rolling "Is This Racist?" thread

Playing Julian / Damian Marley: Not racist
Ziggy / Stephen Marley: Borderline
Anyone w/out a career outside the Melody Makers: GTFO

Not sure why calling a night of reggae Jamaican Soul is racist. Jamaican Soul is a musical reference, no? At worst, the food special is maybe a bit tacky.

uhh this all depends how it's done

tbh I am more interested in learning more about DJs Bloodfaceman and Browner Jeff

tbh I am more interested in learning more about DJs Bloodfaceman and Browner Jeff

This!

^ elmo's post all otm, & the rnb/friend chicken analogy is troubling, but fwiw/for me, i would find it frustrating if the worth of the night was eclipsed by some of the baggage that any kind of venture like that is going to have. like i think a well-meaning thing that gives some kind of presence to jamaican culture, whether or not it's compromised in terms of authenticity or articulacy, is really valuable, partly as an amenity for the town & partly as at least some however imperfect representation of the wider world. you know? like yeah there are gonna be degrees of how to do it right and yeah it's gonna have to confront & hopefully avoid issues of stereotyping, but i hope there's some ground between the extremes of 'not engaging for fear of trespassing' & 'trashy cultural-tourism/theme nights'. i don't think the concept of pairing food & music is inherently troubling to me, but then i guess i could be proved wrong depending on what the pairing is, again cf cornbread or w/e (vague memories of ten thousand GOP CONGRESSMAN HOSTS THEMED BARBECUE- stories surfacing in my head as i type)

xp Oh yeah, totally, but there's too little info on the website to be able to judge either way in advance. If it promised an "authentic" Jamaican experience and had a picture of Bob Marley smoking a spliff and a tagline in patois then that would be different. Maybe Stevie D's boyf had a tip-off that it's going to be full of white frat boys saying "yah mon".

like, if you show me a picture of them and they look like Diplo and Switch, I may be agreeing with your b/f

Facebook stalking suggests Browner Jeff isn't a white guy, fwiw.

haha I didn't think he would be, I was just saying

"ladies and gentlemen, please welcome: DJ BROWNER JEFF!"

http://www.ring-rap.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Jeff-Hardy1.jpg

Local reggae DJ Whiter Jeff is getting _no_ work since that guy turned up :(

but anyway, to make this thread less like a scene from Airplane! I think you can't just call the mere existence of this night racist; it's entirely dependent on how it's done, as others have said

Looking forward to the electronica and brautwurst night featuring Brauner Jeff.

You know there are white jamaicans, Indian Jamaicans, Chinese Jamaicans, right?

Also, paramount to me is that the chicken is good, the plantain not too soggy and the whole event not just be some Red Stripe promotion thing.

originally thought you wrote "I think you can't just call the mere existence of the night racist" and i was trying to figure out what you meant by defending the nighttime from charges of racism xxp

You know there are white jamaicans, Indian Jamaicans, Chinese Jamaicans, right?

so by this logic, there wouldn't be anything weird/off about a white Jamaican calling himself Browner Jeff because he's Jamaican?

Wd be great & smart to have someone who is actually Jamaican consulting on this? Ime people who love and collect Jamaican music will have made friends w people from Jamaica, will have collaborated on things w them, will have been to Jamaica in search of records/history--generally are respectful of this thing that they love and benefit from but aren't the inheritors of.

Also if Jamaicans are involved then it can have the angle of being "the sounds and tastes of home" for ex-pats instead of straight tourism for outsiders.

You know there are white jamaicans, Indian Jamaicans, Chinese Jamaicans, right?

i am reminded suddenly of this hilarious old thread: Generic Rap Song

I'm not sure the involvement of Jamaicans made a lot of the stuff surrounding Major Lazer less offensive but, in general, having some level of understanding of the culture beyond the cliches is definitely pretty important in getting a night like this right.

The chicken was amazing, the plantains were really thin and crisp on the outside but still a bit chewy, and it was in no way promoted as some sort of "authentic Jamaican experience". TBH you wouldn't have even known there was a food special if you hasn't sat down at a table to order food (it's a venue w a bar and dance floor too)

I am cool with Browner Jeff being called such if there's another dude named Jeff who is lighter

I approve of this night only because I like the idea of being able to go somewhere and eat plantains

It wasn't like reheated frozen patties or some shit. Also I think I heard Sister Nancy at some point

but still a bit chewy

I've only had them a few times but isn't that, well, basically plantains?

Is it Ok for white people to call 50 Cent "Fiddy"

ok folx i have one i'm genuinely on the fence about

there's a queer-friendly event/club night that happens here occasionally called "Grown and Sexy". it's mostly a DJ thing but i guess there's other stuff like queer burlesque and maybe bands, idk

http://www.citypages.com/2011-12-28/calendar/grown-and-sexy-new-year-s-eve/
http://www.citypages.com/slideshow/grown-and-sexy-37131923/

anyway, i've always understood that term to be in reference to black-oriented events pitched at an older audience. dress codes, no rap, that kind of thing.

so... appropriation? or not? Is This Racist?

/but still a bit chewy/

I've only had them a few times but isn't that, well, basically plantains?

Well I mean they were sliced super-thin and could have been fried til crispy but they weren't, idk all the plantains I've had have been large plantain chunks like tostones and not house-made plantain chips.

a browner shade of jeff

i don't think usage of "grown and sexy" is racist

yeah

idk it just seemed... rude to me.

like if some indie bicycle bacon bring-your-dog event was called "off the chain" or something. yes, haha.

brown n sexy

I haven't shaved for a long time and someone called me chocolate jesus (I have v long hair), it made me p uncomfortable for whatever reason, but I was able to say "more like, chocolate lazy"

i assume chocolate jesus would be hollow inside

props to SD's abdul ref btw

reach out and eat me.

cool thx 4 that

it'll be playing in my fuckin head all day now

this doesn't scan as racist to me

besides isn't like half of reggae african cultural tourism anyway?

props to SD's abdul ref btw

wait, me? What?

he means my display name

like if some indie bicycle bacon bring-your-dog event was called "off the chain" or something

this doesn't raise any alarms for me, tbh. dumb, but not something i'd consider having concerned words over.

yeah goole you might be overthinking that one a bit, unless it was packaged in like gothic script and "urban" stylings. basic ppl say 'off the chain' now, calling an imaginary (but v v possible esp in mpls) event maybe racist is a little hand-wringy.

if anything such an event would be ageist because no one my age thinks anything is off anything else unless it's a hook

off tm

^^^ ageist

i think she was making an 'on the money' joke

By "my age" do you mean your distinguished colleagues of my approximate years, or tiny tiny babies?

Remember I am very old.

idiom is cyclical, the decrepit are almost always the mothers of youthful invention, i look forward to the day when my brood gathers about my knee all babbling "cool beans!"

nb i have never uttered the phrase 'cool beans' and may god strike me down the day that happens

I caught myself using "hella" yesterday.