[runarberg]

From my experience YES!

Before I start, I'd like to note that I am a young white, non-handicapped male.

Most of my participation in the shared economy comes from hitchhiking, and I've done a lot of it. Only once has a car stopped that had a black passenger in it. I don't think that black people are racist towards white hitchhikers, but I think there is a deep barrier of trust at issue. Black people do experience racism at so many levels of society, that when it comes to shearing excess resource with some white opportunists.. HELL NO!, I wouldn't do it.

I'm not saying that black drivers are racist towards white hitchhikers. I'm trying to demonstrate that there is a huge racial gap in our societal battery. White people are privilege enough to be able to trust a fellow citizen. Normally, experience tells black people not to.

ps. The same can be said about women, handicapped, and the homeless. But definitely the case of black discrimination is one of the most severe there.

pps. The pattern I described seems to brake with anarchist and charity groups. I've done food-not-bombs, homes-not-jails, occupy, and there blacks, whites, women, etc. participate together in a shared ecosystem. I wonder why?

[richardjordan]

I think there's an alternative explanation to your anecdotal suggestion black drivers don't pick up white hitch-hikers. Picking up hitch-hikers is inherently risky. Given that in any altercation or conflict the establishment and authorities will pretty much always view the black participant with suspicion and the white participant with favor, as experienced on a regular basis in day-to-day life by said driver, I think caution in not putting themselves in such a situation is warranted.

[jack-r-abbit]

It is kind of interesting to hear it explained in that way. Because it also sounds like a stereotype. Black driver has experienced, day-to-day, that white people have mistreated him and no longer trusts them and thus will not put himself into that situation by picking up white hitch-hikers. My step mother was a bit racist. It sickened me. But my dad would justify by explaining that she grew up in a bad area and she was often mistreated by her black peers. It still made no sense to me as a young teen. But that is almost exactly what you describe in the black driver not picking up white hitch-hikers. How many experiences like that does one need to have to make it socially acceptable to do that?

[runarberg]

I second that