Hobbies

Although there's not a direct connection, J. B. Cash's latest column reminded me of something I have noticed many times before: When people are given freedom of association, not only do they naturally segregate socially, they also do so in their leisure interests.


All hobbies and past-times in this country are almost strictly a whites-only thing. Blacks not only don't attend sports events (though the few that do are shown in every crowd shot), they don't collect baseball cards, coins, stamps, comic books, read books and magazines, play fantasy football or chess, join the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, play any recreational sports other than football and basketball, or pursue any other hobbies and outdoor interests of note other than in the most miniscule numbers. The only thing they turn out for in numbers larger than their share of the population is rap concerts. Golfand fishing areother possible exceptions.


The same seems to also be true for hispanics. Asians are the only non-whitepeople that take an interest in some ofthe same things as whites do.


Although eventually we can expect our dictatorial nanny state government to enter this private arena as well when the hobbies don't properly police themselves. I can remember when I collected baseball cards many years ago, there was suddenly a spate of articles in the hobby press complaining about how the value of the cards of white stars was higher than that of comparable black players. Lo and behold, within a matter of a few months, the value of the cards of blacks had magically risen to a much higher level and have stayed there since, vis a vis white players. If that hadn't happened there probably would have been some kind of governmental investigation or regulation to accomplish the same end. But the reality of racial differences is never so obvious asin the wayspeople spend their free time.

You are right about that last statement Don. I wonder why those prices magically went up, or perhaps more importantly, how.

Good point Don. I work in the outdoor equipment industry (hunting/fishing gear) and you rarely see blacks involved in outdoor recreation. It is predominantly a white only (although there is a significant Asian and Hispanic percentage) activity. Hunting and fishing is viewed as a "redneck sport", but most of our customers are middle to upper-middle class whites with good paying jobs from the city. Another interesting point is that in the South, there are a large percentage of blacks that live in rural communities, yet they don't hunt, fish, or camp.

Hard to do all those things from the porch.

Were Im from the asians and latinos fish for food. The asians like to catch carp and the latinos catch bream.

Dining out,going to restaurents seems to be a white thing.In most big cities,the only people you see sitting in restaurents socialising are white.

About 15-20 years ago, you would see articles about the cards of white stars being higher priced than those of black stars. They were the usual breast-beating and wailing about "racism." I suppose you could say that the "managerial class" raised the prices up.


When I drive across the Tennessee River bridge going into Decatur AL, I can see some blacks fishing. A lot of black athletes like to golf. I have read that O.J. Simpson plays golf nearly every day of his life, including a certain Sunday in June 1994.