I’ve been doing studies on African amercian’s and slavery and found out something shocking…

Question

I’ve been so tired of hearing Whites and other races nag and complain about how blacks act. So I wanted to do research on the topic to see what I could come up with and the facts are very alarming. The information that I’ve discovered will hopefully open a lot of eyes and make people think before they judge a certain group. I have found out that the reason a lot of African Americans and black’s so called “act” the way they do is a form of hypertension. Many forms of hypertension are brought on by salt intakes in your body either from what you have consumed or through your genes meaning what your grandparents consumed. African’s were only brought over to American to be slave if they were able to make the long voyage. They were licked before boarding the ship by the slave traders to see if they were salty. Tasting salty meant they retained salt which means they were able to make the long trip without getting dehydrated. Once brought on bored and once they made it to American, slaves were only given the slops and left over foods. The worst part of the meats, vegetables and flours. If given any food for days. Already having high salt counts and given horrible foods for hundreds of years had an effect on their bodies which caused that bad health to become genetic. So all this not only effects blacks health but also how they act. So what is your opinion of all this?

Answer 1

So you are saying that hundreds of years of hypertension affected black people's personalities? It is hard to believe because not all black people have the same personality. There are some mellow calm ones and there are loud, outgoing in your face ones and everything inbetween. how does it explain the array of different personalities, or does this explain the personalities of only the loud in your face ones? There had to be so many other factors.

Answer 2

This concept is nothing new. I call it a concept because it is not a theory, at least not yet. At best a weak hypothesis. What needs to happen is a study comparing groups of African Americans. One group would be an educated upper class group of highly successful blacks, another group would be middle class blacks and the final group would be impoverished lower class blacks (Those who would be more inclined to "act" whatever way you are talking about). One important factor would be to make sure that all groups are predominantly African genetically, not having any parents, grandparents, etc who were of any other race. Once each group is tested for salt content, we would then be able to compare and see what differences there may or may not be. If the lower class blacks had a significantly higher salt content, and the middle class blacks had a moderate salt content, and the upper class blacks had a fairly low salt content, then this hypothesis may be worth some further testing and evaluation. Of course diet, exercise and other environmental factors will have to be measured and taken into account, etc. Another key part of this whole thing is figuring out if there's a legitimate link between hypertension and the behavior you speak of. So, suffice to say, a lot of work needs to happen here to make this a legitimate argument.

I believe those who believe in this whole salt/behavior concept need to be careful. Though it has enough merit for further study, more evidence is required for it to be taken seriously. Until that happens, most people will view those who have bought into it as trying to make excuses for simple bad behavior that could be corrected with proper parenting and the teaching of good morals.

Answer 3

I think that we cannot blame food for social problems.

Whites (and many blacks) complain about behavior because behavior is changeable. In the 50's black Americans were not acting the way they do now. If our behavior was based only on biological functions due to a genetic predestination to hypertension, we would not have soo many successful blacks whom still have high blood pressure and enjoy our salty foods.

To be completely honest, I am ready for the  black community to take responsibility for themselves. We can blame slavery so much and yes it has inhibited us is many ways however we will never get up from where we are until we take ourselves into account and stop blaming everything.

edit- Are you not concerned that this reseach was done my MD's and not physiologists??

btw, a single study means nothing to causation. Until it is repeated several (often at least 100) times, it will not be considered empirical. Studies like this are correlational at best and are often misleading.

Answer 4

uh well someone notices we suffered and if white people hate us so much then why did they pull us out of africa? i dont respect u using us as a 'project' you should pay attention in school  

Answer 5

i have no opinion on this

i am white, i have no problem with blacks or the way they act

i mean, i know slavery was a terrible thing, but its over now, and i cant turn back time.

Answer 6

Thanks for your observation. I read the article. It is interesting. Did not the bible say to be the salt of the earth or something. I know exactly what he meant now. Thanks.

Answer 7

Well it's very interesting that you bring this to the attention of everyone. And I applauded you for actually taking the time to get research and understand the people or behaviors that may be misunderstood by others. But as a black woman, I'm going to have to politely disagree with your theory (all though it is an honest attempt at trying to understand my people).

African Americans must understand that "the way things are" doesn't have to necessarily "just be". For example, diabetes, cancer, alcoholism, and poor eye sight to name a few are all conditions that runs rapid in my family (on both my mother and fathers side). Throw in a mixture of obesity and you can bake a cake of hypertension and heart attack for sure. But, like every other group of people, we have a choice to either let these things be our fate, or do something about it.

I myself have to wage a constant battle with the scale, but I do what I can to reduce my sugar and salt intake, count calories, eat good carbs, and get in the gym on a regular. On the other hand I have some rather large women and men in my family who seem as though they’re just waiting for the day that their heart attack surprise arrives. Their excuse is that “it happened to everyone else, so it’s bound to happen to me”; again, it doesn’t have to be that way. I even get ridiculed by most of them for trying to lose weight and stay in shape, all because they chose not too. So there has to come a time when most black people realize that we have to take our own mental and physical health, finances, career options, and personal property ownership into our own hands. We can only blame the horrors of our past for so long. The slaves of yesterday had no choice or say in their diet, where they lived, or what they owned. But the modern day “slave” is only a slave in his/her mind. No one is “licking” us anymore, No one is loading us up on ships and selling us off like live stock. But many of us are “selling out” to the stereotypes and images that we allow others to create of us.

Again, I thank you and applaud you for taking the time to try and understand what others may think, or feel go through before judging.

Answer 8

We know that certain conditions are inherited, so it's possible that a tendency toward hypertension is handed down from African ancestors. But nothing I saw in the study in your link suggests a link between hypertension and behavior. And it's really, really hard to imagine (and find credible) that slave traders went around l*****g slaves - people that they considered to be little more than animals - to find out if they tasted salty. That would be akin to you smelling dogs' butts to find which one would make a good pet.  

Answer 9

I'm sorry, but I find that hard to believe. IMO, it's just an excuse. What about the black Hispanics in South America. I know many of them complaining about how blacks in America act and they virtually went through the same thing with slavery (slavery in Brazil actually lasted longer). They even had salt put in their wounds. If I act like a fool I'm not gonna blame "hypertension". I'd be responsible for my acts. In my opinion, this just gives in to what other races are talking about: Blacks not taking responsible for something they do. They're trying to blame something or someone.

And this is coming from a Puerto-Rican, Black, German and English women female.