1.5 Million Missing Black Men • Hacker News Board

Re: 1.5 Million Missing Black Men

#31

Post by waterlesscloud » Mon, Apr 20, 2015, 7:24 PM UTC

Someone1234 wrote: post #18

dccoolgai wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This dynamic has always frightened me about China's "one child" generation coming of age. Instead of a group of disaffected Jihadists, you have a large and influential political force in an increasingly belligerent and powerful nation.

> increasingly belligerent I'd argue that China's belligerence is lower now than it has been. They've moved from a very communist that strongly distrusted and arguably even hated the West, to a semi-capitalist one who mostly just wants to compete with the West (and makes oodles of $$$ selling to us). The US has been drum-beating against China a lot recently, but frankly that seems more about the US losing in the "tra…

Their increased activity in the South China Sea is a counterpoint to that. I don't know about belligerence, exactly, but they're certainly being more assertive about some aggressive territorial claims.

Re: 1.5 Million Missing Black Men

#32

Post by hn_ » Mon, Apr 20, 2015, 7:27 PM UTC

yummyfajitas wrote: post #17

The black women left behind find that potential partners of the same race are scarce,...The imbalance has also forced women to rely on themselves — often alone... There is a pretty obvious solution to this problem which has been legal since 1967. It works well and the babies come out really cute. Weird how the NYT glosses that over...

They weren't glossing over it.

The majority of people (black and otherwise) look for romantic partners that are much like themselves. That means same race, same ethnicity, same socioeconomic status, same religion, same sort of background (upbringing, culture, values, etc.). There are conscious and subconscious and cultural reasons why it may be desirable for people to do this and it is pretty socially acceptable to only date within your own race (and religion... etc.). Even just mere proximity leads to same race relationships.

The article was specifically speaking about black women who are looking in the dating pool for a black partner (which is probably the majority of black woman) not to advocate black women look elsewhere for partners.

Re: 1.5 Million Missing Black Men

#33

Post by hemantv » Mon, Apr 20, 2015, 7:27 PM UTC

dmix wrote: post #13

> The black women left behind find that potential partners of the same race are scarce, while men, who face an abundant supply of potential mates, don’t need to compete as hard to find one. As a result, Mr. Charles said, “men seem less likely to commit to romantic relationships, or to work hard to maintain them.” Interesting, I never thought about this side-effect of mass incarceration. Another aggravating factor in…

I think similar dynamics applies in India too. It has been changing a lot in recent time.

Re: 1.5 Million Missing Black Men

#34

Post by 2mur » Mon, Apr 20, 2015, 7:27 PM UTC

Unbelievably sad.

This is your drug war success.

Re: 1.5 Million Missing Black Men

#35

Post by ggchappell » Mon, Apr 20, 2015, 7:28 PM UTC

dccoolgai wrote: post #16

dmix wrote: post #13

> The black women left behind find that potential partners of the same race are scarce, while men, who face an abundant supply of potential mates, don’t need to compete as hard to find one. As a result, Mr. Charles said, “men seem less likely to commit to romantic relationships, or to work hard to maintain them.” Interesting, I never thought about this side-effect of mass incarceration. Another aggravating factor in…

This dynamic has always frightened me about China's "one child" generation coming of age. Instead of a group of disaffected Jihadists, you have a large and influential political force in an increasingly belligerent and powerful nation.

Except they're not "coming of age"; they already have. Enforcement of the one-child policy started in 1980. The first children born under it are turning 35 these days.

I think your worry is a very reasonable one, but it has not become a reality. I wonder why not.

Re: 1.5 Million Missing Black Men

#36

Post by chaostheory » Mon, Apr 20, 2015, 7:30 PM UTC

dataker wrote: post #19

Will this have an effect on U.S diversity ? In a way, it may foster more interracial relationships on affected areas

I can't find the study to cite, but if I remember correctly an old study found that while most males of all ethnicities are open to relationships with females of different ethnicities given attractive qualities are sufficient (I could be wrong but only physical attraction was measured in this study); they found that most females tend to only go for males within their own ethnic group. The exception was Asian women with Caucasian men. Maybe if this trend continues, it will change for African American women as well (though for that past several years, there have been similar articles like this concerning African American relationships)?

Re: 1.5 Million Missing Black Men

#37

Post by megaman22 » Mon, Apr 20, 2015, 7:32 PM UTC

Dirlewanger wrote: post #22

Someone1234 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> increasingly belligerent I'd argue that China's belligerence is lower now than it has been. They've moved from a very communist that strongly distrusted and arguably even hated the West, to a semi-capitalist one who mostly just wants to compete with the West (and makes oodles of $$$ selling to us). The US has been drum-beating against China a lot recently, but frankly that seems more about the US losing in the "tra…

I think (may not be) he's talking about the fact that China's male-to-female ratio is just under 1.2, which is insane for a country their size. Lots and lots of single unhappy men in a society where one is pressured to marry ASAP does not make for a happy society.

It's not been a good look for China historically either. Particularly around the fall of the Ming dynasty, there was a large male-female imbalance, and low and behold, in some of the places where that ratio was worst, there were some of the most destructive of the peasant rebellions.

Re: 1.5 Million Missing Black Men

#38

Post by Moshe_Silnorin » Mon, Apr 20, 2015, 7:32 PM UTC

hn_ wrote: post #32

yummyfajitas wrote: post #17

The black women left behind find that potential partners of the same race are scarce,...The imbalance has also forced women to rely on themselves — often alone... There is a pretty obvious solution to this problem which has been legal since 1967. It works well and the babies come out really cute. Weird how the NYT glosses that over...

They weren't glossing over it. The majority of people (black and otherwise) look for romantic partners that are much like themselves. That means same race, same ethnicity, same socioeconomic status, same religion, same sort of background (upbringing, culture, values, etc.). There are conscious and subconscious and cultural reasons why it may be desirable for people to do this and it is pretty socially acceptable to o…

>The majority of people (black and otherwise) look for romantic partners that are much like themselves.

This doesn't seem to be the case in Canada. My sister is married to an Indian fellow. My girlfriend was born in Xiamen. During high school a huge percentage of relationships were mixed race. Canada is a melting pot and it seems to work well.

Re: 1.5 Million Missing Black Men

#39

Post by soheil » Mon, Apr 20, 2015, 7:33 PM UTC

dmix wrote: post #13

> The black women left behind find that potential partners of the same race are scarce, while men, who face an abundant supply of potential mates, don’t need to compete as hard to find one. As a result, Mr. Charles said, “men seem less likely to commit to romantic relationships, or to work hard to maintain them.” Interesting, I never thought about this side-effect of mass incarceration. Another aggravating factor in…

How does this belong in HN? And have you looked at what those countries been put through by us? It's easy to believe media propaganda, but are you doing yourself or the world a favor by willfully ignoring the real geo-political reasons that caused so many crises in those regions?

Re: 1.5 Million Missing Black Men

#40

Post by infruset » Mon, Apr 20, 2015, 7:35 PM UTC

Someone1234 wrote: post #23

yummyfajitas wrote: post #17

The black women left behind find that potential partners of the same race are scarce,...The imbalance has also forced women to rely on themselves — often alone... There is a pretty obvious solution to this problem which has been legal since 1967. It works well and the babies come out really cute. Weird how the NYT glosses that over...

Interracial marriage only works as a "solution" if there were an inverse imbalance in other racial communities to supply the men needed to fulfil the shortfall. It also completely ignores the fact that people in the black communities may not wish to date people from other races. it isn't a breading farm after all, people's choices matter a lot. If black woman want to date a black man, that is completely normal/unders…

You are starting from the assumption that it is normal that people date inside of their "race". This is an assumption that is very often made by Hollywood movies and which I find offensive, all the more because it is self-fulfilling: if you only see people of the same skin color dating one another, you're probably less likely to imagine yourself outside of the norm you perceive.