Study Shows Most White Americans Don't Have Black Friends

[Cali_Democrat]

Source: Huffington Post

Despite all the talk about our supposedly post-racial society, friend groups among Americans remain starkly segregated.

A recent study conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute showed that 91 percent of the average white American's friends are white, and just 1 percent of their friends are black. While black Americans tend to have a more diverse social network, they don’t fare much better. The average African American has 83 percent black friends, 8 percent white friends, two percent Latino friends, zero Asian friends, and three percent mixed-race friends. One of the most glaring statistics from the study revealed that 75 percent of white Americans are exclusively friends with those of the same race.

All in all, the Washington Post put it simply: “Blacks have ten times as many black friends as white friends. But white Americans have an astonishing 91 times as many white friends as black friends.”

In a recent HuffPost Live conversation, Jezebel staff writer Hillary Crosley said she's "not surprised" by the findings.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/29/white-americans-black-friends_n_5733250.html?utm_hp_ref=black-voices

---

I think this is what leads to a lot of racism directed toward blacks in the US. Most white Americans have no black friends. That's pretty sad.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

1. I have a mix but I'm mixed.

[candelista]

2. It's hard for people to make friends if there is racial tension in the larger society.

People of different races, I mean.

[Hoppy]

3. That includes me. I ain't got any black friends.

Barack, will you be my friend?

[duhneece]

29. Join your local NAACP branch, become a member

And attend every month.And attend AME service consistantly and translate the word "God" to 'Love' in your head, if you possible can. We ARE the privileged, more powerful group and it's up to us to reach out to the less powerful, consistently.

[ballyhoo]

4. I don't have any black friends, and I am

a white who was partially raised by blacks. I also do not have any friends of other minorities or other groups who are the minority. The reason for all this is that people are not talking to other people where I live because they mostly stay in the house. When I ran companies I talked to everyone, but them days are gone. I think it's a broad brush stroke to intimate that people are racist because they don't talk to blacks or other minorities/majorities. Chances are if and when I ever get to New Zealand to live, people will not talk to me freely. The world that we live in these is not real conclusive to communication, except for what we are doing now. And that's the way it is, and it will continue to go in that direction until THX-1138 nods at THY-1520 before they sit down in front of their instruments to calculate the mass of planets for the next 10 hours.

[FailureToCommunicate]

5. I guess I'm lucky to have lots of friends, many of whom are brown, black, white,"red", disabled...

But I grew up in a mostly black neighborhood (in -maybe ironically- White Plains, NY) so it was sorta no big deal.

Strangely enough, it turns out people are people. It what's beneath the surface that counts.

Sadly, the police didn't always see things that way.

[Cha]

8. You are lucky, FailureToCommunicate.

[840high]

6. I don't believe that. In my

circle - we all have black friends. My bridge group is mixed.

[Cha]

7. I wish I did in RL but there aren't very many

beautiful Black people around where I live(although, I do light up whenever I see Clarence!). I did back in the day in Denver but since then I've lived in areas where there's a lot of Latino population.. and now Hawaiians, Filipinos, Haoles(what the Hawaiians call White People).. and Latinos(amazing amount of Mexican Food restaurants in our small beach town).

Whites and Blacks sure do have each other as friends in shows and movies.. and I think it's great to see that! We're just people.. no better or worse than anyone else because we have different skin color.



Cali

[littlemissmartypants]

20. Great picture. The amazing thing about it

Is the person belonging to the arm to the far left could belong to an African American. Culture is more than skin deep.

Hopefully we will soon see a world, if it doesn't explode out from under us, where skin color as definitive of race will be a laughable comparison.

The color of blood is the same all around the world.
We know that now. But still don't respect it.

One day...

Love, Peace and Shelter.
~ littlemissmartypants

[Behind the Aegis]

9. I don't find this to be all that revealing.

There is a "like to like" situation which always seems to be in play, which readily explains many issues when someone encounters an "unlike." It isn't limited to race/ethnicity. I find it is similar to sex/gender, with a few exceptions. It is also similar to sexual orientation. I have always had plenty of black friends, until recently, given I am in an area where there aren't many AA folk and, to be quite honest, I rarely leave the house except to shop or go to the zoo; and, my partner and I haven't been out with "friends" since our first few months back and it was one friend whom we knew before moving here.

What I would like to see studied is a person's viewing habits (movies, tv shows, magazines) and past experiences and how that relates to racial/ethnic knowledge.

ETA: Some of this will also depend on location. I found this neat site dedicated to AA demographics (seems to be a few years out of date, but I haven't explored the entire site). This is a link to AA population by state: http://blackdemographics.com/population/black-state-population/

[ripcord]

10. I work in East L.A.

I have no black friends but I do have plenty of Hispanic friends.

[truthisfreedom]

11. There was one black kid in my neighborhood for one year when I was growing up.

I think I have one or two black friends. It's hard to tell if we actually like each other. I am adamantly anti-racism when it comes to policy and law. I think that because of my lack of childhood immersion I never understood the nuances of black culture. I find the complete disregard for American English grammar and usage in popular music and entertainment off-putting and it causes me to be disinterested in rap and hip hop. I find the over-aggressiveness and confrontational manner of modern black pop entertainment frightening. I think we are naturally wired to be racist once we get past a certain age, in the absence of early immersion. The strongest factor in racism is the existence of "minorities". Eventually we'll all be brown, however... I know this because I was once engaged to a gorgeous girl from Guyana and I think about her still. Our unfortunate breakup was completely unrelated to race.

[4dsc]

12. So what?

It doesn't mean anything that I don't have any black friends.

[gwheezie]

13. I'm white 90% of my friends are not

My daughter is black so is her husband and my grandson. My sister in law is Asian. So my family is multi racial. When I was raising my daughter I purposely sought out multi ethnic neighborhoods and schools. Frankly it was healthier for her not to be surrounded by white folks since there was subtle and not so subtle racism coming from the white community. My grandson has both black and white friends. I've met his gang of friends and watched them play together and I think there is hope for the future. My daughter was also positively influenced by my gay friends since she was born. My closest friend has been a constant in her life for 46 years. When she found a man to marry she said she knew what to look for in a good man because of Jack.
It is very difficult to cling to hatred and bigotry if you live with the "other" in your life everyday. My life has been immensely expanded because I stepped out of what I was used to. This not only applies to race. I encourage people raising children to expand their world.

[OnlinePoker]

14. I don't have any friends.

Sigh.

[gwheezie]

15. Do you want friends?nt

[littlemissmartypants]

16. I'll be your friend.

But you may get some flack over our friendship. Can you hang? Do you feel me?

Love, Peace and Shelter.
~Lmsp

[murielm99]

17. I live in a rural community that is white.

However, I am active in the Democratic party, so I get out and work in more diverse, larger communities nearby. Because of that, I have some black friends. We have worked together to elect Democrats, so we socialize. Having something in common makes skin color and cultural differences mean less.

[C Moon]

18. I don't have any friends. :( ...just kidding. True: I don't have any black friends.

Asian, Hispanic, Indian, white, but yeah, they're right. :/
What gives?

[defacto7]

19. I'm a white male near 60 yo.

I've had black friends all my life. Some in my family married blacks or have gay roommates who are black. I've also lived in upper middle class white neighborhoods most of my life. Even as a child, my parents had black friends in their social groups who we entertained. I worked with blacks in my profession for years. So I just don't seem to fit into this study at all.

That's not to undermine the reality of the article but I guess our family is unusual. It's never seemed unusual though... ever.

[littlemissmartypants]

21. Science needs replication. nt

[JoeyT]

22. At least part of this is going to be population and location.

There are huge chunks of the country where *everyone* is white. The first time I was ever in one, I freaked out. I don't think I saw anyone that wasn't white that didn't come with me the entire two weeks I was there.

Whereas where I'm from pretty much everyone is friends with people that aren't of their race. (The county I spend most of my time in is >40% AA)

Only 12% of the country overall is African American, and most of those are concentrated in a handful of places. So I'm not particularly shocked by it either.

[ManiacJoe]

45. Exactly. And the 12% are not evenly distributed.

Before you can have black friends, you need to be somewhere where there are black people.

[oberliner]

23. What percent of DU is white?

Does anyone have any idea?

[Nye Bevan]

39. Nobody really knows.

You are not asked to specify your race when you sign up. Sometimes people run polls but of course these are not scientific and folks might choose not to disclose their race. And some people have cited the limited participation in the African American group, but again, there is no guarantee that blacks would choose to participate in this group.

[kwassa]

50. but we do know that there are very few.

simply by those who self-identify on relevant topics.

[mimi85]

24. They had to do a study?

I could have told them that for free. Sheesh.

[7962]

25. News flash: People hang out with people who are like them!

[CreekDog]

42. you're saying that people are like each other if their skin is the same color?

[duhneece]

26. I joined local NAACP and AME

Eventually I became an NAACP officer. I'm not even a full-fledged Christian...only agree with Jesus's healings and his teachings in Matthew 35: feed the poor, welcome the stranger/immigrant, and visit those in prison. In other words, see the least of us as sacred, living folks. A few of my friends joined too and they are adamant agnostics bordering on atheists...one grew up in very white New AMerstam and never had any black friends...our lives have changed in the best possible ways.

[bigdarryl]

27. Where I live there are mixed neighbors every where and I see

Mostly whites staying with there own kind.My upstairs neighbor is white and me and him speak and talk all the time but every since this poll came out I have been watching my white neighbors to see if they hang around any African Americans and from what I'm seeing most don't so I'm not surprised at this poll in fact I though it would be higher than that.This is why most whites can't understand how we are looked at racially in.this country

[BumRushDaShow]

28. It continues to be reinforced by housing patterns and just plain population statistics...

Exclude certain folks from living in certain areas by law (legal segregation by a state or municipality, which was struck down after the mid-60s) or by de jure segregation (by lying to perspective buyers by indicating that housing in certain areas is "unavailable" or something similar to what happened with the various Levittown developments with contracts forbidding blacks to buy a house in these developments), or by de facto segregation (birds of a feather, flock together) + blacks are basically only ~13% of the population, then you have a result that shouldn't be too surprising.

I.e., whites are still ~78% of the population, so for every 100 people --

78 Whites
13 Blacks
5 Asians
2.6 mix/other
1.4 native/Pacific

There was a "dot map" that came out last year based on 2010 census data showing the distribution by "race" (1 dot per person) -



http://demographics.coopercenter.org/DotMap/index.html

There has always been this weird phenomena that I and many other blacks have experienced first hand where some whites will exclaim - "Why do all the black people sit together?". This is probably one of the most ridiculous comments that one can make from a group who so considers themselves "universal" that when they all "sit together" (primarily due to their sheer numbers), then that is considered "normal", but when others do so, something is "wrong". This is what is commonly called a "scotoma".

[Prophet 451]

30. Should this really be a surprise though?

According to a couple of minutes with Wiki and Google, the US population is only about 12.6% black and 16.4% Hispanic. Given that, the fact that most people's friends are likely to share their social class, the demographics of social class and the fact that most neighborhoods are predominantly composed of one social class, this finding shouldn't really be a surprise.

What I'm saying is that, while some white people may actively avoid cultivating friendships with black people, in the majority of cases, it's more than their everyday lives don't often bring them into prolonged contact with black people. Their neighborhoods are all of one social class, the people at their jobs are probably of one social class and they mostly shop in stores targeting one social class. The stratification of social class and the demographics of social class is far more to blame here than outright racism, I would suggest.

[Deadbeat Republicans]

31. A friend with weed is a friend indeed...

Legalize friendships !!!

[Inkfreak]

32. I had a diverse group growing up & in the Army.

Not so much now. It's just a matter of where I live. Pretty rural and not many minorities around. Small enough that if someone said "Which Keith?" They'd respond "Keith, you know, the black one." Most would know. That's because he's one of the few black men to live around here. And there are just waaaay to many white dudes named Keith here.

[madville]

33. I would be curious to see a geographical breakdown of study respondents

I'm not disputing anything and the study makes perfect sense.

I looked at the article and went to the website for the study put didn't see any geographical information. My point is there are many states in this country that have less than 1% Black people in their population, Montana is 0.3% Black for example. I would not expect nor find anything wrong about White people not having Black friends in Montana.

There are huge areas of this country with no Black population, but basically everywhere Black people live there is a significant White population nearby. I think that skews the White vs. Black comparison that 75% of White people have only White friends and 65% of Black people have only Black friends. I was just curious if they did it in an area that was 50/50 black and white or did they survey people all over the country? It would make a big difference in the results.

[Gothmog]

34. I have a number of friends who I made working on party events

I have been volunteering with my local party for a while and have made a good number of friends

[L0oniX]

35. I'm white and have over 10 black friends that I'm with every week.

I am sure that the study is about right though. What are you to do ...approach a black person and say "hey I need to have a friend that is black" ...yea ...that ain't going to go over very well. You can be a little overly friendly with anyone that is not of your race as this sets an example that others see and may help the other person be more accepting of those outside their race. It can be the cashier or clerk or lawn guy or neighbor. I have this black lady friend who is in her 80's that is blind and hard of hearing. I don't think she knows that I am white yet but I am sure she wouldn't care. She's just happy to get hugs and says so.

What stops you from reaching out?

[The2ndWheel]

36. How many friends does the average person have?

What's the definition of friend being used here? Just someone you kinda sorta know? Someone you say hi to? Or someone that you actually have a chance to talk to for more than a total of 5 minutes every month?

The word friend is certainly much different than acquaintance. I think the average amount of friends a person has is maybe 2, and you're lucky if you have that in life, no matter what color they are. I'd say that, plus the population stats mentioned already, plus just not having the time in your average adult's day, is going to make such numbers possible.

[tavernier]

48. Are you a guy?

I have many friends. People I actually spend time with, go to lunch, movies, even vacations. It is the same with most of my women friends.

But my husband has two good friends and they don't do much together besides beer and baseball, so I had to wonder if your 2 friend observation is different for men and women.

[The2ndWheel]

54. I am, and it could be

I remember a few articles over the years saying it's 2 or 3 close friends on average. How that breaks down for either gender I'm not sure. Interesting question to look up. Obviously there are many variables that go into it for each individual person. Maybe someone has to travel a lot for a job, shy, outgoing, what stage someone is at in their life, some people just naturally attract others, some people don't, etc, etc.

[caraher]

57. In the study it's actually defined as a close confidant

and the average person has 3-4 of these in the study, half of whom are family. So it's not surprising that of the 1-2 closest, non-family people, those folks tend to be white for white people. The "friends" language in this report on the study is highly misleading. (See my post downthread for a link to the study)

[meti57b]

37. I'm an engineer. I have no personality. Hence, I have no friends. Even my cats are bored with me.

[FarrenH]

38. Its interesting comparing this to the South African experience

Over here the ethnic proportions are reversed. 9% of the country is white and 80% black. A qualifier: Unlike the USA, most South Africans treat "colored" as a separate ethnicity, because Apartheid separated mixed race people into different physical communities which are now culturally distinct - for example most black South Africans speak an indigenous language at home while most coloreds speak English or Afrikaans, which evolved out of Dutch. The large majority of coloreds self-identify as "colored" and even sub-groups within that, "Cape Malay" being seen as a distinct "Colored" group. so use of the term is not seen as a signal that you're talking to an aging white racist, although a small minority of activists in that community, inspired by US politics, are trying to popularize the collapsing of distinctions between black and colored.

But back to the main point. Despite the ratio of ethnicities being the reverse of the USA, a higher ratio of black people have white friends than the ratio of white people who have black friends. Why the same discrepancy of ratios by ethnic group when ethnic proportions in the population are flipped? I'm sure it's not just about self-segregation or minority status. I'm certain that white South Africans (my community) are still more prejudiced against other ethnicities that black South Africans, two decades after Apartheid. Socioeconomic status, power and ideology must play some role.

[closeupready]

40. I'm a white male whose preferred friends are men of color -

I have black friends but mostly my friends are white, South Asian or middle Eastern.

[Demobrat]

41. I work in Oakland, CA

I'm white, but I'm the minority. I have black, latino, and asian friends. Once we're at work we're all in the same boat, and race is the last thing we care about.

[The Second Stone]

43. Juan Williams and Thomas Sowell have millions of white friends

they've never even met. But the Fox watchers will mention how close they are every time they say something really offensive.

[abakan]

44. I have in the past had friends of different colors.

But where I live now the people of color are hispanic and native american, I have many friends of each nationality.
It seems the small number of black folks in New Mexico congregate in the larger cities and not in the small villages and towns dotted around the state. The fact that some have no friends or acquaintances of color could be there is little opportunity in a day to make those connections.

[madville]

46. Demographics also play a big role

Many states have <1% black populations, I would not expect white people in those states to have black friends or acquaintances nor find anything odd with the fact that they don't.

There are almost no Asians in my area, the only ones in the county are the family that owns the buffet in town, so I don't find it particularly odd that I have no Asian friends because there isn't really any opportunity to.

[sakabatou]

47. My girlfriend's black

[bamademo]

49. I live in Alabama and have several black friends.

[treestar]

51. Blacks are a minority though

so this may not be so sinister as there are not as many blacks as whites to be friends with.

[tazkcmo]

52. I don't have any white ones either. n/t

[caraher]

53. Hold on

I see some very serious methodology issues in drawing any conclusions about how socially segregated the races are from this study. In fact, it appears what this actually says is that most people confide in their families, and their families tend to be of the same race as the respondents - hardly surprising!

Following an approach developed in the General Social Survey (GSS)*, respondents were asked to name up to seven people with whom they had “discussed important matters” in the past six months. Respondents were then asked to provide five attributes about each of those individuals, including gender, race and ethnicity, religious affiliation, 2012 vote preference, and relationship to the respondent. This approach—known in the social scientific literature as “egocentric network analysis”—is designed to measure the ways in which individuals’ choices and attitudes are influenced by their family and close friends.

I. Social Network Size and Distribution

There are only modest differences in the distribution and average size of Americans’ social networks. Among Americans overall, only eight percent name no persons in their social network, 50 percent name one to three persons, and 43 percent name four or more persons.

Americans overall reported, on average, a social network of 3.4 people out of a maximum of seven people. Overall, people named in these networks are slightly more likely to be immediate family members (an average of 1.8 people) than non-immediate family members (an average of 1.5 people).

Go to the study to read the details... what they're talking about is really family and very close friends; this has nothing to do with broader social networks but the identities of the 3-4 people closest to you, of whom typically 2 are family members. If you assume the family members are classified as "same race" then what you're really looking at is the chance either of one's two closest non-family friends is of a different race.

I think the article says something basically true, but supports it with a study that really doesn't provide very good support for the broader claims about "friends" because the data set is skewed both by the inclusion of immediate family and the attempt to use "friend," "social network" and what amounts to "confidant" interchangeably.

Actual survey question: "From time to time, most people discuss important matters with other people. Looking back over the past six months - who are the people with whom you discussed matters important to you? Just provide their first names or initials and their relationship to you..."

If I were answering that question, there are a lot of people I'd consider "friends" whom I probably would not name.

[onecent]

55. HORSE SHIT.

I have dozens of friends who have black friends.... i don't see any of my white friends trying to hang some black dudes from a tree...and if they do, they don't speak about it.

I am sick of this fucking world....everything is BLACK OR WHITE....morons exist everywhere.

People who are prejudice have ISSUES OF THEIR OWN FOR GODS SAKE. Jesus this is stupid.

The world is so full of hate....but much more full of STUPIDITY.

Who gives a shit if you are a purple and green person....being nice and having empathy...and wishing good things for everyone on this earth is what it should be all about.

but it's MERELY ABOUT THE FUCKING ALMIGHTY DOLLAR.

[Octafish]

56. 75-percent raised on Reagan.

[dembotoz]

58. i live in super segregated milwaukee wisconsin

out here in the burbs do not see many people of color

so for me the statement is prob true
milwaukee is what i drive thru to get to where i want to be.

went to a Mike Brown rally near where i grew up
felt like a tourist

[GOLGO 13]

59. Pssst. Guess what? I don't have Japanese, Chinese or Outer Mongolian friends &

it don't mean shit either.