news..