You know, the "joke" among some blacks is that white people smell like wet dogs.  While I wouldn't go so far as to say that I *have* experienced a rather odd aroma coming from caucasians when they are wet.  It's not really an unwashed smell .. just different and distinct.\n\nAt my community pool, they just smell differently than we (my family and I) do.  I smell it, too, when I drop my children off at school on rainy days, as their school is predominantly white.\n\nHaving said that, I want to know if there really IS a chemical difference in the genetical makeup of blacks and whites  (aside from skin color/hair type, etc).   \n\nIs our blood different?  Our sweat glands?  I'm really interested and I don't want anyone to mistake my question for racism.\n\nThanks!
130473
This was first introduced to most Americans in the 1977 airing of "Roots" when an African tribal leader warned his warriors to beware of the white man because he smelled like a wet chicken.  Rarely do you hear this talked about much.  I've been around black folks my entire professional career and I've never heard the wet dog comment before.  I don't have any good explanation at all, but there is a distinctly different smell to blacks and whites when they perspire.  Having played sports my entire life I could shut my eyes and generally tell if I was next to a white or black person perspiring, but I don't know that I would describe as one being better or worse than the other--just different.
36586
Body odors are certainly affected by diet : I once lived on dried fish (the cheapest - shark) and began to have a very strong and disgusting body odor.   Some South Pacific men (Fiji, or Samoa, I think) eat sweet-smelling flowers to improve their b.o.  \nHowever, race also plays a big part.  Dark-skinned people smell strongest, Europeans are about middle and Orientals perhaps least smelly.   Black Africans, whatever they eat, have a strong and (to most people) very disagreeable b.o.\nMany people don't know this because Africans are careful to wash often - and indeed they need to - far oftener and more thoroughly than whites.   This odor-gene will carry over to the children of a mixed black-white union.  Sad, but true.
578226
You are right about some,(white) guy! I am white but it seems only the fat older white guys do disgusting things at their tables! Why is that? My dad, uncle, brother and even my EX husband all did it and farted, belched, talked with their mouths full and even picked their nose, all in a restaurant, they were NOT raised that way! I hate to say this because it makes (us) look bad, but I never saw any (black) men behaving this way! I don't get it!!!!!
13289
Most anthropologists believe "race" is not a meaningful concept.  Skin color mutates and alters rpadily as people move around.  It makes more sense to speak of ethnicity or culture than race.  And from a biological sense, when genes in humans do vary, it is usually due to geography and previaling conditions.  For example, most adult humans are lactose intolerant, but both pale northern Europeans and dark Masai folk can digest lactose.  That's because both groups were into dairying.
257740
I have a theory of my own I have absolutely no way of backing of course.  \n\nCertain people can taste certain chemicals depending on their genetic build.  My theory is that some people can detect certain chemicals within certain foods and others can't due to their genetic makeup, which makes their tastebuds capable of detecting certain chemicals and not detect others, and thus make them like or dislike a particular food.  \n\nIf you can't taste the "yucky" you can't say it's terrible right?  \nThen again, some other person might be able to taste it and not like it...
466274
Yes, Ethiopians are considered Black and have sharp noses and thin lips associated with whites.\n\nHOWEVER, look at the Scottish and their large noses and the myth that only blacks have noses with spread nostrils QUICKLY dissipates.\n\nMost blacks in the West come from WEST Africa and look totally different from East Africans and North Africans, and even South (not the country) Africans.\n\nthe NEGROID race has VAST varieties. \n\nI know, I hate the word negroid too but it illustrates a fact.
115991
I've been with my husband for over 22 years, we've been married for a bit over 18 years. We met our Sophomore year of high school. We have 3 lovely children and a great relationship. I am white, he is black.\n\nFortunately for us, we have no encountered a lot of problems. But I know that the problems are out there, they are just more masked now. We've gotten the disgusting looks, we've heard "under the breath" comments but they don't bother me much. We are content in our skins even if they aren't the same color.\n\nThe only thing that bothers me and it's not a racial thing, even if it may sound like one, is when women get involved with someone of a different race (and this applies to men too) simply because they feel it's a trend. I speak of this because I went to school with several girls who thought it was "neat to mess with a black guy". Right there, you know it's just not something serious. Why would you have to make the distinction of "black guy" (insert any other race in that phrase) you wouldn't say you think it's "neat to mess with a white guy", right? \n\nI feel that if you are interested in someone, go for it. Make the most of your relationship, despite the stares and comments. Keep your chin up and be proud of who you are, of what your relationship is and forget what others think. Good luck.
265765
Why don't you Yahoo Search or Google this because I don't the average person knows what you're getting at. One thing I'm not going to do is to talk about different races, because everyone is the same inside only a little different\noutside. Do you compretend?
631442
I don't know, I have never gone around smelling other peoples saliva, however, I guess that the smell would be influenced by the foods that have been consumed
626552
i agree with you on this subject 100%. i am deffinatly FAR from racist, but you are totally right! if a white person were to shout out im proud to be white than we are looked at as racist. if this racist thing has to do with slavery. many white women/girls were also inslaved during that time. i think everybody shouldd just be happy to be alive than worry about what color their skin is. EVERYBODY is diff. an has their own unique look to them. \n\n-stephanie
101614
Yes, of course, I believe that all man and women have different smells and when ever you find the right one is not because you liek the way they look or the way they talk or anything like that but is because of the way they smell to that specific person, my mom used to say that all the time, our body hair releases that smell, and that's the reason why some people just fall in love with each other without paying attention to appearances and that is also the reason of why some super hot people are still single, because no one has yet find their smell, it may sound a little too ridiculous but that's just the way I see it!!!!
77727
Well, I have been discrminiated against and racially profiled. I am a militray wife and been just about every where and because of my fair skin I have been assumed to be Everything but, black. Because they say I "sound" white. Many people are under the assumption that all black people are "brown skinned". NOT TRUE. we come in different shades. I am mixed with Seminole Indian, African American, German and Irish. Despite of my many mixed nationalities I am abdominatly "Black". But, it's ashame to see that people still use the "N" word even within the black community. But, as soon as a person of a different race says it, it's offending. So, why call eachother that. It is a sticky discussion and can go on for years to come.
202812
OK, first of all, race is all in your head. The differences among members of a so-called "race" are greater than the differences between one so-called race and another. \n\nOn the other hand, racism is very real behavior, even if the differences between races that inspire racism have no scientific basis. In an effort to track the success of government efforts to combat racism, the US federal government has established five official races: \n\n1) American Indian or Alaskan Native\n2) Asian\n3) Black or African American\n4) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, \n5) White \n\nThe US federal government also recognizes two official ethnicities: \n\nA) Hispanic or Latino\nB) Not Hispanic or Latino\n\nThe definititions for these groups are found in the first link listed below in the "Sources" section. \n\nNow, if you ask people who they are, they either have a tough time putting themselves in these categories, or they don't. Folks in Hawaii often have such complex backgrounds (Portuguese-Hawaiian-Chinese, for instance), that they just shrug and check a box. If you ask them about it, they might say, "It's just a form. It doesn't have anything to do with who I am." On the other hand, children with one Black parent and one White parent find this kind of form much more difficult. \n\nVery often though, even the folks who are pretty sure they belong to just one of these groups are wrong. Recent DNA research suggests that about one-third of White Americans have some fairly recent African ancestry. The Black population in the US seems to have an even greater degree of European and African ancestry. One study looked for known genes with an African origin in the DNA of Black individuals in the US and found none of them in about 5.5% of their sample of that population. \n\nEach of the categories you list has people whose ancestors came from many different countries. The best way to tell who is what is to ask each individual. The US government used to give pictures of eye and nose shape to its census workers to help them tell the difference among races, which is a ridiculous approach. It is much simpler and accurate to merely ask the person.  That's the best truth you will ever get.
200074
Trust me on this one...while attending a university, I noticed that the Indians stunk bad with BO...they don't use deodorant whatsoever...plus, some of the girls I saw had afro puffs in their armpits....EWWW!!
209719
No, it has been my experience that people will not tell you that you smell.  They find it akward, so they will dicuss it behind your back instead.  Best way to fight that...shower all the time and always smell fresh.  Only a real friend will tell you that you have BO!
451352
It is a throwback to the bad, old days when they used to claim that if someone has so much as a drop of black blood, they were black.  Yes, I think it's racist, but it's become so widely accepted that I think people have forgotten about that - until someone like you poses the question.\n\nWouldn't it be nice if we didn't think in those terms at all?
549122
Yes, I know what you mean.  I don't think everyone is capable of smelling death, but I am.  It happened when my aunt was very sick many years ago.  I could smell death on her for a couple of days before it happened.  It happened again recently when my sister was sick in the hospital.  I don't tell anyone, but they always wonder why I don't like to visit people who are in the hospital and close to death.