Why do people think that black people are lazy and ignorant?

Question

I am black myself and I am neither lazy or ignorant. maybe ignorant sometimes when i am mad but not lazy.

Answer 1

maybe cause the people that think about us that way are white and trying to get back at us blacks.

Answer 2

Like many here have expressed, there are lazy and ignorant people everywhere and in every ethnical group. There is a difference of course when you pay attention to what perspective you are viewing it from. For example, I know many white and rich people that are lazy and ignorant. The difference is that money kind of disguises that condition to the rest of the world. Take Bush for example. I'm not sure about lazy, but wow! does he show ignorance many times when he speaks!! See? it all depends if you look close enough. Let me give you another example. Many people in my country (Guatemala) have the same opinion of a black (Garifuna) community that lives in our Atlantic Coast. I visited the place one day because of work. I arrived around 11 am. While women were busy moving around, selling things, goint to the market, etc., most men were lazily spread (some sleeping) on hammocks by the beach drinking refreshments or beer. To our western-christian-capital oriented way of thinking this would be unaccpetable. That is, that these men would be sleeping at this hour. It was not untill I asked around and spoke to some of the local people that I found out that these men were fishermen and had been at sea fishing from 2:00 a.m. till about 10 or 10:30 am!! This is just to point out that stereotypes are stereotypes. If you really want to find out about a People's or community's lifestyle and behaiviour, look closer and do some research, no matter what ethnic group.

Answer 3

That's a pretty general statement - and not everyone thinks that way...but I agree that there are stereotypes everywhere for just about everyone. I'm not one of these people, but I'll try to answer this, based on what I've observed/experienced. Some think that black people tend to be lazy to make-up for history of oppression in the USA. In other words, black people "feel entitled" to take their time doing their job, things like that. Sort of payback for years in history of unbalanced civil rights. I certainly don't agree with this viewpoint, but I think this may be what you're talking about. Then again, I don't really know - so maybe there are others out there in yahoo that can explain why this has perhaps become a stereotype....I'd love to hear their (undoubtedly ridiculous) explanation.

Answer 4

Listen, there are a lot of lazy people in this world. If a white person calls black people lazy, then he's a racist. If a black person calls black people lazy (Bill Cosby), then people listen. My take on the whole "lazy black man" syndrome is this: Lazy black men live in neighborhoods where crime and joblessness are abundant. They struggle in school, either join a gang or work slum jobs. They grow with a pessimistic outlook on life in general. They can get welfare and live on it along with the money they make selling drugs or the stuff they steal from their neighbors. IF THEY WOULD JUST TAKE THE INITIATIVE TO FOCUS ON A GOAL, THEY COULD CHANGE THEIR LIFE AND THEIR OUTLOOK ON THE FUTURE. Since you asked about "black people" I used black people as a reference. This philosophy can be used for ANY person of ANY color. White trash, Mexican trash, Black trash, etc. If anyone knows lazy people, then stay away. Lazy begets Lazy.

Answer 5

Your question should read "Why do SOME people...". The answer to that is because they are racist idiots. The rest of us don't believe that. I have worked with people of all different kinds of cultures and never have any of the black people I have worked with have been lazy or ignorant. Even the blacks who came directly from africa working in the company. But I have worked with racists, and without exception each one of them were idiots. Some of them you can help educate, but it is a struggle because they aren't very smart to begin with.

The worst part of racism, is to believe even a tiny amount that you aren't as good as someone else.

Answer 6

Quite frankly after living in Alabama, I found that black culture tends to be lazy and ignorant in the south, and that they encourage their children to act that way. It's sad because not all blacks are ignorant OR lazy. Thurgood Marshall certainly wasn't! He's a personal hero of mine.

Answer 7

People who believe this are the ignorant ones. I just finished doing 44 years within the Federal Prison System. And have done time with many black people. And many of them I have been friends with.

I personall judge people by what is going on within them. Race and nationality has never been an issue with me. And never will be.

Answer 8

Generalizations are ignorance.

Some of the African-American this white guy knows are bank executives, university computer science professors, good dancers (I dance semi-professionally, among other things), bright business students in my China Awareness Institute, and writers (I also love to write, so I know lots of writers). I cannot believe these people are lazy or ignorant.

Channel bad emotions into good deeds. That's what I have had to do after being angry and bitter due to my father's abuse and poverty.

Answer 9

People think it because mean, naive, and judgmental people have helped create a mindset among many non-black people that it's true. Add to that the media and all sorts of other influences, and there you have it. No intelligent, informed, mature person believes it. It's unfortunate that previous generations have passed down so many false judgments in spite of the fact that the rest of the world knows better. That minority of people make the rest of the pot seem sour, but I don't know too many people who would agree with them.

Answer 10

I have a lot of Black friends and none of them are lazy or ignorant.

Answer 11

I think that at one time someone saw one black person who was lazy or ignorant, and that is the image they stuck with. Plus a lot of people are raised racist and aren't taught any different.