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This was a huge surprise, and it was in bold: "Feeling out of place when I can’t identify with certain pop culture references or cultural norms (like being abl

This was a huge surprise, and it was in bold: "Feeling out of place when I can’t identify with certain pop culture references or cultural norms (like being able to swim, liking baseball, listening to rock/country or playing golf), because I grew up differently." I know many people of all kinds that don't know how to swim, that don't like basketball or listen to country or play golf. In fact, I would say a minority of the people I know do all these things and I'm not even sure most people I know do most of these things. I can't draw a larger conclusion at the moment (I am sure the larger HN community has many ideas), but I don't think you should feel awkward about this. p.s. I didn't know who LeBron James was in 2009.

GuiA 10y ago
https://xkcd.com/385/ https://xkcd.com/385/ If you're a white person who doesn't know how to swim and it gets brought up in conversation, your interlocutors might be a bit surprised - because swimming is a somewhat common skill in 2016 in most parts of the world - but that'll be the extent of it. However, it is my understanding that if you're a black person who doesn't know how to swim and it gets brought up in conversation, you get to hear semi-frequently something along the lines of "oh yeah that's right, black people can't swim" (not necessarily that explicitly stated, but you get the idea). I hope you can see why it might problematic to repeatedly have this kind of interactions in your life.
- ralfd 10y ago
  What a strange stereotype. Why do people in the U.S. think blacks can't swim?
  - justinlardinois 10y ago
    I'm guessing it's related to segregation, specifically public pools. Swimming is commonly learned in a pool, so if you don't have access to one it would be hard to lean. Obviously it's pretty outdated, but stereotypes are rarely concerned with accuracy.
- projectramo 10y ago
  i have never heard this stereotype. Most South Asians don't know how to swim. Never thought it would be considered negative.

GuiA 10y ago

https://xkcd.com/385/ https://xkcd.com/385/ If you're a white person who doesn't know how to swim and it gets brought up in conversation, your interlocutors might be a bit surprised - because swimming is a somewhat common skill in 2016 in most parts of the world - but that'll be the extent of it. However, it is my understanding that if you're a black person who doesn't know how to swim and it gets brought up in conversation, you get to hear semi-frequently something along the lines of "oh yeah that's right, black people can't swim" (not necessarily that explicitly stated, but you get the idea). I hope you can see why it might problematic to repeatedly have this kind of interactions in your life.

ralfd 10y ago
What a strange stereotype. Why do people in the U.S. think blacks can't swim?
- justinlardinois 10y ago
  I'm guessing it's related to segregation, specifically public pools. Swimming is commonly learned in a pool, so if you don't have access to one it would be hard to lean. Obviously it's pretty outdated, but stereotypes are rarely concerned with accuracy.
projectramo 10y ago
i have never heard this stereotype. Most South Asians don't know how to swim. Never thought it would be considered negative.