> Oh, to answer your question: if I could become black, I would.
Out of curiosity, what do you see as the pros and cons?
Out of curiosity, what do you see as the pros and cons?
Affirmative action might have been helpful when I was in school, though it's probably irrelevant to my life now.
Most ethnic groups besides whites have secret networks unavailable to white guys. Their quality tends to be lower than more focused networks (random HN reader or random lisp user > random black guy), but they are still useful.
In the future, the prospect of selling to government under the WOB and MOB (woman/minority owned business) quotas might be useful, though I doubt I'll actually get into that sort of business.
Cons: Racial profiling. Since I rarely shop or drive, this isn't much of an issue for me.
More difficult to live in the still-racist parts of the country. Even as a white guy, I'd like to avoid them.
The main reason I answer so readily is that being white isn't a significant part of my identity. So it would take only a very minor perk to make me change.
[1] This only applies to black American women, African women don't seem to have any real problem with white guys.
[edit: genuinely curious why I'm being downmodded.]
This is what I'm wrestling with myself. I feel like it is some kind of wrong to say I would not want to change my race. Yet, while being white is not really part of my identity, it IS a part of my self image, the same as how I am blond. I feel like I would be kind of unsettled if my body image suddenly was radically different from reality.
I also like the physical ramifications of my ethnicity; the blond straight hair, potential for awesome silver hair later, and cool red facial hair. My body build is similar to that of African runners (though MARKEDLY less muscular and fit), so that at least wouldn't be very different.
Now that I think about it, your point about women is pretty valid too, though in my case that would actually be a con. I have met some black women I find extremely attractive, but that is not the mode, and I have never (personally) seen a black man with an asian woman.
All that said, I wouldn't fight a race change. I just don't think I'd seek it out.
My dating pool has effectively been cut down, with an advantage having gone towards black men since there is little or less difficulty with a black man and a white woman.
Having discussions with friends from outside of the US, especially those who live in Africa, have mentioned this exact situation - that African women have no problems dating a white male but blacks in America show little interest.