I am an African American woman and most of my friends are African American, but I do have friends of other races, and when I was younger I would go over their house and realize that Caucasians do things very differently than black people would do in their own household. Here's 5 observations I made in my lifetime.
1. Dinner Time
One time I went over my friends house for a sleepover of the caucasian descent, and I arrived around 5pm. I walk into the kitchen and the family is gathering plates and starting dinner. In my mind I'm thinking maybe it's a late lunch because it was the weekend, but when they said it was dinner, I looked at the clock and was shocked. My family usually doesn't eat until about 8:30 - 9 p.m. due to getting off work and preparation. But my friends mom was a stay at home mom.
2. Disagreeing with parents
I went over a friends house (white girl) to play when I was a kid. We got bored and decided to tie a blanket with a baby hanging to the end of it to the balcony over the stairs (smart idea right) so I started to swing on the blanket like I was Tarzan, of course the towel wasn't sturdy enough and I fell. My friends mom got mad and started yelling at my friend. Then my friend fixed her mouth to yell "SHUT UP" at her mom. I looked at my friend waiting for her to be slapped across the room. But she just said sorry and that was the end of it. In a black household that would NEVER be acceptable, my baggage would have been on the porch and I would have to find another place to live.
3. "I hate you"
In my household my mother made it seem like saying "I hate you" to any of my family members was a sin, and we would get shunned for it (she put the fear of God in us). But with white households it seems like they say it more frequently to their parents than they actually say "I love you."
4. Jobs
Not all white people are rich, but it always seems like they are more well off. In black house holds as soon as you are of age to work, the parents put you to work and then you have to give a portion to the household. Even before your of age black kids will mow lawns, shovel snow, rake leaves and ect for some money. It seems like white kids don't work until their cut off by their parents, they rather play sports than work, because they know they'll get it from their parents. Even in college, white parents will direct deposit a couple hundred into the kids account, not teaching them independence and responsibility.
5. Chores
In a black house hold everyone knows if you wake up on Saturday morning to a loud ray of Gospel music it's time to clean. Then on other days of the week if you want to go somewhere, you parents always make you clean something before you go, in pursuit of your absence. It seems like in white households the mom always cleans, and the kids rarely do and if they do it's just their room.
These are just a few things that I've experienced in my life, this may not be true to all white people and that's fine. I hope you enjoyed it and continue to read my weekly blogs.
