Black Extravigance

[theDoctorisIn]

This is a sensitive subject, but what the hell, this is the place for it, right?

There are a couple recent stories out of New York that were initially reported and are now being regurgitated and commented on extensively, as an introduction to the "different" treatment of so-called "African Americans" in retail stores, and in particular high-end retail outlets.

We all know about the woman who purchased the $2,500 purse and the young man who purchased the $350 belt, both of whom were accosted by law enforcement and made to feel like criminals for nothing more than purchasing expensive stuff. And since they were "Black," they were scrutinized in the stores to a much greater extent than "White" people would have been, and presumed to be unable to purchase such extravigant items. Point taken.

But what I want to talk about is the phenomenon of Black extravigance.

I don't claim to be "typical," but we have a household annual income of around $250,000, and if my wife ever came home with a $2,500 handbag I would shoot her. And I would never even think of buying a belt for more than $100, let alone $350!

I read a few weeks ago that a Black family with a household income of between $100 and $200 thousand is five times more likely to purchase or lease a new Mercedes than a white household with a similar income. I personally would never purchase or lease a new Mercedes, although I did buy a USED one several years ago for about $15k. Obviously, not the same thing. In fact, my wife likes to purchase a nice new car every couple years, and she was very reluctant to seal the deal on her $30 thousand SUV a few months ago, thinking she might have gone overboard.

But for "middle class" Blacks, extravigant purchases are apparently not that uncommon.

There is a (self-identified Black) guy on another thread here who claims to spend $150 on dinner for himself and his wife when they go out. I don't even know anyone who would spend that much (other than on an expense account) on dinner for 2.

When I was growing up, you could go through "colored" neighborhoods in Pittsburgh and find just as many new Cadillac's and Lincoln's per household than you would see in the more prosperous white neighborhoods. You can talk all about the psychology of poverty or whatever you want, but this is stupid spending, on steroids.

If I were Black I think I would be more bothered by my fellow Black folks wasting their limited resources on flashy extravigances than whether some store clerk is watching me walking down the aisles in a downtown department store.

Whether the store clerks are justified in focusing their surveillance on Blacks is another issue altogether, but one that has two sides, to be sure.

$150 for dinner for two isn't particularly expensive.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

And.. I'm also a white guy who likes Cadillacs.

 

[MikeK]

Those Eldorado convertibles were nice. I've owned a few Caddys in years past. As a matter of fact, I think my life was saved driving one. I had a 1989 Fleetwood and was hit on the drivers side by an illegal driving a pick up truck. He was speeding and ran a red light. My car was totaled, but I walked away with just a few scratches, which was miraculous.

No question about that.

The chance of being killed or injured by a collision are significantly less in a Cadillac than in a less solidly built car. I've never had an accident in any of my Caddys but I've heard from others who said basically what you've said.

 

[Unkotare]

God damn. You are eternally clueless.

I don't expect you to ever really learn what the word "logic" means.

I'm waiting for that response.

I already told you, shitforbrains. Short-term memory problems? Too much lead paint?

 

[Unkotare]

Race Finished » American Scientist


Race in a Genetic World | Harvard Magazine May-Jun 2008

 

[Moonglow]

It is their money, they may spend it as they choose.

 

[Unkotare]

Race Finished » American Scientist


Race in a Genetic World | Harvard Magazine May-Jun 2008

Like I said, you wouldn't be able to argue against anything I've said because you know it is true. And you haven't.

Your first link: How much difference do you think there is between African Grey Parrots and Senegal Parrots?

You may be a bird brain, but people are not parrots, fool. There is more genetic difference within so-called 'racial' groups than between them. Humans are humans. Individual humans are distinct in important ways. YOU, for example, are exceptionally weak and stupid.

 

[Unkotare]

Human Race

 

[Unkotare]

RACE - The Power of an Illusion . Background Readings | PBS

 

[Unkotare]

Genetic Similarities Within and Between Human Populations

 

[Unkotare]

Like I said, you wouldn't be able to argue against anything I've said because you know it is true. And you haven't.

Your first link: How much difference do you think there is between African Grey Parrots and Senegal Parrots?

You may be a bird brain, but people are not parrots, fool. There is more genetic difference within so-called 'racial' groups than between them. Humans are humans. Individual humans are distinct in important ways. YOU, for example, are exceptionally weak and stupid.

I never said anyone was a parrot.

The intention behind your meaningless question was quite clear. Hence my reply, bird brain.

Hiding from reality won't make it go away, chicken(shit).

 

[Unkotare]

You can post all the links you want, but the fact remains that I AM ARGUING AGAINST THE MATERIAL IN THOSE LINKS.

You mean I can post all the FACTS that I want. Thanks, I will.

The material referenced in those links comes from trained, qualified, recognized experts in genetics who have spent their entire careers studying the subject of genetics. Have you done so, or are you similarly qualified? Your worthless opinion, and the deep-seated fears that consume you, are immaterial to the scientific evidence presented by these experts in the field. If you are not a similar expert yourself, then you are left with nothing but petulant insistence and craven cowardice upon which to rest your so-called argument.

 

[Unkotare]

If you do not answer the questions I have presented to you, you will be admitting de-facto agreeance [sic] with me

That is an illogical conclusion. Coming from the likes of you, I'm not surprised.

 

[Unkotare]

The Black-white Test Score Gap - Google Books

 

[Unkotare]

http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/amp/60/1/

 

[Unkotare]

Scientists Say Race Has No Biological Basis - Los Angeles Times

 

[Unkotare]

PAGE ONE -- No Biological Basis For Race, Scientists Say / Distinctions prove to be skin deep - SFGate

 

[Unkotare]

Census, race and science - Nature Genetics

"research does not support the concept of race as a biological entity."

 

[Unkotare]

Genetic variation, classification and 'race' - Nature Genetics

 

[Unkotare]

"Modern human genetic variation does not structure into phylogenetic subspecies (geographical 'races'), nor do the taxa from the most common racial classifications of classical anthropology qualify as 'races' (Box 1). The social or ethnoancestral groups of the US and Latin America are not 'races', and it has not been demonstrated that any human breeding population is sufficiently divergent to be taxonomically recognized by the standards of modern molecular systematics. These observations are not to be taken as statements against doing research on demographic groups or populations. They only support a brief for linguistic precision and careful descriptions of groups under study. Terms and labels have qualitative implications."


Conceptualizing human variation - Nature Genetics