(10) Thus, while always attentive to the particular qualities of individuals, on the many occasions where you have nothing to guide you but knowledge of those mean differences, use statistical common sense:(10a) Avoid concentrations of blacks not all known to you personally.
(10b) Stay out of heavily black neighborhoods.
(10c) If planning a trip to a beach or amusement park at some date, find out whether it is likely to be swamped with blacks on that date (neglect of that one got me the closest I have ever gotten to death by gunshot).
(10d) Do not attend events likely to draw a lot of blacks.
(10e) If you are at some public event at which the number of blacks suddenly swells, leave as quickly as possible.
On the 4th of July in Center City Philadelphia. My family and I walked a few blocks from our hotel to see the fireworks display. The crowd was 90% African American. Shortly after arriving at our spot on the grass near the Art Museum, a firecracker sounded nearby. This ignited a stampede by the crowd as hundreds of panicked people believing it to be gunshot fled from the scene. My family and I got caught in the mayhem.
To a white crowd the sound of a firecracker on the 4th of July is normal and certaintly wouldn't alarm anyone. It's different for inner city blacks who are conditioned, apparently, to instantly kick into flight or fight mode at certain stimuli based on prior life experience.
Next time, go to the ones at the Delaware Waterfront (if Philly still has two 4th of July fireworks sites these days) — it abuts mostly white neighborhoods of Society Hill and Queen Village. Although there are two sets of projects over in Southwark; but you also have the Italian/Mummer “muscle militia” on the southeast side.