I don't want to be afraid of random black people on the street. I was just attacked. Again.

How about socioeconomic status as a common trait? It would make sense to me that people who are poor are more inclined to be desperate. People who are desperate are more inclined to commit crimes. IF poor people are dis-proportionally black, then that might explain violent crimes being dis-proportionally committed by black people. I'm not saying this is the case, I'm just theorizing here. If this is the case, then it makes sense people thinking that black people commit more crimes because they are black...when in actuality it may just be because they are poor.

A poor black person and a poor white person, are equally as desperate and therefore equally as dangerous.

I'll take the thought process a bit further. If we can prove what I'm saying above, then we can do something about it. We can work on how to get people out of poverty. But if the stats show that black people do not commit more crime then white people, or we can't agree that poverty is the real issue, then we won't be follow that path as a solution.

You brain is trying to find the common denominator and there likely are a few. The unfortunate thing is that they are intangible, things like personality type, upbringing, socioeconomics, addiction, etc., etc.

It looks as though part of your view is that profiling like this is unacceptable for some reason. Allow me to make a quick argument against that.

Your concern, in profiling random passersby and deciding accordingly how cautious to be, is not with the impact of said profiling on them. It doesn't affect anyone except you for your adrenaline response to be active, but you it makes feel icky and racist. You're also sexist and ageist if you're more afraid of young men.

So what? A young black man is more likely to assault you than someone from any other demographic intersection. That's backed up by crime data. You're not hurting anyone; you're looking out for your own safety. That's fine.

I have lived in NYC for 15 years and have been all over and have never been attacked. My parents lived in Chicago all of their lives and have never been. Maybe ask a friend if there is something you are doing that makes you seem vulnerable. Not saying in anyway that it is your fault or anyone deserves it, but your situation is so far out of the norm. There might be something you can do to be perceived as less vulnerable.

You are going about this all wrong. A positive non-racist and ethical outlook on people is good, but it lacks anything pragmatic. Sure, not racially profiling is good, but that should be nowhere near the forefront of your mind.

The problem is your swagger, self-awareness, and inner willingness to become tremendously violent on a moment's notice.

As others have suggested, walking with heavy feet and swinging your legs slightly does make your look more confident, but that is useless if your are oblivious to the environment around you, and actually detrimental if your overdo it because you then look like an overcompensating beta, or someone who is looking for a fight which would only attract more attention.

Let me give you an example. Lets say you are walking down the street when you notice a dude on the other side start to cross over. It's clear that he will reach your side of the street and cross paths with you. If you react by diverting your eyes and pretending that its not happening, or perhaps by reminding yourself that his skin color does not make him a criminal, you are going to get mugged.

If instead you make eye contact, don't miss a step in your confident stride, then place your right hand in your pocket while leaving your left hand out and dangling, this changes things entirely.

The approaching guy will see your confidence, see that you are acknowledging his approach with eye contact, and show that you are ready to escalate to what could possibly be a gun or knife in your pocket. You don't actually need to have anything in your pocket at all, but the threat of the unknown could deter the situation entirely.

You see, criminals are looking for easy prey. Unaware prey is even better. All you have to do is play the game, use some clear non-verbal communication to indicate that you are indeed aware, are not prey, and are willing to escalate to incredible violence.

This last bit is important. You need to be willing to go from being a pleasant civilian to a monster willing to rip, tear, bite, punch, kick, choke, etc on a moments notice. This makes pretending to be confident easier. The best kind of bluff is one that is not a bluff.

For instance if you actually had a gun in your pocket as the criminal crosses the street, and you put one hand in your pocket on it, you would not need to pretend like you had a contingency, you would know, and simply communicating that truth non-verbally would be more convincing than any bluff.

So it naturally follows that being willing to be suddenly violent can have the same effect. Knowing that you can flip a mental switch and go wild can add that confidence without having to pretend. Admittedly, this is not something everyone can do. But it can be learned. Join a MMA or BJJ gym and learn to fight. This can help give that inner confidence and ability to "flip the switch".

So to recap, observe basic human psychology, watch people, walk with confidence, use strong non-verbals, bluff, and learn to fight. Also... walk in groups when possible, groups are not easy prey.

One last comment. Others have suggested getting a gun, and I even alluded to it as a possibility. Do not do this unless you are willing to go to actual gun training classes, regularly train with it, and be zealously monk-like with how stringently you follow safety practices. Gun culture is complex and will require weeks of research and years of permanent commitment. You must also be willing to end another life... which is no small consideration. But I must make it clear, while owing a gun can help, it will not communicate the non-verbals for you and it will not help you be more aware of your surroundings and people scoping you out. If you ignore everything I said about swagger, confidence, non-verbals, bluffing, the criminal shadow dance, awareness, not being prey etc and then go out and buy a gun, then you are guaranteeing the next time you are mugged that someone is going to die. The whole point is avoidance if at all possible, remember that.

my brain is now searching for a common trait to be weary of.

Why? Even if 100% of them were black, you'd be making a base rate error. The odds of an attacker being black (in your area) might be high, even 100%. But the odds of any black person attacking you is very low.

All crows are birds, but few birds are crows. If you fear crows, fearing all birds makes you irrationally afraid the vast majority of the time.

It's the same error people make with terrorists. Most terrorists are Muslim, but the percentage of Muslims who are terrorists as a percentage is within a rounding error of zero.

Being scared of black people because all of your attackers were black isn't a good strategy. 100% of lottery winners bought tickets. Does that mean buying a lottery is a good strategy to win? It might be necessary, but it isn't sufficient.

In other words, even if 100% of them are black, and there is no other common trait, and it is a cultural thing for a particular subset of black people in your area -- for whatever reason, it still doesn't justify being prejudiced against black people, or fearing them. The attackers are a statistical rarity and provides essentially no predictive value, only marginally better than randomly guessing any person you see will attack you.

What you need is cues from behavioural patterns, locations, or other cues that provide a high predictive value.

Buy a gun and and practice at the range. Hopefully you can obtain a concealed carry permit. Mace is an option as well. Can't fix people but you can boost your sense of security.

I'm sorry you were attacked. I can tell you, as a black person, that the melanin in my skin does not affect my desire to attack strangers... the person did not attack you because they are black. There are other reasons someone may attack such as being psychotic or being a crappy person.

On another note -- I'm curious if you're seeing attacks being done by 50/50 ratio of men and women which leads you to assume skin color is the "cause" or most relevant "common factor". I also wonder if you're seeing the attacks in different types of areas. I'm just curious about the circumstances you're getting attacked or seeing attacks that lead you to feel that skin color is the most relevant warning sign.

It sounds like you already have some good cues to look for that don't have anything to do with race. I live and work in a similar setting and the way someone is dressed and what they are doing are perfectly reasonable observations to stay safe.

What is making you question your usual approach to safety? We're these attacks from professional looking black men in suits?

But I feel with little other common traits, my brain is now searching for a common trait to be weary of. I don't want it to be skin color.

Well, you are in luck! Unfortunately, you also probably won't like this answer but it is not ethnicity or race but gender and age. The vast, vast majority of violent crime is committed by young men.

So, huzzah!

I think you simply need to get the fuck out of whatever shitty area of the city you live in, unless you yourself are poor[which I assume you are].

In that case, I'd say It's mainly gang members and as many mentioned poor people and drug addicts you got to worry about, not random black people. I'm a bit of a gangster historian myself, though I'm not as knowledgeable of say, The Signs or Uniforms of street gangs as I am about The Mafia[Italian, Russian, Jewish and Irish ones to be specific] and The Cartels, though I think you could do a simple search for "Crips/Bloods Gang Signs and Uniforms" and you'd be covered, if you still need more visual cues. from what I know The Crips usually wear Blue Clothing, so Don't fear Black People...Only Black People in Blue Clothes.

Edit TL;DR: it's an important distinction that conceding the possibility that you are more likely to be attacked by a black person is not an indictment of being black.

This won't change your stated cmv, but maybe the underlying idea that you don't want a reason to look at black people negatively. Let's look at a factual and less taboo stereotype. Men are more often criminals. That's just a fact. I'm willing to bet that of the people who've attacked you at the majority, if not all, were men. But that doesn't mean you struggle with looking at most men positively. The fact is that the majority of men aren't criminals, but the majority of criminals are men.

Likewise it might be true that you are not likely to be attacked by a black guy in your area (or maybe it isn't - look up the stats). But that shouldn't affect your view or feelings when you meet a new black person. The majority aren't criminals, just like men.

The reason I'm encouraging this behavior instead of what you asked is that I don't think you should try to find reasons to overlook your data. You should always trust your gut and if black happens to be a factor, you don't want to ignore it for fear of being racist. It might put you in danger if you do. Just realize that your categorizing or criminals does not affect your categorizing of general people - totally different categories.

For other things to be on the lookout for I highly recommend reading "the gift of fear". Maybe there you'll find different traits in common...

CMV: I don't want to be prejudice. But I feel with little other common traits, my brain is now searching for a common trait to be weary of. I don't want it to be skin color.

You're going about this the wrong way. Instead of being reasonably prejudiced, you should shake your fear by confidence and arming yourself appropriate.

If you're a citizen in good standing and reasonable enough, look into gun ownership and training - emphasis on the 'training'. Once you get comfortable with the weapon, you'll rightly feel more confident when you're walking home and such. Along with that confidence, you'll have less fear - having some control over your life and security will be a great step. And that confidence will also make you less likely of a target.

In other words: getting over your fear means taking up reasonable responsibilities, framing things properly, and so on. You're not going to make much progress being afraid, and being defenseless will only add to that.

It's definitely tied to socioeconomic status, which unfortunately correlates to non-white in many US cities.

I'm not sure if this helps, but the (white) street kids in Athens and Dublin were way scarier than any I'd ever come across in the States - it made me really glad that guns aren't freely available in either of those countries. Desperate people are scary as shit, it sounds like you had the misfortune to come across more than one of them.

The common trait could be MAOA, the "warrior gene".

https://news.brown.edu/articles/2009/01/hotsauce

Monoamine oxidase A is an enzyme that breaks down important neurotransmitters in the brain, including dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. The enzyme is regulated by monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA). Humans have various forms of the gene, resulting in different levels of enzymatic activity. People with the low-activity form (MAOA-L) produce less of the enzyme, while the high-activity form (MAOA-H) produces more of the enzyme.

Several studies have found a correlation between the low-activity form of MAOA and aggression in observational and survey-based studies. Only about a third of people in Western populations have the low-activity form of MAOA. By comparison, low-activity MAOA has been reported to be much more frequent (approaching two-thirds of people) in some populations that had a history of warfare. This led to a controversy over MAOA being dubbed the “warrior gene.”

However, it is said that the gene has a higher likelihood to be activated by environmental factors.

https://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2016/07/29/does-the-human-warrior-gene-make-violent-criminals-and-what-should-society-do/

Well-supported it may be, and child abuse is certainly a plausible connection. But the Finns found no such link in their studies. They say, “maltreatment did not modify the risk in any way.” They have, however, identified another factor they think is crucial: intoxication, either with alcohol or amphetamines.

So it is genetic with a side of possible environmental causes, but not caused by skin color. Unfortunately, this gene's presence is much more correlated in those who are black: https://www.scribd.com/document/68091423/MAOA-varies-by-race

So I may be a little against the norm here, but I think that at least to some degree, it is ok for you to feel racist thoughts, at least in the short term. Being attacked is a traumatic experience, and having difficulty with people that remind you of being attacked does not make you a bad person. I usually talk more about gender issues on this site, and so a comparison would be a man being abused by his wife or girlfriend and having issues being around other women for a while.

Further, you are already well on the way to recovering as you are clearly aware that this is not a good way to live your life. Just as I have seen people suggest therapy to survivors of sexual violence, I think therapy to help you navigate your reactions could be useful for you.

I think that ultimately you are racist the same way everyone is racist, and by recognizing the problems with your feelings you actually are on the side of less racist than most people. Other people have good advice for you too, but this idea is the one I want to challenge and change for you.

So, I actually learned a lot about society and the culture of impoverished black areas from watching this show "The Wire". It's my favorite show and it's about the drug trade in Baltimore, society, and the nature of people- I HIGHLY recommend watching it. I live near Baltimore and I STILL feel it gave me a LOT of perspective.

Going off of what I've learned, black culture itself has just been pretty fucked for some time now. These areas where they grow up are simply places where rich white people no longer wanted to live in and have ultimately been forsaken. The environment itself is of a lower standard because people don't care about it and often doesn't get the funding it needs: worse living standards, worse education, worse police, and I imagine worse politics too. No one gives a fuck about maintaining a trash can.

The culture has become one of hatred where there is little to no trust. People feel they have been taken advantage of and, thus, look for other people to take advantage of so others feel their pain as well. They collectively come to believe that's how the world works- you're either fucking someone or you're getting fucked yourself. That's why drug selling is such a big thing in these kinds of places: the easiest person to take advantage of is a drug addict. Kids growing up in these poor environments grow to believe that there's nothing else out there for them- that no one wants to give a nigger a new home outside the ghetto. Taking advantage of drug addicts, thieving, etc. are all more guaranteed sources of income in their eyes than any promises their poor schools can offer them.

There's also this ego complex in these poor environments, but that's a bit more complicated. I've met black people that get SUPER offended if they get even the TINIEST hint that someone might think that they're superior to them- even if it wasn't directly communicated by the perpetrator. Sometimes, so much as seeing someone in expensive clothes triggers them to the point of attacking- simply because "they think they're better than me and need to be take down a couple notches." There's not much to do in these poor neighborhoods other than socialize with the other poor people, so they get to a point where respect means the world to them and disrespect is completely unacceptable. The culture romanticizes this idea of being an alpha-male or apex predator- someone everyone respects and no one disrespects. That becomes their purpose because they've already resigned themselves to life in the ghetto. If you find someone who disrespects you, beat the shit out of him or kill him. Make the streets fear you. Make the streets respect you... or die trying.

It's all in the environment, in my opinion. I know plenty of black people that are not influenced by that culture- probably because they didn't grow up in it. My sister's black fiancee is definitely my best example. We grew up with him in a better part of Maryland and he's always been dedicated to our church community and schoolwork- despite being black, poor, and fatherless. He's way smarter than me in my major of computer science often tutoring me when I ask. He graduated from the best college in Maryland in 4 years and now has a tech job in government security that he's not even allowed to tell me or my sister about. All I know is he now makes a SHIT load of money has been spending quite a bit of it on my sister... but I won't get into that. His face only makes 2 expressions: happy and confused. I literally can't even imagine his face angry. Honestly, I think he's a freak. I think he's too perfect to be human and that his brain is not mentally normal.

So, yeah, that's a black person I know. It really is unfair to judge someone by the color of their skin. Try to think more about where you are and what kind of people that environment can create. That kind of thinking better prepares you for your own safety. "If I have to be in this place, I shouldn't be alone." That kind of thinking.

I think the view you need to change is the need to believe race isn't an influential factor in someone's mentality. Race is intimintly tied to culture for alot of people.

If I flipped a coin six times and it landed on heads each time, wouldn't you start to get a bit suspicious? You probably would choose someone else to go play coin toss games with at the very least.

Your brain is hard wired to pick up patterns and make sense of them, it's fundamental to how we survived so long as a species.

You're not being a racist by excusing (what is likely) the culture of poor black people in america. You're being a racist by trying to ignore a clear pattern because it doesn't fit your race relations sensibilities, that is exactly what racist people do.

Poor black Americans come from a lack of culture, because it was stripped from their heritage during slavery. You should acknowl edge that and the issues it still plays in your community.

Also, as someone else noted, black people are disproportionately poor, and poor people are disproportionately likely to commit violent acts.

Nearly all crimes committed in the neighborhood I lived in the last few years were committed by Somalis (the area is half low income, predominately Somali, and half middle class college students) But the vast majority of Somali people I've known have been normal, friendly law abiding people. I dont become prejudiced because when I pass a Somali person I know the chances of them being a criminal are still insanely low.

I bet all the people who attacked you were men. Does that mean from now on you'll always become wary of every man you encounter? No, that'd be silly. Just because there was a common factor of race and gender in the attackers doesn't mean everyone of that race and gender carry the common factor of being criminals. Unless you're also going to become prejudice against men, it doesn't really hold logically to become racially prejudiced.

I think you're looking at the whole situation wrong. There is absolutely nothing wrong with profiling people based on skin color, the unfortunate truth is that there is some weight placed on it. Even if you don't want to, everyone else is going to. Even if I am be very pessimistic, exaggerating just how many people actually do use skin color as a way to influence myself by saying everyone does, we both know I am not wrong to imply it's the majority.

The unfortunate truth is, the problem is the uneducated community. It doesn't matter by skin color, low class makes low quality people. They're angry their lives are bottom class, they are raised to blame the top. They're angry at how everything is, they take their anger out on targets they can easily justify. Sometimes, that heavily includes racism.

I know you do not want to racially profile people, but for safety it may be necessary. You're handling racism all wrong, you're not magically a bigot for using common sense. It varies by EVERY neighborhood, but it goes both ways depending on the part of the country you're in. For example, black people might have to assume all whites are bigots just for their safety in some parts of the country. You happen to be in the part where you're just going to need to have a little bit of edge against blacks you don't know. Is it wrong you have to racially profile? Yes. Does it make you a bigot? Nope.

You know what does make you a bigot? Thinking blacks are the way they are because of genetics. These negative qualities, they're definitely inherited by their families they have descended from. However, they did not inherited these negative qualities through genetics, black people are not naturally more criminal or dangerous. True bigots think otherwise. Bigots think ALL blacks are problem people and think it is because of their race rather than their social class. What you need to do is look at a poor person and ask yourself: do I think this individual is the type to put me in danger? If they're poor, probably. If they're black, probably. I don't know your neighborhood. Where I'm at, criminals come in all shades of colors so I gotta be a bit careful around all races. However, this isn't true in ALL neighborhoods. Sometimes, there is such a thing as black communities.

To enlighten you with a certain level of perspective, these black communities are precisely the problem. When you have slaves and you're no longer legally allowed to keep them, what do you do? You let them go, you guess. If you want them to be successful in society, what do you do? You rehabilitate them. If you're a slaver, would you want them to be successful? No, there is a small chance it's proof these individuals are more fit with slavery, in fact this would prove they NEED slavery. So you let them go. Now these primitives that are absolutely different from the rest of the human race are aimlessly trying to human in a society they were not raised in nor taught how to be successful in, on top of it they're in a society that has an unfavorable bias towards them. On a scale of 1-10, how successful do you think they're gonna be? Correct, they're off the scale at a terrible 0. There is not a whole lot of exceptions, like they got a lot of jobs as maids and stuff. You know, stuff slaves are genetically designed for.

So, here you are, you got a bunch of blacks running around in a society that is pushing them away and not teaching them how to cope in the world, surely they'll get better, right? Well, naturally they would, except we decided to make things complicated. We decided to create black ghettos to keep these natural born criminals in their own areas away from us self victimizing white people. So, yeah, here you are with otherwise perfectly functioning normal people, all they needed was some rehabilitation to be successful, but instead we not only gave them no rehabilitation to help them be successful but we also distanced them from us "normal" people that any chance of learning how to cope with our society is slim. They don't get to watch us, learn from us, or anything. No, these people get to be in a society filled with equally lost people, time passing by.

The results? Well, bitterness, hatred, various survival skills typically associated with criminal activity, all of that is passed down. Why not wealth being passed down? Well, your parents are required to have wealth in order to pass down to you, but you get that shitty ass ghetto house though in that black neighborhood where you belong, that's always cool, except you got a lot of back taxes to pay. What about anything else, did you get any meaningful lessons when raised by your parents? Nah, the blind leading the blind is a metaphor highly relevant here. All the black people that were something special slowly leaves the neighborhoods and leaves you suckers behind. It cannot possibly be your fault though, you tried. Clearly, it's the white people's fault, that is a historic fact, why not a modern one as well?

You do not have to racially profile if you don't want to. You can always just be absolutely safe, absolutely careful. Some of us do because we understand that statistics don't lie. These statistics are very bad though, they do not co-align well with our progressive bias that is anti-racial influenced beliefs. However, data does not lie. The best thing you can do is use the data, but understand why it's true. The full truth is absolutely complicated, I over simplified it. There is also conspiracies such as prisons wanting more prisoners so they made laws in order to specifically target blacks (as well Hispanics!) or even the media preaching a specific role to blacks to maintain their negative aspects of their very unique sub-culture.

However, knowing all of this and using for you're safety, you're not suddenly a bigot or a racist. It's not anymore racist than a black person keeping their guard up in an all white neighborhood in the south full of confederate flags. Not all people that are obsessed with confederate flags are racist, but you bet your ass a lot of them are. As a black person, even if it's wrong to say it's white people in general, you gotta do what keeps you safe and that's keep your guard up.

tl;dr: There is absolutely nothing wrong with racially profiling people if the community calls it for internal defensive purposes. If you're not actively inflecting judgement, you're just keeping your guard up, you're harming nobody. As far as racism is concerned, there's a huge difference with believing blacks are dangerous because of their genetics than saying there is a lot of low class blacks in your area and they're consistently proving to be dangerous. You know not all blacks are like that, but you need to also know that your area there is a lot that are.

Stay safe, continue to be open minded, but do not fall too far into the politically correct minded spectrum. Race is a very complex subject, we as a part of society, and all types of societies, made it even more complicated. We as humans naturally wish to create smaller tribes for ourselves as well single out smaller groups as our enemies. One of the greatest filters we came up with was skin color (though, surprisingly, this is fairly new! It used to be nationalities!). With that said, even if you do not wish to do it, sometimes others will against you. Nothing wrong acknowledging it as a risk and nothing wrong with subscribing to consistent experiences or data for your personal safety as long you don't use it to negative impact the lives of others whom are potentially innocent. Racial profiling is only wrong with police officers because they have the power to ruin lives that are innocent, they do not racially profile by watching blacks but by stopping them and their daily tasks to look for something wrong. THAT is wrong, not understanding there is a lot of bottom class people of specific races in your area that have members within that community that are consistently dangerous.

A common trait to be wary of... Perhaps shady posture/body language? I mean, a 'hood' outfit instantly makes me wary, too. You'll rarely be attacked by somebody in a suit, after all.

Is it possible for you to accept this as an unfortunate coincidence? For what it's worth, the few physical altercations I've witnessed or been involved in (also in cosmopolitan downtown areas) have all involved white perpetrators. Perhaps the truth of urban violence lies somewhere between our experiences?

Similar to another comment, I'm going to make a long argument here. Also, no one has mentioned education (A key reason in the behaviour you see)

First thing is to define racism, Racism is the belief that one race is intrinsically better than another.

Another thing is to understand the history behind Black people in America. Keep in mind that they were largely slaves periods before. And while they gained many rights during the abolishment of slavery movement, they had on average a lower socioeconomic status and it was not easy to allow their children or themselves to get a good education. Not only do they often lack proper education (It is changing, but the effect will only truly be expressed when the generation that receives proper education grows up), they are often financially struggling, leading to desperation. These factors and several others create a more statistically likely chance that Black people will assult/harm you.

Although this may sound stereotypical/racist, it is important that stereotypes usually stem from a kernel of truth. Not only this, but as explained above it is not due to the fact that Black people are intrinsically more likely to commit more crimes, it is a combination of factors inluding their financial struggles and lack of education that happened because of slavery and discrimination.

If Black people had the same socioeconomic status + education as White people, they wouldn't commit as many crimes.

tl;dr : Black people may be more likely to commit crimes, but it is not because they are Black, but because of their history in America, which led to their socioeconomic status and differences in education.

Posted in a respknse below, thought you should read...

What you are doing is placing blame, not on the person for their actions but on the society they live in. This is dangerous and gives people free passes.

People know right and wrong and can make the choice.

Im on mobile, so you can check it out. FBI crime stats show that black males (~8% of the population) contribute more than half of all violent crime. Let that sink in.

There are more white people in the same, poor, economic status as these black people that you shift blame away from and they get caught too and they get caught the same way. Its just that they dont do violent crime as much. Simple as that.

Its not being racist, its a fact that you are more likely to be assaulted by a black male than ANY other race combined. I beleive second is white, then mexican.

I beleive a fix to this is the "let them starve" ideology. Sure, itll suck at first, but as the years go by and people, all people not just black, realize that there arent social wellfare programs to support them, theyll strive to succeed more. If people can come over seas, with no money and cant speak english, and start a successful business, why cant theae black men do the same with all the government assistance they are given?

Thinking about it, though, this strong leaning to violence is a black race specific deal wjen 8% does over 50%. Thats a large disparity. Why does a whole nation (its the black race around the world, where they are prominent too) of this one race commit so much violent crime?

You're probably more guarded around men than women at 3am on an empty street. That's profiling, but is that wrong?

You've got to protect yourself and stop giving into this political correctness bullshit. I live in NYC, and every single random unprovoked altercation that I can recall being the brunt of or witnessing was caused by a shabby looking black person. I was mugged in Stockholm at knifepoint by two teenagers who looked like middle eastern immigrants. In Europe there is a fuck ton of sexual assault happening at the hands of Muslim middle eastern and north African immigrants.

If one group is disproportionally committing a large percentage of unprovoked random crimes, then you should be extra careful. This isn't a fucking video game, this is real life, and the consequences are real. There's no sense in denying reality and jeopardizing your life in the name of political correctness. Like you said, it's not a race thing, it's a socioeconomic thing (or cultural thing with regards to the Muslims in Europe).

If it makes you feel any better, the poor socioeconomic status and incubation of violent ghettos of the black community is largely the responsibility of white men of past generations. Rather than trying to convince ourselves that all races are equally violent, we should acknowledge problems where they exist and seek to solve them. Otherwise you end up with the shitshow that's going on in Europe.

Logically you must know that even if the majority of crimes were committed by black people, that still doesn't mean that majority of black people commit crimes.

Also even in that scenario you could still be attacked by a non-black person, and focusing your attention on the actions of black people around you in the street might blind you to someone truly dangerous, after all our brain can only process so much.

Your brain will always try to find a pattern, if all the times you were attacked the attackers were using Nikes you might start to look at people's shoes. There really isn't a pattern, you can be attacked by a black man in a suit or a white woman in high heels. A better alternative would be to try to stay alert of your surroundings, and pay closer attention to people near you independent of race/sex/age, focusing on only a select group of people will prevent you from spotting a treat from someone outside that group.

I think one's rationality causes one to behave in a certain manner rather than their race. Look at it this way, does a person behave in a certain manner just because of the way they look? Probably not. There are a lot of motivations behind this kind of behaviour - frustration, socioeconomic conditions, insecurities, etc.

I'm a brown guy who lived in a piss poor city during my uni years. I was always heckled by white dudes when I just walked past them. It got to a point where I would take longer routes to avoid them. Now should I do this every time I see a white person?

Now I work for a bank, so every time someone calls in and I see how little money they have and realize they're white, should I treat them differently because I have had negative experiences with poor white people? Truth is people are just people. There are going to be shitheads of all races.

You are going to have to fight your brain's categorization process. We are truly hard wired to like people similar to us, and question those different. It's not just people, but our pets, hobbies, and everything else. Our brains operate off stereotype. You have to fight it with logic.

Things that happened irrelevant of who attacked you: your situational awareness was low enough to the point of you becoming a target. High crime areas, usually related to gang activity, population density, and socio-economic state, have a much bigger driving force on getting attacked than anything else. Lastly, you had no way to defend yourself. I suggest either self defense training, martial arts, or a concealed weapon.

Like so many others, I think the answer is just in the socio-economic side of this.

A randomly selected white person is less likely to assault you (anybody in general) than a randomly selected black person. The proportion of "assaulters" is lower in the set of all white people than in the set of all black people.

But if you took the set of all people in a low socio-economic class (poor, unrepresented in government, little education, unemployed, etc)... and partitioned it by ethnicity, then the proportion of "assaulters" would probably be equal across each ethnic subset.

I just finished a math and statistics course so I'm approaching this with a super formal perspective.

I know this thread is change my view but the statistics agree with you. http://www.dailywire.com/news/7441/7-statistics-you-need-know-about-black-black-crime-aaron-bandler Now I'm not sure the how credible this website or it's sources are but if they are indeed accurate black people are disproportionately responsible for violent crime in relation to total population. Even more so in big cities such as the one you are from. Now whether that's because there's a disproportionate number of black people in lower income areas that influence criminal behavior or is simply the culture in certain areas, I don't know. Just looking at the facts here.

The short and simple is how many time have you walked by black people and absolutely nothing happened? My guess is that there have been significantly more times that has occured than you being attacked by a black guy.

It is unfortunate and yes, some black guys are thugs, but the vast majority are just trying to shop, get to the store, pay their bills, etc.

A few months ago I had a Vietnamese dude try to rob me. I was much larger so when I bowed up he backed down.

Rather than race, look at other indicators. I guarantee there were other traits to then that they shared aside from being black.

It's you. Could be the way you carry yourself, how you dress, your physical stature... But out of all the people your assailants could have victimized, they chose you. Perhaps stop worrying about who you should fear and figure out why they don't fear and respect you enough to not mess with you?

I'm on the same boat. I live in Australia and since primary school I've been treated quite badly by the natives, who are black. I now always avoid them if I'm in public and I'm not ashamed of it. It's statistically shown that as a group, they are not a healthy population. I'm not racist and I give all aborigines a slate clean enough to have a relationship with. But I will and have crossed the road when I see a group of them on the footpath and that is doing them no harm.

Your overthinking this way to hard.Your clearly not a racist, your concern and over analysis of the circumstances make that clear. You get nervous for making the assuming that they are going to rob you, the same way that the robbers assumed you were out of your element and worth robbing. It has happened multiple times, worry more about not getting mugged than somebody thinking your worried about getting mugged.

I would think that the thing that makes people more violent isn't really ethnicity, it's living conditions. Most often, it has to do with a person's economic status. Unfortunately, we still live in a time where African Americans are on the whole more disposed to being poor. This makes it seem from an outside perspective that blacks are more violent than other races.

Well, it's not me personally changing your view, but I suggest learning about the local history of your city, and its black community. Also worth some effort is talking to or attending the meetings of community organizations. It can help to develop more of a sense of community and a greater picture of the place where you feel endangered by crime.

Is it impossible to not be racist in all the ways that are relevant and impersonal (like job interviews, trials, voting etc) but still just avoid/be wary of black people personally in the streets?

I know about implicit bias and what not but the reality is the crime stats for certain minority groups is disproportionate and you might be better off preemptively distancing yourself from some people.

My hypothesis, unproven:

1. That family structure, particular no father, is a bigger predictor of future violence in boys/men than race. Same with future poverty.

2. That being born into poverty is a bigger predictor of future violence than race, but family structure is more important and a better predictor.

Also, don't forget that you are a victim of confirmation bias here. Just because you are attacked exclusively by Blacks, doesn't mean that the typical Black person you meet has substantially different values from you, or is dangerous.

If you are in a major city, you should avoid pretty much everyone after dark, especially people of lower socioeconomic status, and find out where not to go.

Are you also scared of men? Because I'm willing to bet that all the instances of you being assaulted were by men.

Go walk down some poor streets in a white area. You can get attacked there too to balance things out.

Are you okay?

I think criminality has been attributed to single motherhood, or at least the factor increases. The black community has been unfortunately plagued by this (in not sure but I think by percent) moreso than the white community. I've seen nothing to lead me to believe both white and black would either have a higher criminality of put in the same socioeconomic standards. So it's probably not race "related" (causal). Having said that we seem to be glorifying gang culture in the 21st century and that had also affected the black community far more than the white community (black on black vs white on white crime)

It's definitely tied to culture for alot of people.

Sounds like you're an easy target. You getting attacked has nothing to do with the attackers race and everything to do with you looking like an easy victim. Fix your posture, walk with confidence, go to the gym or take some bjj classes and you'll be fine. Stop blaming others for your shortcomings.

Do you have a link?

Are you poor?