Racism at the BET Block Party
Misleading title - sort of - but whatever
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Let's see...where to start with this one...
I guess with:
I have now met BUNCHES of Africans spanning a few countries in West Africa, namely Ghana, Togo, Angola, Gabon, and Sao Tome and Principe, and it taught me something funny. Afro-American is a really really silly term. I've met a lot of "Afro-Americans" spanning most of the continental United States, and after doing some elaborate math which I won't bore you with here, the number of relevant instances of resemblance between the two subsets of humans is...*checks notes*...ah yes. Here it is. Zero. (I don't count dark skin as relevant...in fact, I count that as obvious.)
I do realize that the "Afro" part of the phrase is supposedly due to pride in heritage, but I very rarely encounter it as such. What I usually observe is that it is a statement of resentment that won't die, and, in fact, a statement that some black folks don't WANT that resentment to die. And here comes the most recent example that will explain the title of this blog.
For the last few days, I was sent, with 23 other Navy band members, to Cannes, France to play a few gigs. We stayed on an air craft carrier. (Can't tell ya which one, although it might be published somewhere...I dunno, but Operational Security forbids me)
For sleeping arrangements, (which is a pretty funny joke since it was impossible to do any sleeping), they put us in the "hood." The berthing was mostly *cough* "Afro-americans" *cough* who were probably the most rude and obnoxious people I have ever seen. Up late at night until the wee hours of the morning shouting expletives at the top of their lungs while playing Xbox or watching porn while other people had the audacity to try and sleep.
So...I was in a bottom rack, and two racks above me was this little white guy. For those of you who don't really understand sleeping arrangements on ships' berthings, a "rack" is about the size of a coffin - in fact, the locker for your stuff which is accessed by lifting your bed up is called a "coffin locker." They are usually stacked in threes.
On the last night we were there, there was a VIP reception that I played some jazz at. They almost always have alcohol at these receptions which played into what happened.
After the gig, and we had packed and stowed all of our gear, I returned to my rack because it was going to be an early morning for our departure. The BET Block Party was already in full force...actually, it had never stopped since the moment we arrived, but let's not split hairs. One of the guys who had been a server at the reception returned shortly after proclaiming loudly to his niggas (his word, not mine) that he was drunk. I guess he considered the proximity of the alcohol he was serving the guests to be a license to get drunk on duty.
He proceeded to "nigga" this and "nigga" that at the top of his lungs for about an hour wherepon the little white guy two racks above me returned from liberty on shore. From my rack I hear him exclaim "Damn...someone stole my curtains!" (The curtains on your rack are all that you have to get a little privacy while in your rack - privacy that you obviously need when you need to beat one down, as we say.)
So he walks into the BET Block Party and after all of these "Afro-Americans" had been shouting "nigga this and nigga that" for about an hour, this guy says to them "I really would like to know who stole my curtains" and he was pretty nice about it. Laughter ensued, and the little white guy says "Listen, you know I love all you black people, and stealing my towel is one thing, but I NEED my curtains," to which I heard this astonishing response. "Oh you are NOT going to go there..."
I muttered "you've been shouting "nigga" at the top of your lungs for an hour, but if this guy says the word "black" he isn't supposed to? Why?
Well we all know the answer to that. It's because he's white.
I guess with:
I have now met BUNCHES of Africans spanning a few countries in West Africa, namely Ghana, Togo, Angola, Gabon, and Sao Tome and Principe, and it taught me something funny. Afro-American is a really really silly term. I've met a lot of "Afro-Americans" spanning most of the continental United States, and after doing some elaborate math which I won't bore you with here, the number of relevant instances of resemblance between the two subsets of humans is...*checks notes*...ah yes. Here it is. Zero. (I don't count dark skin as relevant...in fact, I count that as obvious.)
I do realize that the "Afro" part of the phrase is supposedly due to pride in heritage, but I very rarely encounter it as such. What I usually observe is that it is a statement of resentment that won't die, and, in fact, a statement that some black folks don't WANT that resentment to die. And here comes the most recent example that will explain the title of this blog.
For the last few days, I was sent, with 23 other Navy band members, to Cannes, France to play a few gigs. We stayed on an air craft carrier. (Can't tell ya which one, although it might be published somewhere...I dunno, but Operational Security forbids me)
For sleeping arrangements, (which is a pretty funny joke since it was impossible to do any sleeping), they put us in the "hood." The berthing was mostly *cough* "Afro-americans" *cough* who were probably the most rude and obnoxious people I have ever seen. Up late at night until the wee hours of the morning shouting expletives at the top of their lungs while playing Xbox or watching porn while other people had the audacity to try and sleep.
So...I was in a bottom rack, and two racks above me was this little white guy. For those of you who don't really understand sleeping arrangements on ships' berthings, a "rack" is about the size of a coffin - in fact, the locker for your stuff which is accessed by lifting your bed up is called a "coffin locker." They are usually stacked in threes.
On the last night we were there, there was a VIP reception that I played some jazz at. They almost always have alcohol at these receptions which played into what happened.
After the gig, and we had packed and stowed all of our gear, I returned to my rack because it was going to be an early morning for our departure. The BET Block Party was already in full force...actually, it had never stopped since the moment we arrived, but let's not split hairs. One of the guys who had been a server at the reception returned shortly after proclaiming loudly to his niggas (his word, not mine) that he was drunk. I guess he considered the proximity of the alcohol he was serving the guests to be a license to get drunk on duty.
He proceeded to "nigga" this and "nigga" that at the top of his lungs for about an hour wherepon the little white guy two racks above me returned from liberty on shore. From my rack I hear him exclaim "Damn...someone stole my curtains!" (The curtains on your rack are all that you have to get a little privacy while in your rack - privacy that you obviously need when you need to beat one down, as we say.)
So he walks into the BET Block Party and after all of these "Afro-Americans" had been shouting "nigga this and nigga that" for about an hour, this guy says to them "I really would like to know who stole my curtains" and he was pretty nice about it. Laughter ensued, and the little white guy says "Listen, you know I love all you black people, and stealing my towel is one thing, but I NEED my curtains," to which I heard this astonishing response. "Oh you are NOT going to go there..."
I muttered "you've been shouting "nigga" at the top of your lungs for an hour, but if this guy says the word "black" he isn't supposed to? Why?
Well we all know the answer to that. It's because he's white.
