For White People: A Quick Guide to Having Black Friends

Here’s what, I know it’s awkward sometimes. But there’s no reason it should be. If we just asked the difficult questions without being concerned with how it will look. So White people, this is for you. Here are a three quick things your Black friend(s) are too politically correct to tell you.

All my black friends have a bunch of white friends, and all my white friends have one black friend. -Chris Rock

1. Don’t call us your “Black friend”. It’s actually pretty rude, no matter how true it may be. Along the same lines, we’re not interested in learning about every other Black person you’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. In case you hadn’t noticed by now, Black people are people too. We’re all different, with very different personalities and habits. So just because your Black friend in high school smoked weed, doesn’t mean we all do.

2. Don’t whisper when you say “Black”. If this isn’t the most racist shit. Black is not a bad word. You shouldn’t feel ashamed to say it. If you whisper, cringe or look around to make sure no one will overhear you when you say Black in our company it makes us wonder what you say when we’re not around.

3. Don’t ask us to translate rap lyrics. We don’t know the words to every rap song ever written. I understand that some rap is hard to decipher but it isn’t a code language. If you can’t understand what the hell Gucci Mane is saying, chances are we can’t either. And on the same token (no pun), we aren’t that impressed that you know the words to the latest Rick Ross song. Recite the “Good Times” theme song if you really want to impress. This applies to gang signs and slang also.

There you are, a few things to remember in your interaction with your friends. Results may vary, but not much.