This week, the jury selection begins for Jordan Davis, a black teen in my hometown, in Florida, who was shot by a white man in an argument that started when the white man demanded that Davis turn his music down.
This week, there is national outrage at two beloved, iconic brands for having the audacity to acknowledge in their most high-profile advertising of the year, that cultures other than white exist in America.
This week, Richard Sherman wore a shiny new Superbowl ring, in addition to having a degree from Stanford, the second highest GPA of his graduating class and a successful charity providing school supplies to underprivileged children. Despite all these things, he is referred to as a “thug” for his dreadlocks and unapologetic pride in his accomplishments.
This week is the first Monday of a month dedicated to black history, which exists because during the other 11 months of the year, only European white history is covered in our children’s’ school textbooks.
This week, racism is alive and well in this country and in our communities. It always has been. The generation before mine easily recalls segregation. Minstrel shows, which depicted black people as uneducated, lazy and buffonish were widely accepted and performed in community theaters and schools as recently as the 1960s.
Wounds are still fresh. Wounds are still being created.
Which is why, when someone sees a banner featuring a talking “samich” who is saying, “Hot toe mighty! Dis sho am good,” in a dialect traditionally used for black people in minstrel shows, it may cause that person to feel uncomfortable, even angry.
Especially if that banner is hanging up outside Common Market in Plaza-Midwood, a progressive, eclectic establishment heavily frequented by people of all races in one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Charlotte. Especially if the same establishment came under fire in August 2011 for having a white man appear in black face as Snoop Dogg for a beer promotion.
Debate about the banner heated up on social media this week.
Black and white commenters stated they found it either questionable or offensive, while some white commenters said they didn’t find it offensive, so black people shouldn’t either. They said things like “I read it as Cajun, nothing more,” “I wasn’t offended because I don’t think in terms of race” and “If it offends you, you must have that as the picture of black people inside your head.”
These statements are all true, and they are all indicative of the privilege of being white. When you’re white, you don’t have to think in terms of race. There are very few things in American society for which your race is a negative, disqualifier or liability. You can see a sign like that and think “Cajun. Nothing more” because your people’s history doesn’t contain instances of being publicly shamed and ridiculed by dialect identical to what you’re reading. It doesn’t raise the same flags for you. The flags which call back to the experience of being told you’re less than.
There is a picture inside some people’s heads of black people talking that way, but also of white people depicting black people talking that way as a means to disgrace them. As my friend Anastasia said when I discussed this with her, “We wouldn’t automatically think it applies to us if entertainment culture didn’t historically portray us in such a light.”
There’s no question tremendous progress has been made since my parents’ generation in the area of race relations. Walk into this Common Market location at any given moment and evidence of this progress is right before your eyes. But just because this progress has been made, just because you and your friends don’t find racism acceptable, doesn’t mean it now ceases to be and those affected by it need no longer have their defenses up.
If we truly want to move towards healing and a post-racial society, perhaps a better approach than denying the presence of racism would be to acknowledge situations like this can be painful or frustrating, even if you don’t fully understand why yourself. Being more thoughtful of other cultures and their experiences before green-lighting things like this banner in our community would certainly lessen these instances, and when unintentional misjudgments occur, simply apologizing is the right move. Which is exactly what Blake Barnes, owner of this Common Market location did when I called him for comment on this editorial.
“I honestly, sincerely apologize if I offended anyone,” he said. He explained the banner, which advertises soup and paninis, was created borrowing phrases from his own grandmother who was from rural Louisiana.
“Every time she would make some soup, she’d taste it and say ‘dis sho am good!'” he recalled fondly. He removed the banner this week and threw it in the trash. Though it’s been in use for eight years to advertise soup in winter months, now that he is aware it may offend, he says he has no intention of ever using it again.
Simple awareness goes a long way. Another thing that goes a long way? A heartfelt conversation. Once Barnes told me the banner’s origins, it felt harmless, even a bit endearing. Once it was communicated to Barnes people may find it offensive, he removed it. Respectful communication is key. Barnes certainly welcomes it.
“I’m a local, individual store owner and I’m here everyday. If something here upsets you, please stop by and have a conversation with me about it. I will listen.”
If more people take that approach, perhaps someday racism really will be dead.
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That’s interesting, that he never considered his grandmother from rural Louisiana might make a racist joke here or there. I’m no student of Southern ephemera, but “sho am good” was used aplenty in vintage racist advertising. It’s not unusual or brand new. And even though the owner took the banner down, I have to wonder why Common Market is such a recurrent space for white, hipster “mistakes-not-racism” like this.
Thanks for sharing. I try not to go to fancy grocery stores anyway. But this one just became a definite “no”!
Common Market is one of my favorite places in the city because it’s a diverse and accepting space. The owner was legitimately upset that he may have offended people and I personally have no doubt it was unintentional. That being said, I realize you only get so many passes on things like this. It’s my hope that in the future he runs promos through some sort of filter – perhaps a diverse panel of patrons/friends/employees – to screen this kind of stuff out.
I visit Common Market fairly regularly. I’ve seen this banner before and didn’t really pay it any mind because it always read “cajun/southern” to me, like the old Gus’ Sir Beef advertising. For one thing, African American Vernacular English (and poor attempts to lampoon it) don’t quite read the same. For another, that’s obviously a caucasian sandwich. Look at those lips.
However, it doesn’t surprise me that it *reads* racially insensitive, especially considering some of the conversations and antics I’ve witnessed in the years I’ve been going to CM, along with the Snoop Dogg nonsense a few years ago and the brainless response of some of the employees when the dialogue was opened on social media. I know these hipsters well. So here’s an explanation for those who’d like a breakdown of why offense is “so easily taken” to these kinds of things:
It’s kinda like the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Only in this case, the wolf has a confirmed, nasty and prolific history of fucking the boy up on sight in a myriad of ways. So even after the wolf pops up waving a white flag of peace and claiming all is good (but still getting his digs in when he can every so often,) it’s kinda hard to not be a bit shell shocked whenever one sees bared teeth. It could be a smile. Or it could not.
It often isn’t.
Here’s a guy who owns a business with about the most diverse clientele you will ever see. If you have been to the market you see diversity everyday…not by accident. GIVE HIM A BREAK! I realize that not all things are equal for everyone. Get over it and spend some time on something constructive.
I am a professional white male that is successful and not a banker. Grew up in a very diverse neighborhood on the Southside of Chicago. I will never know what it is like to be black and know that my life could be very different if I was. However, many people that are successful have overcome adversity. One could say that we are all victims of some sort of discrimination everyday. We can sit and wine and complain, or succeed in spite of it.
Two of my most valued employees that manage my company are black and Mexican. I take very good care of them as they are good people and work hard. Sorry I said “Black or Mexican.” if it offends anyone. I am a “skinny whit guy” and I don’t like that, but I get over it!
I am a white secondary teacher who had the privilege and apprehension of teaching at an all black school for almost four years.
It was the experience of a lifetime, in so many ways. I chose to teach there because I was going into the public sector after teaching in a private Catholic school where some of my very best students were black, and I looked forward to the same experience.
There were a few other white teachers there, but the principal, staff, and most of the teachers, as well as the students were black.
I had some of the best students there that I ever had the privilege to teach. They were in journalism class and also on the Quiz Bowl team. I also taught freshman English and had the dregs of society in those classes. The boys freely spoke about getting girls pregnant, and the girls were thrilled when they became pregnant so they could get on welfare. They were also proud of getting food stamps, and had no sense of propriety about any of the things that should be kept private. I had never had a problem with discipline before, but it was not just a daily problem, but an hourly one as well. It was a joke to send a student to the principal’s office, because they were immediately sent back to the classroom, laughing and treating it as a joke. I was threatened with my life, as were other students who tried to show me respect.
I don’t know how I lasted as long as I did. Perhaps it was my incapacity to give up, or the few bright lights I saw in some of the students, or the fact that I didn’t know what else to do, but I stayed until I was ill from stress, and had to take a sabbatical.
During those long days I often thought about what made the difference in the students I had taught at the private school, and those I was teaching at the public school, and I determined that the public school students had no role models, and had no ambition to improve themselves. They saw none of their peers using manners, neither did they have anyone that they looked up to to show them the way to behave. The worst possible thing that could happen in education is segregation. Students should have interaction with all races to prosper and survive. When this happens, we won’t have to worry about signs or words causing hurt or harm. We will be tolerant and more understanding.
In the same line of thought, I’m rather surprised no one has taken offense to the advertising used for Miyagi’s, both in the restaurant and on their Facebook page — https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1/9816_743210499023441_610687419_n.jpg
Hahaha, this article is so absurd. The sign wasn’t offensive at all. How about an article on the knockout game. Racist blacks attacking whites in our city. That is racist, and an outrage. Why isn’t there an article on that? Oh yeah, because we have a race baiting liberal rag such as this.
I don’t know why I’m addressing these comments like I wrote this article or don’t eat the hell out of these sandwiches biweekly, but whatever.
@ctw: as I always say when an (ostensibly white, correct?) person demands that minorities “get over” racism and discrimination: you first.
@Junene… oh, Junene. I’m not sure what the point of your comment is except to… I don’t even know. What is the point of your poetic waxing on how ill behaved your black students were and how you were such a saint to hang in there? Michelle Pheifer made that movie already.
I am a black college graduate who had the privilege and apprehension of attending high school in a mostly white-populated program for four years.
It was the experience of a lifetime, in so many ways. I chose to go there because it was the best academic programs at one of the best schools in the nation. There were a few black students and staff in my courses, but the principal, staff, and most of the teachers, as well as the students were white.
I had some of the best classmates and friends there that I ever had the privilege to know. Some were on my yearbook staff and with me on the step team. I also had the dregs of society in some of those classes. The boys and girls spoke freely about cheating their way through coursework and having drug fueled ragers in their Eastover homes while their parents were out of town. They were proud of the dishonesty and debauchery and had no sense of propriety about any of these things that shouldn’t be done in the first place, and how their parents didn’t bother to discipline them once they found out. I had never had a problem with that kind of behavior, but it was pretty much a daily issue to watch kids who didn’t deserve the good grades and accolades they received continue to coast, succeed and skirt any negative consequences. It was a joke for one of *those* students to go the principal’s office, because they were immediately sent back to the classroom, laughing and treating it as a joke once their parents had made a visit and thrown some weight around the front office.
I know how I lasted as long as I did. It was my incapacity to to give up, despite having to work twice as hard as some of them to receive the same level of respect from my teachers. I stayed until I graduated, earning far better and far more full scholarships than many.
During those long days I often thought about what made the difference in the students I had attended school with at my mostly black elementary and middle schools vs. some of those I experienced in high school. I determined that those bad apples had no role models or ambition to improve themselves. There was little reason to act with integrity or behave well when there were few ill consequences for behaving otherwise.
The worst possible thing that could’ve happened in the trajectory of my education, I think, was not to have been segregated for the first few years. I was instilled with firm values early on, which made me less likely to veer off track and more likely to avoid gravitating toward negative influences. Students should have interaction with all races to prosper and survive. It’s unfortunate that when this happens, we (as in myself and other brownfaced folks) still have to keep in mind that *we* can’t run around doing what *they* do lest we suffer far worse consequences. But I think, for the most part, we’re pretty tolerant and understanding.
Ah. I got it. It took all that writing for me to understand your point. These po’, lost, wayward black children didn’t have any sweet white children to look up to, so they were all jacked up in the world. With integration, we’ll be too busy acculturating, assimilating and admiring to be offended at anything our dear leaders may do. Because they won’t be doing anything but helping us be great. Gotcha.
Yeah, see world history 1492-1945 for examples of how it doesn’t really work that way. Ever. Like, at all.
Common market is not a fancy grocery store. Its almost like a dive but but more open and has a deli and can buy convenient store items. Interesting people of all kinds go there. I like to see the variety.
Dude you are crazy if you think this banner was an assault on Black History month…. Get a dang grip!!!!! Seriously this is not a racial slur….
Mert Jones – I’m confused by your comment. Who said this banner was an assault on black history month?
“peace” – Perhaps if there were any confirmed, credible reports of knockout game being an actual thing, and an actual thing in our area, someone would write an article about it.
not offended
Honestly? I love Common Market, but f*** them and f*** any apology. This is the second time. They can kiss my black ass. NEVER giving them any more money.
Has the writer of the article actually been to Louisiana? Ever interacted with the cajun and creole culture and saw how it is celebrated in that state? Signs like those are everywhere down there. The motto of the Saints is WHO DAT for god’s sake. If his mom is from Louisiana, then most likely she is cajun and she actually said those things.
So should this guy not be able to put up a sign inspired by his mother because some strange white girl thinks it might possibly offend blacks? Get over yourself. You are looking for something that isn’t there, which always seems to be the case.
I’m in law enforcement. The knockout game is very real. We received communication on it from departments around the country. Not very prevalent in Charlotte, but actually a lot of activity in close cities like Greenville, SC. Please do not think it does not exist. It would be nice to see an article to educate the public on it. It is called “Polar Bear” in some places among black teens.
So basically, that sign was up for eight straight winters, until one uptight person got offended and caused a huge stink about it.
The point that seems to have gotten lost about this article is that people need to have conversations! No one made the CM owner take down the sign. He chose to do it after realizing it could be offensive. I may say/do things unintentionally hurtful (racist or otherwise) and I am thankful when someone calls it to my attention. I may not agree with their perception, but at least I am aware of the impact I may have.
@johnanderson, thanks for reading. I am not the offended party, or in this case parties, that I wrote about, though I definitely found the banner highly questionable until I spoke to the owner of Common Market. I’d also add that he is certainly able to keep the banner up. He made a business and/or personal decision not to do so, probably based on how diverse his clientele is.
I’m going to take that as a no, then. I’m sure the owner of the establishment took it down because some strange white girl with a pen writing for a race baiting article for a local paper was going to irrationally use him as fodder/collateral damage.
It’s amazing how you don’t see what you are doing is wrong. You are the actual racist, attacking someone else’s heritage because you think it might offend someone else.
You should publicly apologize to the business owner.
I will be sending this article to a few newspapers in Louisiana as an example of the racist attacks the Creative Loafing publication in NC has launched against Cajuns/Creoles
http://cleveland.cbslocal.com/2014/02/14/knock-that-white-boy-out-arrests-made-after-mob-of-teens-attack-disabled-vet/
It would be nice if Creative Loafing explored all aspects of racism……instead of just writing propaganda for the left.
Clare, if something like that ever happened in Charlotte, there’s a real good chance we’d cover it.
Imagine there’s no color. What would we fight over then? Everyone just needs to take a deep breathe, and just try to be nice to one another.