A Question For The White Folks.......

[MakiSupaStar]

Yeah that's happened to me before. I usually just react the way you do Phalex. I just kind of shake my head and dismiss myself from the conversation. But once it happened to be my friend (who is black) and his wife (who is Japanese) at the bar who came to see us play. Out here in California that stuff is really rare, but here comes this dude out of the wood work. We had just finished playing a set and we ended it on a Franklin's Tower -> Gin and Juice (bluegrass style) jam and this dude was all stoked we played a dead tune. So he was rolling down memory lane about the Dead shows he's seen. I swapped a few anecdotes about the Dead show's I've seen, then out of the blue, he says.

"I'm a regular here at this bar, and I've been coming here for 10 years. I didn't know they let n****** in here."

I wasn't sure I heard him right. It was kind of noisy. So said something like 'What was that?'

He says, "Yeah look over there."
"So what are we looking at?", I said.
"Over there," he says pointing at my friend. "There's a n***** at the bar."
I still wasn't sure I heard him right.
So I said.
"Did you just call my buddy a n*****?"
He didn't say anything. So I told him that he was my friend. I was boiling, and just drunk enough to throw a few blows. So I walked over to the bar and told my buddy about what happened. So my buddy, who's a pretty big guy just cruised over with his wife and stood right next to the guy during our next set. The guy just kind of slithered away and left. What a tool. I still get pissed when I think about it.

 

[Phalex]

Yeah that's happened to me before. I usually just react the way you do Phalex. I just kind of shake my head and dismiss myself from the conversation. But once it happened to be my friend (who is black) and his wife (who is Japanese) at the bar who came to see us play. Out here in California that stuff is really rare, but here comes this dude out of the wood work. We had just finished playing a set and we ended it on a Franklin's Tower -> Gin and Juice (bluegrass style) jam and this dude was all stoked we played a dead tune. So he was rolling down memory lane about the Dead shows he's seen. I swapped a few anecdotes about the Dead show's I've seen, then out of the blue, he says.

"I'm a regular here at this bar, and I've been coming here for 10 years. I didn't know they let n****** in here."

I wasn't sure I heard him right. It was kind of noisy. So said something like 'What was that?'

He says, "Yeah look over there."
"So what are we looking at?", I said.
"Over there," he says pointing at my friend. "There's a n***** at the bar."
I still wasn't sure I heard him right.
So I said.
"Did you just call my buddy a n*****?"
He didn't say anything. So I told him that he was my friend. I was boiling, and just drunk enough to throw a few blows. So I walked over to the bar and told my buddy about what happened. So my buddy, who's a pretty big guy just cruised over with his wife and stood right next to the guy during our next set. The guy just kind of slithered away and left. What a tool. I still get pissed when I think about it.

Great story!! I wish my ****s were as big as yours!! Could be a tequila night tonight!

 

[macaroni tony]

OK....so my dad was adopted, but he's really, really light and has red dreadlocks and he doesn't know his real parents but me and my brother have this theory that he's Jamaican because of our (mine, my brother's and his) high cheekbones, nasal-ish voice, and caucasian characteristics (a lot of Jamaicans have them because of the Europeans that came in and tilled the soil). So I might be a little white. Can I chime in?

I once had a delivery truck driver come to my job to drop off some stuff. This is when I worked in Stanton (Orange County) CA. The guy and myself got into a little conversation, I ended up trying to describe one of the other drivers to him for some reason. He said, "Was he the colored fella?"

.........

???? I just said, "nnnooo?" It was too weird...his facial expression didn't change at all. So I just figured that was the way you refer to black people in his world...and no one has ever told him any different. Weird, man.

here's a twist - have you guys even been in a situation where you're the only white guy somewhere when someone makes a nasty comment towards a person of 3rd ethnicity?

Like person A who's black, makes a really crude comment about person B who's Asian (or vice versa) That's happened to me a few times..it kind of throws you although it should be no different any way you look at it.

Ha! I've got two Mexicans working with me today. They were just trying to explain to me why Salvadorans are shady people. Like, OK, like not all of them. But most of them. That's why we call them (Salvadoran slang for poopoo).

It was just awkward for a while; I waited for them to finish but they never did. So I just told them that they need to expand their horizons and that they sounded real stupid

 

[macaroni tony]

Great story!! I wish my ****s were as big as yours!! Could be a tequila night tonight!

+1. Wow

 

[MakiSupaStar]

Great story!! I wish my ****s were as big as yours!! Could be a tequila night tonight!

Well my story was a little different than yours. This dude was my friend and I KNEW he had my back if it was going to go any further. Notice how I said he had my back. My friend is like a third degree black belt in jujitsu. It's kind of easy to be ballsy in that situation.

 

[notverygood]

here's a twist - have you guys even been in a situation where you're the only white guy somewhere when someone makes a nasty comment towards a person of 3rd ethnicity?

Like person A who's black, makes a really crude comment about person B who's Asian (or vice versa) That's happened to me a few times..it kind of throws you although it should be no different any way you look at it.

I had a friend in school who had very light skin. He was one of the nicest guys around but other black people treated him like dirt. Both his parents had darker skin so it's not like he was of mixed race or anything. i dated a girl once with light skin and green eyes in a different state and it was the same story. Some of the most vile things I have ever heard was directed at those two nice people by members of their own race. Black people would walk right around me the white guy and insult them right in their face. Neither person would really ever answer me why this would happen. Has anyone else ever experienced this?

 

[Relic]

Ha! I've got two Mexicans working with me today. They were just trying to explain to me why Salvadorans are shady people. Like, OK, like not all of them. But most of them. That's why we call them (Salvadoran slang for poopoo).

It was just awkward for a while; I waited for them to finish but they never did. So I just told them that they need to expand their horizons and that they sounded real stupid

Dude, one of these days I'll have to film a family picnic when the wife's family comes to town. It could very well be one of the most hysterical things someone could ever see.
The "Spanish" side if the family (actually native Costa Rican/white/black) and the Asian side (mostly Chinese) will harp on one another. Argue and argue...Then they'll ALL agree on how they cant stand white people or black people............

Or Guatemalans...or Dominicans. Or how Puerto Ricans speak "garbage/ghetto Spanish", how so and so is too dark and should be lighter-skinned.
If...it weren't so damn bizarre I swear I'd film it and end up rich.

 

[Relic]

I had a friend in school who had very light skin. He was one of the nicest guys around but other black people treated him like dirt. Both his parents had darker skin so it's not like he was of mixed race or anything. i dated a girl once with light skin and green eyes in a different state and it was the same story. Some of the most vile things I have ever heard was directed at those two nice people by members of their own race. Black people would walk right around me the white guy and insult them right in their face. Neither person would really ever answer me why this would happen. Has anyone else ever experienced this?

yes. See my post just below yours. My wife's family is predominantly Hispanic and Asian, but the Hispanic side.? I dont know why but there's a very very real hang up on skin color. "the lighter the better, the darker the worse.." I have no idea why.

 

[macaroni tony]

Dude, one of these days I'll have to film a family picnic when the wife's family comes to town. It could very well be one of the most hysterical things someone could ever see.
The "Spanish" side if the family (actually native Costa Rican/white/black) and the Asian side (mostly Chinese) will harp on one another. Argue and argue...Then they'll ALL agree on how they cant stand white people or black people............

Or Guatemalans...or Dominicans. Or how Puerto Ricans speak "garbage/ghetto Spanish", how so and so is too dark and should be lighter-skinned.
If...it weren't so damn bizarre I swear I'd film it and end up rich.

I wanna go. Let me know next time. My wife thinks you're hilarious. She gives me a real hard "I don't give a ****" look whenever I start talking about TBOT, but she likes my Relic stories. We're coming to your family picnic. Bring some 40's, playa. Sounds entertaining

 

[Phalex]

here's a twist - have you guys even been in a situation where you're the only white guy somewhere when someone makes a nasty comment towards a person of 3rd ethnicity?

Like person A who's black, makes a really crude comment about person B who's Asian (or vice versa) That's happened to me a few times..it kind of throws you although it should be no different any way you look at it.

Just my buddies old Jamaican grandmother. She's tiny, and must be in her 80's and she's just the sweetest thing. I love that woman!

She lives in a very small town that was at one time wholly populated by dark skinned people. She lives on a small blueberry farm (My friend used to be banished to pick blueberries in the summertime when his mother had had enough of him.)

I was with my friend visiting her a couple of years ago and she was complaining that they just couldn't get the Mexicans to come pick berries anymore. They were all buying their own farms in the area and weren't hiring themselves out. She went on to lament the fact that white people were buying up farms and building Vacation homes on them.

Like I said, I think she's really cute. I've been privy to the same type of "There goes the neighborhood" talk before, and to be on the other side of it was really quite amusing.

She makes a mean blueberry pie. Maybe that gives her a lot of leeway in my book.....

 

[Relic]

I wanna go. Let me know next time. My wife thinks you're hilarious. She gives me a real hard "I don't give a ****" look whenever I start talking about TBOT, but she likes my Relic stories. We're coming to your family picnic. Bring some 40's, playa. Sounds entertaining

LOL, good to hear!
You guys are certainly invited to the family picnic, how could I possibly keep all this bizarre stuff to myself!?

 

[notverygood]

yes. See my post just below yours. My wife's family is predominantly Hispanic and Asian, but the Hispanic side.? I dont know why but there's a very very real hang up on skin color. "the lighter the better, the darker the worse.." I have no idea why.

Did you notice that the attitude of the victim (so to speak) was one of quiet acceptance. Like that is something that has to be endured because it won't change. Maybe I'm reading too much into the reactions of just two people, but it's not like they were meek or didn't stand up for themselves in other situations. They just would not say a word in that type of encounter.

 

[Relic]

Did you notice that the attitude of the victim (so to speak) was one of quiet acceptance. Like that is something that has to be endured because it won't change. Maybe I'm reading too much into the reactions of just two people, but it's not like they were meek or didn't stand up for themselves in other situations. They just would not say a word in that type of encounter.

I dunno... I think it varies depending in the person. My wife is caramel-skinned and god help anyone who would attempt to mess with her over it.. but I'm 100% sure that there are other people out there who just sort of accept it, even though it's unfair and wrong

 

[Phalex]

I had a friend in school who had very light skin. He was one of the nicest guys around but other black people treated him like dirt. Both his parents had darker skin so it's not like he was of mixed race or anything. i dated a girl once with light skin and green eyes in a different state and it was the same story. Some of the most vile things I have ever heard was directed at those two nice people by members of their own race. Black people would walk right around me the white guy and insult them right in their face. Neither person would really ever answer me why this would happen. Has anyone else ever experienced this?

I went to school with an Albino black kid. He got crap from everyone! :scowl:

 

[aborgman]

She lives in a very small town that was at one time wholly populated by dark skinned people.

Covert? Or Idlewild?

If Covert, it wasn't even predominantly black... it was just racially integrated way before almost anywhere.

Invalid Link Removed

I used to work in Covert (at Palisades).

Idlewild was actually predominantly black, and has some really interesting history.

 

[macaroni tony]

I went to school with an Albino black kid. He got crap from everyone! :scowl:

I've got a nephew-in-law who's albino. Sweetest kid in the world. I won't go into it; too much typing, but I'm sure you know how much crap he has to put up with every day....

 

[macaroni tony]

Covert? Or Idlewild?

If Covert, it wasn't even predominantly black... it was just racially integrated way before almost anywhere.

Invalid Link Removed

I used to work in Covert (at Palisades).

Idlewild was actually predominantly black, and has some really interesting history.

I still wanna see Idlewild; Fishbone was in that movie! And of course Outkast...two of the greatest acts in the world, son

 

[ShredderMaximus]

Relic's Lamentation (Great name for a band there!) kinda got me thinking.

How do you deal with racists? I mean the anonymous white dude that you meet that just blows your mind with vitriol?

The reason I ask:

A while back my band had a gig in a fairly rural area. The bar is literally across the road from a dairy farm, and the other 2 corners of the intersection are corn fields.

I was just heading up onstage to get tuned up and make sure everything was turned on, when I ran into this older guy that was looking at my rig. We got into a discussion about my bass, and he volunteered that he played bass way back when, and had a 60 something P-bass that he hadn't played in years. He said he and his wife had been coming to this same bar for 40 years or so, and he'd known the previous owners pretty well. They were regulars and always came out for dinner on Saturdays.

Then he looks over towards the bar, and says; "There's a N----- sitting at the bar!!" "In the 40 years I've been coming here, there has never been a N----- in here!"

I looked over where he was looking, and there was a younger black guy sitting at the bar with a white girl that I assume was his girlfriend.

I had no idea what to say in this circumstance. I still had to play all night, and didn't really didn't want to "start anything" or "Make a scene", so I was just kinda like "huh".......... And excused myself to go do my prep before it was time to play.

I made it a point to keep an eye on the guy at the bar in case there was trouble (There wasn't any) but I'm still at a loss as to how I could have better handled it.

(We're back there this weekend, and I'm kind of worried I might run into the old guy.)

So how do the rest of you white folks deal with the rest of the white folks??

You should have told the @#%$%$ that the gentleman at the bar was your lover and watched him really squirm!

 

[Phalex]

Covert? Or Idlewild?

If Covert, it wasn't even predominantly black... it was just racially integrated way before almost anywhere.

Invalid Link Removed

I used to work in Covert (at Palisades).

Idlewild was actually predominantly black, and has some really interesting history.

Hokey Pete man! You nailed it! Covert is the correct answer! I think you beat Watson on that one!!

They aren't too keen on Palisades down there either. Apparently they promised the community a lot for letting them build it there.

 

[Phalex]

You should have told the @#%$%$ that the gentleman at the bar was your lover and watched him really squirm!

Alright then....

I just shot water out of my nose!!