4 ms·

You are starting from the assumption that it is normal that people date inside of their "race". This is an assumption that is very often made by Hollywood movie

You are starting from the assumption that it is normal that people date inside of their "race". This is an assumption that is very often made by Hollywood movies and which I find offensive, all the more because it is self-fulfilling: if you only see people of the same skin color dating one another, you're probably less likely to imagine yourself outside of the norm you perceive.

Someone1234 12y ago
Your offense is of no concern to me. The stats back up that people prefer to date within their own race when they can. Ultimately I am just arguing that people's choice is important to the whole topic, if black women would prefer to date black men, pointing out that they could date white or asian men won't help the situation.
- tomjen3 12y ago
  Actually you are wrong in this specific case. Okcupid has the data (http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/your-race-affects-whether-people-write-you-back/ http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/your-race-affects-whether-...) which shows that black women are more likely to reply to men now of her own race (and white men are almost at the top).
  - Someone1234 12y ago
    Let me remind you what I said verbatim: > The stats back up that people prefer to date within their own race when they can. That's exactly what your data shows. If you look across all races, there is a clear bias towards people dating their own race. You can find exceptions, but those are within one or two data points, and the trend overall remains true. > which shows that black women are more likely to reply to men now of her own race (and white men are almost at the top). By just 2 points. And black men prefer black women. You did find an exception, but keep looking and the trend maintains. Also, quick reminder that my original post focused on personal choice being important. Nobody suggesting forcing people to date a certain race, just that personal choice might get in the way of the "solution" to the problem the OP suggested (inter-racial marriage).
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - yesiamyourdad 12y ago
    Problems with that paper. If OKCupid addressed these in their data set, the didn't say. 1. OKCupid is a worldwide site but they don't say whether they're correcting for that by limiting to the USA 2. They don't say anything about correcting for regional differences. 3. They say nothing about the message rates. What percentage of a black woman's incoming mail is from white men? If it's some small percentage, can one discount the novelty effect? 4. They don't correct for income. Since in the US, black men have the lowest income of any group, it's much more likely that a given the choice between a black man and a white man, the white man will have the higher income. 5. Likewise for education level of the sender. 6. Likewise for message content. Is it possible that black men send messages with different content than white men? 7. Finally, this only considers message rates, as if the goal of a dating site is only to get other people to return your messages. This isn't any kind of a scientific study. Please don't act as though OKCupid has proven anything significant.
  - hn_ 12y ago
    That's interesting. This study came to the opposite conclusion. I wish it wasn't paywalled so I could read it and compare it to OkCupid's data. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2008.01135.x https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2008.01135.x >The theory of African American alienation is upheld, as African Americans are generally less willing to interracially date than other races and are especially less willing to date European Americans.
baddox 12y ago
> You are starting from the assumption that it is normal that people date inside of their "race". I think that claim is sufficiently substantiated that it ought not be called an "assumption."
- infruset 12y ago
  Well, I would like to oppose two things to this: - this may be exceedingly US centered, as in my country it is not quite as obvious. In fact, the word "race" does not even exist in my language (at least in the American meaning, the equivalent is only used for animals). - I think questioning assumptions allows one to better discern what is inherited prejudice and what is a universal fact. As you may guess, I think this is an instance of the former and certainly not a permanent/immutable state of things. Furthermore, I think when one claims something is "substantiated", one should come with strong evidence.
dragonwriter 12y ago
> You are starting from the assumption that it is normal that people date inside of their "race". This assumption is very much true in modern American society, though somewhat less so than previously.
tsotha 12y ago
There's quite a bit of research to back up his assumption. Every article I've read on the subject bemoans the situation of black women and at the same time points out they have no interest (statistically, anyway) in men of other races.

Someone1234 12y ago

Your offense is of no concern to me. The stats back up that people prefer to date within their own race when they can. Ultimately I am just arguing that people's choice is important to the whole topic, if black women would prefer to date black men, pointing out that they could date white or asian men won't help the situation.

tomjen3 12y ago
Actually you are wrong in this specific case. Okcupid has the data (http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/your-race-affects-whether-people-write-you-back/ http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/your-race-affects-whether-...) which shows that black women are more likely to reply to men now of her own race (and white men are almost at the top).
- Someone1234 12y ago
  Let me remind you what I said verbatim: > The stats back up that people prefer to date within their own race when they can. That's exactly what your data shows. If you look across all races, there is a clear bias towards people dating their own race. You can find exceptions, but those are within one or two data points, and the trend overall remains true. > which shows that black women are more likely to reply to men now of her own race (and white men are almost at the top). By just 2 points. And black men prefer black women. You did find an exception, but keep looking and the trend maintains. Also, quick reminder that my original post focused on personal choice being important. Nobody suggesting forcing people to date a certain race, just that personal choice might get in the way of the "solution" to the problem the OP suggested (inter-racial marriage).
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- yesiamyourdad 12y ago
  Problems with that paper. If OKCupid addressed these in their data set, the didn't say. 1. OKCupid is a worldwide site but they don't say whether they're correcting for that by limiting to the USA 2. They don't say anything about correcting for regional differences. 3. They say nothing about the message rates. What percentage of a black woman's incoming mail is from white men? If it's some small percentage, can one discount the novelty effect? 4. They don't correct for income. Since in the US, black men have the lowest income of any group, it's much more likely that a given the choice between a black man and a white man, the white man will have the higher income. 5. Likewise for education level of the sender. 6. Likewise for message content. Is it possible that black men send messages with different content than white men? 7. Finally, this only considers message rates, as if the goal of a dating site is only to get other people to return your messages. This isn't any kind of a scientific study. Please don't act as though OKCupid has proven anything significant.
- hn_ 12y ago
  That's interesting. This study came to the opposite conclusion. I wish it wasn't paywalled so I could read it and compare it to OkCupid's data. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2008.01135.x https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2008.01135.x >The theory of African American alienation is upheld, as African Americans are generally less willing to interracially date than other races and are especially less willing to date European Americans.

baddox 12y ago

> You are starting from the assumption that it is normal that people date inside of their "race". I think that claim is sufficiently substantiated that it ought not be called an "assumption."

infruset 12y ago
Well, I would like to oppose two things to this: - this may be exceedingly US centered, as in my country it is not quite as obvious. In fact, the word "race" does not even exist in my language (at least in the American meaning, the equivalent is only used for animals). - I think questioning assumptions allows one to better discern what is inherited prejudice and what is a universal fact. As you may guess, I think this is an instance of the former and certainly not a permanent/immutable state of things. Furthermore, I think when one claims something is "substantiated", one should come with strong evidence.

dragonwriter 12y ago

> You are starting from the assumption that it is normal that people date inside of their "race". This assumption is very much true in modern American society, though somewhat less so than previously.

tsotha 12y ago

There's quite a bit of research to back up his assumption. Every article I've read on the subject bemoans the situation of black women and at the same time points out they have no interest (statistically, anyway) in men of other races.