I grew up on the outskirts of the 'burbs, in a very white area. My high school of ~3500 had only a handful of students of other races. I was not at all a racist person; I didn't have any negative perceptions of people of other colors and I was actually good friends with one of the black girls in my high school. I remember chiding my mom for being silly when we went places in the city as she would get all up tight when a group of black people would be around (my mom is very sheltered). I worked in the kitchen at a restaurant with a lot of Mexicans and they were part of the reason I worked there for so long- they were very cool people and I enjoyed being around them.
After high school I moved out and lived in a few places before we finally bought a house in a major city. We got a good price on the house and though I feel pretty safe on my block, this definitely isn't the greatest part of the city. We're about 2 miles from a very very bad area (highest crime in the state). But like I mentioned, our area isn't that bad. I walk my dog during the day without fear (definitely wouldn't go out at night alone). It is a VERY racially diverse area though, I would say the majority being white and black, but also a high percentage of Asians live here as well.
I hate to admit it, but the longer I live here, the more prejudiced I find myself becoming. When I walk my dog during the day, I get a LOT of comments from black men on the street/driving by in cars. Not just silly honking, but people hollering out windows, and either implying I'm a prostitute, calling me derogatory female names, telling me he's got something for me (in not such a nice way), etc. These comments are ALWAYS coming from black men (which isn't to say white/Asian men don't ever make these comments but I'm just saying this is MY personal experience). Often at the gas station some person will be just BLARING music out there car- I've never seen a white/Asian do this. Moms screaming obscenities at small children.There have been several fights in the alley- always involving black people. I've had scantily dressed (to put it nicely) teenage girls who were black hitting on my bf right in front of me on the street.
I realize how racist all that sounds, but all I can speak for are my personal experiences, and that's been it living in this neighborhood. I still try to keep an open mind, and I certainly know many many kind, loving, intelligent, caring, etc black people in my community. I work with a couple people who are black that I would gladly follow into battle (as the expression goes), and I also know a LOT of white people who are absolute a-holes and losers. But quite literally, almost every negative experience I've had in my area has been involving black people.
The definition of prejudice from dictionary.com:
1.an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. 2.any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable. 3.unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, esp. of a hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious, or national group.
Based on my personal experiences as well as statistics, which say that black people (specifically, young black men) are something like 8x more likely than whites to commit a crime, is it really prejudiced to feel more anxiety around strange black people in my neighborhood?