Get Out, a psychological horror film written and directed by Jordan Peele, released in 2017, features a narrative in which the main character, Chris, a young Black photographer, navigates the awkwardness of dating Rose, a White woman, and meeting her parents. It’s like a guess-who’s-coming-to-dinner format, with a dark twist, as he discovers his girlfriend, someone who seemed to genuinely care about him, had a habit of luring Black men, and even some women, to their family’s rural home. Once subdued, they would perform a surgical transplant, allowing wealthy White people to inhabit their bodies while suppressing their conscious minds. While fictional, the film preyed upon the racial anxiety within American society and the awkwardness of being a Black person in white-dominated spaces.

Even outside the fictional world Jordan Peele created, which takes the fear and anxiety of Black people in white spaces to the extreme, the discomfort captured in the film is rooted in real experiences of Black people. Those who tiptoe around the topic of race often overlook the effects of racism. Yet, there are clear differences in how people interact with members of other racial groups. A Stanford study found that while Black people want to feel understood by their friends regardless of their race, they are less likely to share “race-related experiences” with White people (Sanchez et al., 2022). Since some believe it’s rude or impolite to mention race, they want to avoid rocking the boat and potentially capsizing a friendship group, so they’re willing to forgo the topic altogether. But this evasion perpetuates the very division they hope to eliminate.

Stereotypes about Black people are more commonly endorsed by those who do not have personal experiences with them. With this in mind, one could argue that interracial relationships have the potential to chip away at racist attitudes and beliefs that thrive in their absence. Still, exposure alone cannot guarantee conditions improve, in part because White people often see their Black friends or colleagues as an exception to the rule, rather than a direct challenge to negative presumptions about Black people. Also, Black people often face ridicule for their differences when they’re in the minority. In the 1996 film Craft, for instance, Rochelle, a character played by Rachel True, the only Black member of their teenage witch coven, endured racist bullying from a White student, Laura Lizzie, who mocked her hair texture by comparing it to pubic hair. Yet, few seemed to realize that the scene was inspired by real experiences.

Since the actress Rachel True attended an all-white public school, she was well positioned to highlight the awkwardness of that dynamic, helping the film move beyond general problems to those specific to Black teenage girls. While the writers originally envisioned the conflict centering around one student making fun of another for struggling with bulimia, an eating disorder, True pushed for the inclusion of a uniquely Black experience, adding a layer of verisimilitude to the film. In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, the actress noted this scene was “a great way to exorcise those demons,” adding that “it wasn’t the first time someone called my hair pubic hair.” Confronting the discrimination Black students endure is essential to addressing harmful, anti-social behaviors. Yet, some are hesitant to discuss this problem at all.

In a historical image of Ruby Bridges, a 6-year-old Black girl who became the first student to integrate an all-White elementary school in 1960, we can see a crowd of White parents, students, teachers, and activists mocking her with the hopes of making her abandon her plan to attend that school. Sadly, even though Jim Crow is in the rear-view mirror, Black students continue to face discrimination. For example, a Department of Education study found that 37% of Black students reported being harassed or bullied due to their race, even though they make up only 15% of K-12 students enrolled. Their findings suggest racial identity continues to shape the experiences of students, over sixty years after Supreme Court justices declared segregation “unconstitutional” in Brown v. Board of Education. Laws and legal analysis, while valuable, cannot fully dislodge racist attitudes and beliefs from America.

Aside from social impact, the mistreatment of Black people in predominantly white spaces is associated with harmful health impacts. One study found that African American teenage boys who endured racial discrimination were more likely to commit suicide (Arshanapally et al., 2018). Another suggested Black students who attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities were less likely to report “depressive symptoms seven years post-college compared to those who attended PWIs” (Thyden et al., 2023). So, while many may claim that the race of our friends, our associates, and peers doesn’t matter, research demonstrates that Black people tend to have better mental health in environments with other Black people. While some would prefer to live in a colorblind society, this desire is at odds with the disparate treatment racially marginalized groups endure.

In casual conversations, White people often claim they have diverse friend groups. Yet, a survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 90% of White Americans have an all-white inner circle. In contrast, Black people were more likely to report having racially mixed friendship networks, with less than half, 46%, composed entirely of Black people. So, while few White people include Black people in their friend groups, this cannot be explained simply due to the fact that birds of a feather flock together. Clearly, racism has contributed to White people excluding Black people. Despite some citing the proverbial “Black friend,” in an effort to deny accusations of racism, available studies do not support this allegory. In reality, only a minority of White people have close friends who are Black. This is why seeing a Black person alone with a group of White people often provokes a feeling of concern, a skepticism that they truly have their best interests in mind.

A recent tragedy has placed this dynamic in the limelight. Nolan Xavier Wells, a Black teenager, went missing after spending time with a group of White friends on a Fourth of July trip. A U.S. Park ranger found his body near Horn Island, an uninhabited piece of land near the Mississippi coast, and Jackson County officials claimed he drowned by accident; some expressed doubts about the events leading up to his death. The story has attracted national attention, with officials expressing frustration with speculation surrounding the case. The Wells family publicly shared their concerns and retained an attorney, Ben Crump, who has called for transparency amid inconsistencies in the narrative. There are conflicting statements about why Nolan didn’t make it back on the boat with his “friends,” and his family suspects that text messages were deleted from his device. They’ve called for a full investigation and an independent autopsy. Crump described Nolan as “eighteen years old with his whole life in front of him,” and said “this family will not be left in the dark. We stand with them, and we will not stop until every question is answered.” To some White people and others, these concerns raised by the black community may sound hyperbolic, but given the history of racial hate crimes in this country, officials ruling his death an accident in short order incited skepticism.

There’s often an awkwardness experienced by a Black person along with a group of white friends, because there are things that are left unsaid. Of course, there are likely numerous examples of mutually beneficial interracial friendships and relationships. But our nation’s failure to fully reckon with the harm caused by racism places some Black people in danger. For example, in 2023, a group of White teenagers lured a 15-year-old Black teenager who could not swim to a pond in Cape Cod, Massachusetts; some threw stones at him and hurled racist epithets. White teenagers mocked him as he struggled to keep his head above water, one referring to him as “George Floyd,” as he struggled to breathe. Later, one of the teenagers, John P. Sheeran, pled guilty to attempted murder due to his involvement in this case. While the teenager survived this attempted drowning, this case served as a tragic reminder of the dangers some Black people endure when they’re isolated.

In his 1967 book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. suggested White people were “not putting in a similar mass effort to reeducate themselves out of their racial ignorance,” noting “it is an aspect of their sense of superiority that the white people in America believe they have so little to learn.” To treat Black people with the dignity and respect they deserve, White Americans must confront that which they often avoid — the racial divide among us. Black people deserve to feel safe, regardless of the racial makeup of their inner circle of friends. But as it stands, they are rolling the dice when being part of white friend groups. The presumption of goodwill, while preferable in theory, overlooks the harm Black people often endure.