Where all the African Americans?? lol

[CaramelBombshell]

Yes I hate to say it but where the hell are all the black people? lol

Yes Ive seen them here and there, but I mean SL stereotypes everything

and they have places for EVERYTHING [especially sex lol] So Im wondering

am I just missing it or searching the wrong words for African American hangouts.

I mean I really can't find a place where

the black people hang out at lol Its funny cause it sounds weird when I read it,

but to be honest its annoying not being able to chit chat with black men seeking

black women. Or at least find a place where all the black people go, especially when there's

a million sex places and even places for perverts to have sex with CHILD avatars.

Seriously?

 

I just want to make a point (again) that this is NOT a race thing, so DO NOT take it there. This is a general question. If it make makes you uncomfortable or whatever, stay OUT the conversation and go about your business.

[wiked Anton]

i have met some black people here with black avatars, but i suspect some of those are only black in SL, and maybe even some black people in RL are whiate in SL. I have seem groups in the past pertaining to black master white slave, but you would have to search differant avenues. and i am not sure if the new search is all that good, but try n try........good luck dear.

[Ceka Cianci]

Oo

have you tried looking under interracial instead of black people?

try looking under groups also..

 

[Caitlin Tobias]

---

CaramelBombshell wrote:

Or at least find a place where all the black people go, especially when there's

a million sex places

and even places for perverts to have sex with CHILD avatars.

Seriously?

---

Seriously?

And I may hope you have reported those places?

 

 

 

[Sammantha Koppel]

---

CaramelBombshell wrote:

 

a million sex places and even places for perverts to have sex with CHILD avatars.

Seriously?

---

I've met several black avatars in my time in SL, not on any particular sim.  I don't know if they are black in RL or not.  I don't really care, to be honest. 

What's disturbing is your statement about places where sex with child avatars is allowed.  If you know of such places, I suggest you report them immediately.  Child avatars are not allowed anywhere near sexual activity in SL.

[Ceka Cianci]

---

Sammantha Koppel wrote:

---

CaramelBombshell wrote:

 

a million sex places and even places for perverts to have sex with CHILD avatars.

Seriously?

---

 Child avatars are not allowed anywhere near sexual activity in SL.

---

actually they are allowed to go anywhere any avatar is allowed to go to..they just cannot engage in sexual activity..

the  whole thing about them not being allowed around sex beds and things like that is most times mistaken for the rule that explains about places that promote or use  child avatars and sex beds for advertizing age play..

like those clubs that the Op is talking about that are promoting or advertizing them....

they can be around sex beds and other things like them and even in parcels where people are having sex..they just cannot engage in it in any way..

still if i were a child avatar..i wouldn't go standing next to any sex beds where people are having sex in a bedroom..thats probably asking for trouble..

but if you are in say an alley sim and someone is in the alley and having sex and you are in the same alley just talking to someone else or whatever..a case like that is not against the rules..

 

 

 

[Sammantha Koppel]

I see what you mean after re-reading the policy.  Though it's still a little on the vague side when it comes to proximity.  I do know of several places that don't allow child avatars at all. Clearly, child avatars are not allowed to engage in sexual activity.  Anyone in a child avatar that hangs around others having sex (or vice versa) is asking for trouble. 

 

[Melita Magic]

I've heard of child avs being ARed for being on a nude beach (they shouldn't be there) and I don't know about proximity but voyeurism is a kink and it could be argued they are engaging in that so YES, if you are a child av don't knowingly go near anything X rated in SL. Seems obvious.

I have to wonder if this topic isn't a troll topic. I mean, no black people in SL? Everybody is in SL. And I mean avatars too.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

There are black people in SL, probably more than you think.   As others have said some may or may not be black in RL, and some RL black people have avatars that are not black.  Some don't even have human avatars.  I know a number of them myself, most of whom have told me they were in RL, as I really don't care what color people are and don't ask. To me I like the fact that you can be anything you want and the resulting equality of SL that allows all types of people to intermingle as freely as they choose.  It may even be educational for those that may harbor prejudice in RL to find out their SL friend that they have a lot in common with and been having fun with is black in RL.

In addition to some of the other suggestions you've received, I know there are fraternities and sororities in SL, some of which are extensions of RL black fraternities and sororities, others created just for SL.  You will find them in group search.  You may want to consider joining one.  Other than that, I'd strike up a conversation with other black people you see and just ask.

[CaramelBombshell]

ah okay you guys have made some good points. I shall search intteracl instead of blakc people lol and I totally forgot about the fact that you can be person or anything on SL.

ps. this post is not about a race thing, its just something that I noticed and wanted to speak on.,,

 

 

As for the other OFF TOPIC thing. I have reported places that I saw that allowed child avatars to be sexual. and I think thats weird but thats life yea know theres real life perverts and theres second life perverts. Sucks either way it goes.

 

[Knowl Paine]

It's mostly about money.

If money is the answer for 9 out of 10 questions; what is the one instance where money is not the answer?

 

 

[EatmyBoyShorts]

hmmm.. I think you should try Club Indica, Hip-Hop club, Maui Wowi Club, and Koncrete Jungle.

[Pamela Galli]

I know tons of black avis (I have many black customers) -- an in glancing at profiles I have noticed several groups -- some sorority groups for black women -- and clubs that cater to black avis. I would search groups and ask around there for places to hang out and meet people.

[Storm Clarence]

I think your question is foolish.  People are people - they hang out together.  

[Treasure Ballinger]

*Laughs*  Being black myself in both RL and SL,  I knew exactly what you meant. You want your comfort zone, your peeps.   I'm kind of a loner so don't really 'hang  out' much, but when I do I tend to hang out with members of my different groups, and don't know who is really black in RL and who isn't.  Well sometimes you 'just know'.  This is hard to explain, you probably know what I mean.  .  If you want to IM me inworld, I can give you some LM's but they aren't really hangouts, more like 'venues' FUBU so to speak. 

[Madelaine McMasters]

This is an excellent question Caramel and one I've pondered myself. I can think of several possible explanations for the dearth of black avis in your SL experience. I won't pretend to understand the importance, if any, of a particular explanation, nor do I know if this dearth is real or perceived.

First, as SL allows us to design ourselves, we see both more AND less diversity here. We have furries and tinies, vampires, robots, fairies, all manner of imaginary creatures. Yet we also have very few elderly, overweight or "ugly" avatars. Sadly, might we have disproportionally fewer black avis here because RL blacks choose to present as another skin color? I hope this is not the case, but I don't know. I do know that I've heard many queries for good ethnic skins, suggesting that there is an unmet need for them.

SL affords much greater latitude in selection of living space than RL. You can live in the city, the country, the sky or under a barge in a canal somewhere, all for a cost which pales in comparison to the cost of the computer and internet connection you must have to enter SL in the first place. This eliminates RL income as a major factor in determining where you live in SL, so geographical segregation, and therefore concentration, may be less prevalent.

The ability of venues to target exceptionally narrow ranges of interest, and our ability to travel between them unseen (via TP, rather than walking down the street) may mean that we get far less intermingling than in RL. Once you've found a few popular black hangouts, will you discover many more connections to places with disproportionaly higher black attendance?

Getting back to income, blacks still trail whites and hispanics in broadband adoption, but that gap is now small and closing fast. I hope this means we'll see more black avatars going forward, but this might explain their possible disproportionate under-representation so far. SL still needs a reasonably powerful computer, which may be out of reach for many people. Is it also possible that education and/or culture preselect?

While I hope SL is a place that promotes tolerance and understanding, it also allows people to escape discrimination by conforming in ways that RL prevents. Perhaps SL, rather than being a reflection of RL, is a projection of it?

[Madelaine McMasters]

---

Treasure Ballinger wrote:

*Laughs*  Being black myself in both RL and SL,

 

I knew exactly what you meant. You want your comfort zone, your peeps.

---

LTNS, Treasure!

Yep "You can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the glrl" works in SL too.

;-)

[Treasure Ballinger]

Hiya Madelaine, LTNS indeed.  I am hoping your post isn't true, for the most part; I'd hate to see us thinking something like, 'I can't be white in RL but I can in SL'.  That's a self esteem issue that I hope we're past.  I really don't think it's all that deep.  Statistics show.  (yes I can pony them up if you make me) that whites are numero uno on the welfare rolls, followed by blacks and hispanics. USA stats, can't speak for other places, could be different in other countries.   Simple internet search will show you.  I think we have just as much ability to acquire a computer as anyone else.  Mostly, it's a mindset.  My daughter went to college at Xavier, in New Orleans, a black, Catholic college.   Having been around mostly blacks all her life, that is her comfort zone, and she continued with that in college.  She went to law school at George Washington.  Whole new world out there, and for awhile, she was very uncomfortable, as she learned to live, and deal with, people other than blacks.  Background makes a huge difference in one's preferences.  I can hang out with anybody.   I am educated and eloquent.  I can also speak ebonics along with anyone else, and what I call 'corner talk'.  It's a choice, not a necessity.  It's a comfort zone thing, a letting down of your hair, it feels like, 'whew, I'm home'.  In the business world, you won't see that in me.  It's saved for special social times when I"m with my like-minded.  I think really, that is all this OP meant.   

[Conifer Dada]

On a slight tangent, but maybe relevant.....

One thing I have noticed is quite often people who are RL Japanese, going by their profile, have very European looking avatars, often with blonde or ginger hair.  Nothing wrong with that, it's just an observation.

 

[Madelaine McMasters]

---

Treasure Ballinger wrote:

Hiya Madeline, LTNS indeed.  I am hoping your post isn't true, for the most part; I'd hate to see us thinking something like, 'I can't be white in RL but I can in SL'.  That's a self esteem issue that I hope we're past.  I really don't think it's all that deep.  Statistics show.  (yes I can pony them up if you make me) that whites are numero uno on the welfare rolls, followed by blacks and hispanics. USA stats, can't speak for other places, could be different in other countries.   Simple internet search will show you.  I think we have just as much ability to acquire a computer as anyone else.  Mostly, it's a mindset.  My daughter went to college at Xavier, in New Orleans, a black, Catholic college.   Having been around mostly blacks all her life, that is her comfort zone, and she continued with that in college.  She went to law school at George Washington.  Whole new world out there, and for awhile, she was very uncomfortable, as she learned to live, and deal with, people other than blacks.  Background makes a huge difference in one's preferences.  I can hang out with anybody.   I am educated and eloquent.  I can also speak ebonics along with anyone else, and what I call 'corner talk'.  It's a choice, not a necessity.  It's a comfort zone thing, a letting down of your hair, it feels like, 'whew, I'm home'.  In the business world, you won't see that in me.  It's saved for special social times when I"m with my like-minded.  I think really, that is all this OP meant.   

---

Treasure, I share your hope that it's not true! But Caramel isn't the first to observe a dearth of black avis here. As I said, I don't know if that's true, or just appears so. I think I captured your explanation in one of mine, that people will seek comfy venues and then just pop between them. I too would hate to see us thinking "I can't be white in RL but I can in SL", but a good many of us are already thinking "I can't be pretty in RL, but I can in SL" and "I can't (easily) change my gender in RL, but I can in SL". That said, I think switching ethnicities/cultures here is harder than switching gender or physique.

While whites may outnumber blacks on the welfare rolls, broadband penetration is higher in white/hispanic families, as I mentioned. Money may not be the only factor in determining whether people come here. It would not surprise me to see that the RL demographics of SL users were not representative of RL at large.

[Storm Clarence]

Hello Treasure.  What a wonderful name to see posting to the forum.  I hope you are well. 

[Storm Clarence]

RL has different circumstances.  Most people 'go out' in their community.  Communities, where I live, are ethnic oriented.  I have never said I am going to Harlem to hang out with African Americans tonight.  I have never said I am going to Brooklyn to hang with my Jewish or Spanish friends.  Nor have I ever said I am going to Little Italy tonight to hang with the Italians.

When i go out in my neighborhood I am among every race, creed, and color one can find on this planet.  I have never felt a longing to hang out with just the Irish (you know, one of my own; I am Irish American.)       

 

[Treasure Ballinger]

I KNOW Stormie. I wish I could explain in a way to help u understand the phenomenon on a visceral level, as I do. But I don't know how.

[Storm Clarence]

It is always wonderful to read your words Treasure.  

Some things I will never understand - perhaps because I am not meant to understand them.  But I try. 

[Ellyn Elan]

---

Madelaine McMasters wrote: I too would hate to see us thinking "I can't be white in RL but I can in SL", but a good many of us are already thinking "I can't be pretty in RL, but I can in SL" and "I can't (easily) change my gender in RL, but I can in SL". That said, I think switching ethnicities/cultures here is harder than switching gender or physique.

---

While I found the OP to be strange and somewhat uncomfortable, and left me wondering if it was a troll post, I'm finding some of the conversation surrounding the issue of race/ethnicity in SL to be interesting.

I think you hit upon something here that while some make themselves prettier in SL than they are in RL (will this come as a shock to some? LoL) and that some easily switch genders that it is possibly more difficult to don the mantle of a different race and/or ethnicity. THAT idea makes me uncomfortable, too and I wonder if it should? I suppose it depends on the reason why it might be more difficult.

Speaking personally, I'm a white female in RL and my avatar is a white female. There is no way in heck I could pass myself off as a male in SL (or RL!) for any length of time. I just couldn't. I could probably manage it for a very brief stint but nothing where I carried on friendships. I have thought about creating a black female avatar because I think she'd be gorgeous but I have not because I don't think I could be a black female! I *think* the reason I say this is because my cultural experience is just so white, middle-class, female. But why do I think I could not "be" a black, middle-class, female? That's a difficult and uncomfortable question! Is it an expectation on MY part or fear there would be expectations from OTHERS? I honestly can't say. I don't consider myself prejudiced but pondering this issue makes me question that. Why is it that I can put on a tiny calico teddy bear avatar and be fine with it, or put on a crayon colored skin and be fine with it, but not a male gender part and not a realistic black skin?