r/askablackperson

We have a life-sized skeleton named Earl. Earl is an "elf on the shelf" kind of decoration, in the sense that he moves around a lot. We've propped him up pushing the lawn mower, trying to get the skeleton cat down from the tree, and so on.

Would hanging him from a noose be offensive? There's a black family down the street I love to death, and I'd hate to offend them. Would it be so offensive I shouldn't even ask?

Hi, I am a white male from Poland. Just to give you some background: my country is 99,9999999% white. It's extremely hard to find any Black person here, even in major cities, and if you will even find one that person would be an African, not a Black American. So basically an average Pole experience with Black Americans is non-existent. That's the reason I decided ask my question here because personally I don't know any African Americans.

Recently Netflix recommended me some movies and series directed by Tyler Perry. I have watched few of them. There were some moments which I found unfunny and even cringe (ex. a woman twerking and all other characters cheering her on or everybody praising someone for saying something negative about someone else's behavior).

How do Black Americans find those kind of programming? Is it because of my lack of understanding of cultural context I find this kind of humor bland?

White girl here.

Often I see conversations online about white people being red flags if they don't have any friends who are BIPOC.

In elementary school (I believe first grade), we had assemblies focused on diversity. It didnt feel very organic as I only recall having white, able-bodied classmates. But I understood the message, as I had exposure to different people on television and in other media.

My father is quite conservative and over the years I learned he had quite negative views toward other ethnicities, exposing that he had chosen the location of my childhood home to keep me away from "those people". I never agreed with his attitude and the way he spoke, even toward 2 of my 'uncles' who are black (they are in relationships with my aunts, but never married). He's also kept me away from a lot of my extended family, but some of that is mainly due to relatives who turned out to be pedophiles or misused drugs/alcohol.

I've had coworkers of various ethnicities over the years, and we've gotten along just fine, but not to the point of staying in contact through multiple moves across the country.

I'm neurodivergent and have a difficult time making friends with similar interests in general. But as a nontraditional college student (30-something commuter), I want to find more ways to be a better ally. But I also don't want to try and seek out conversations with people just because of their skin color in fear of inciting tokenism. There's a high level of diversity at my school, but I dont engage in any extracurricular activities mainly due to my schedule.

What do ya'll think?

There’s a Palestinian-owned coffee shop in Oakland which has been targeted by the Federal government and forced to close for political reasons. They are raising money for their legal defense and said one of the best ways to support is to buy their merch. I came across one of their shirts that uses the Black Panther Party logo and says “All Power All People - Gaza - Palestine.”

I’m not looking to argue about the conflict in Gaza, but I am curious how that comes across? Historically, the Black Panther Party has stood in solidarity with Palestine, but I’m half Middle Eastern and half white. I would feel weird wearing a shirt with that logo, even if it’s clearly for Palestine.