Would any white person pick up a black hitchhiker?

Question

Ok I know it sounds racist but i am seriously curious. I was with my friend the other day and she is black and i was driving us to another friends house. We passed this black man who was hitchhiking and she said hey he is going our way we should give him a ride. I said i don't think it would be such a good idea. And drove on,

She got a little annoyed and kept saying why cause he's black? And i just said i didn't feel comfortable with picking him up.

She brought up the time i picked up a hitcher. An old man who;s car was smoking. He was so old he didn't want to use my cell phone and asked me to dial for him. I felt perfecty safe.

She is still a bit touchy about it and i just wonder if it really is such a big deal as she makes it out to be.

Answer 1

I wouldn't pick up any hitchhiker, especially since I'm female, but if I did I wouldn't discriminate based on race because that's not a good indicator of dangerousness. If I was in a crime-ridden area I would be less likelly to pick up a hitchhiker no matter what the race. I could understand choosing to pick up an elderly man whose car was smoking, even if you generally don't pick up hitchhikers, since he was probably not dangerous and obviously needed the help, but it wouldn't be right if the only reason you picked him up and not the other guy was because of his race.

Answer 2

I know that you are smart and careful, but many predators are too. These days do not pick up hitchhikers. The most prolific serial killers have used the sympathy of others as their main ploy. If someone needs assistance call 911. You and your friend are precious beings, and it doesn't matter what color a person is. Hitchhikers tend to be desperate people that want more than just a ride. Tell your friend to stop using the race card and that you are not going to pick up strangers anymore. Have a safe year.

Answer 3

Well weather or not it's a big deal depends on reason you didn't feel comfortable picking him up. If it was solely because he is black then yes i think you friend has a reason to be upset because you are letting your preconceived ideas about her race influence your decisions. However if it was for another reason ( he looked intimidating was behaving erratically/ appeared to be under the influence of drugs/alcohol , etc ) then no your friend shouldn't be upset. But picking up hitchhikers is very dangerous , no matter how "safe" people appear to be , they could have hidden motives. The best advice i can give you is to explain to your friend that you like her for her not because of or in spite of her race and not to pick up hitchhikers of any race/sex with her anymore. But really , you shouldn't pick them up at all , the most i would do is to offer to call them a cab/ tow truck or call a ride for them but i would only open my window slightly and make sure my doors are locked and i am ready to take off should he/she try anything suspicious.

Answer 4

I have several reasons to be more cautious...I am female, I get lost easily and wouldn't necessarily know if I was in a bad area of a strange town, I don't believe in carrying weapons, I don't know any self-defense, and I tend to be wayyy too trusting as it is.

I would not pick up any hitchhiker unless it was another woman, and she would need to either be with kids or in serious distress or having a medical issue to get me to stop. No signs, no thumbs...

If a man (any race) looked like he was having trouble, I would pull over and crack the window and ask if I could help him by calling AAA or 911 or something, but no rides. If the guy was injured I would most likely get out and give him first aid.

Of course, I would stop and help ANYONE in a wreck.

But I don't pick up anyone with a thumb out, and I don't stop for panhandlers in the median either. There are better ways to ask for help than that.

Answer 5

I wouldn't pick up a black man...or a white man...or a woman for that matter. I would only pick up someone in distress as you did and even then I am suspicious. I read a true murder book about a young couple who were murdering teenage girls. The young wife would lure the girls over to the car with a map spread out on her hood and ask the girls if they were from the area and if they could help her. When the teen would come over, the husband would jump out of the car and they would kidnap, rape, torture and murder the girls.

Answer 6

Everyone has their own individual risk tolerance. Picking up any hitch-hiker could be dangerous. Especially if you are a female. It is also illegal to hitch hike and it is illegal to pick up a hitcher. You did the right thing for sure. You simply avoided getting into a situation that could have caused you a lot of trouble. Your friend has unreasonable expectations. You don't have to risk your safety to prove to her that you are not racially biased. Don't let someone else cause you to go against your own best judgment.

Answer 7

That's funny, because I was going to answer the exact same thing. I wouldn't pick up any hitchhiker, regardless of race or sex. Even an innocent looking 13 year old could turn out to be a psycho :)

Answer 8

the smart money says you don't pick up a hitcher, didn't you see the movie? all movies aside, there are too many messed up people out there now to pick up a stranger, even if I am not intimidated by them, they try something and I gotta kill them, now I am having a bad day. I definately wouldn't pick them up if my kids were in the car, I wouldn't risk it. I took my kids skating one night and a guy there (white , looked about 18) asked for a ride to his motel where his dads car broke down, I said no, he was offended, my kids were in the car that night and I wouldn't expose them to a stranger who might turn violent and hurt one of them, common sense says you don't know who they are and you don't have to trust them, trust is earned, not mandated by being human. tell your friend you would not expose her to an unknown threat and you shouldn't pick up hitchers. no matter the race.if you were a racist, you wouldn't have had her in the car. it's no different than a black guy claiming to not be racist and having only white female friends and no white guy friends. or a white girl having only black guy friends with no black girl friends. thy are still racist. gender based racist. I have black male friends and black female friends. I don't see color, only people that have personalities I like.

Answer 9

I myself wouldn't pick up hitchhikers period, black or white. There have been cases where people faked having car trouble, so that someone would stop to pick them up, only to rob them or assault them.

In my opinion, you did the correct thing - always trust your intstincts. If something doesn't seem quite right, or you get a sense that something is potentially dangerous, it probably is. Always listen to your instincts.......

Your friend is absolutely 100 percent wrong. This isn't about race, or being politically correct. We're talking your personal safety here. Don't compromise it for ANYTHING

Answer 10

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