Instead of celebrating our father’s birthday, May 29, 2011, his two ungrateful sons, the singer and the lawyer, performed at the Sasquatch! festival in Washington. My set went better than expected, considering I was performing in front of many white people who had no issue wearing Native American headdresses and face paint and didn’t even have the decency to finish off the impression by being unjustifiably killed.
Just one small part of this fantastic piece in Spin on Das Racist. You should probably read it.
Well, I’ve got some new music to check out.
Although that does lead to this complication: “‘I feel like the more it’s reported that white people come to our shows, the more white people will feel comfortable coming to our shows,’ says Victor, ‘and the less that people who aren’t white will feel comfortable coming to our shows.’”
So, probably the ideal thing for me to do would be to listen to the music and engage with it and other fans, but not to attend the concerts, yes? Though, I do want to support artists financially in their concerts…I mean, with Das Racist, which seems to be doing well, I, myself, am not going to make a difference. But if I was a music junkie (which I totally am not, so this is all speculation), and I wanted to support someone who was up and coming, where do I, as an ally, set the line between support for the group and not making a space unsafe?
I’m sort of thinking out loud here based on a few things that struck me in the article, so it’s not like anyone needs to answer.
konkonson: Practical solution, take a friend?
RE: White people at concerts wearing Native American trappings
Ugh, I was at a music festival yesterday and THAT BOTHERED ME SO MUCH. There were so many FEATHERS. There was actually a whole tent with little teepees around it where you could design your own American Indian style accessories and what not! I do not get this fashion trend, I find it so appalling. It’s so in with the hipster crowd, too. Ick.
This article in Spin was amazing! I have many friends of Indian or Asian backgrounds and heritages and they often complain of the same stereotypes. As a white man I can’t relate entirely but I know where they are coming from. Some of it is funny and some of it is just really RACIST!