Running away from acting black, or running away from acting ghetto?

There IS a difference, although this AP article fails to distinguish between the two.

A tall, black lawyer, speaking softly and sitting down quietly to avoid intimidating others? That’s running away from acting too “black.”

Talking softly to offset baggy pants? Being told in business school not to wear earrings? A different story. Do you think much of corporate America likes whites wearing earrings on the job, either? Or that people wouldn’t have a certain opinion of whites wearing “saggy baggies”? Or that it’s just whites who object to blacks wearing them?

I live in a majority-black city, with an even more majority-black public school population … AND a black superintendent. And, he’s stiffened the dress code since he started here three years ago.

Get a clue, white AP writers. Recognize the difference between “acting black” and “acting ghetto.” And report it; don’t smooth over it.

Plus, the story cites a statistic like this:

Black men are 20 percent more likely to die of heart disease than whites, and they have the highest rates of hypertension in the world, according to the National Medical Association.

I’m not disputing the quote. I AM disputing whether or not there is a causal correlation between this statistic and black men allegedly having to play “multiple roles.”

The fact is that white American men themselves have one of the highest hypertension rates and heart disease rates in the world, because of our overabundance of food, lack of exercise and resulting obesity rates. To the degree that black rates are higher, a higher-fat diet and higher rates of smoking are the primary causes.

Now, are these dietary and smoking difference driven by stress? I’d argue likely not. Poorer people of any race are more likely to have a poorer-quality diet, especially one high in fat and refined carbohydrates. That’s minority women, as well as minority men, and that’s Hispanics and American Indians, not just African-Americans. On smoking, there’s less direct correlation, primarily because American Indian smoking rates in the U.S. aren’t that high. But black (and Hispanic) rates are.

Get a clue, white AP writers. Learn logical reasoning and the difference between causal correlations and statistical correlations.