Elevator Racism
We’re a nation of point-missers.
Perhaps you’ve seen this video. A black guy is in an elevator and some prissy blond bitch clutches her purse while he talks about her being afraid of being savagely robbed and then he screams “Boo”, which scares her.
Many people see this and say:
Yeah, why is she afraid of that short, friendly, nicely dressed and well-mannered African-American man? Such racism!
Of course, this makes sense that the woman is over-reacting in this example.
Bad, dishonest examples are no way to get your point across, especially when you’re trying to be irreverent and, I guess, cause some kind of social change.
But the key here is that this is only complaining and pointing fingers and not really interested in social change. To cause social change you’d need to look at this situation honestly.
This supposes, wrongly, that the problem is one sided: uppity white people who have an irrational fear of a crime being committed against them by black people.
I’m not going to quote statistics or anything like that, but I will say that we all know that there are stereotypes perpetuated by black people, especially black celebrities (actors, comedians, musicians) that blacks are “street smart”, “tough” or have a general disdain for laws and decorum. This is not something I’ve just made up. Watch the Tonight Show when there’s a black celebrity on, they will usually tell a story that shows that they “don’t take any crap” or “don’t follow the rules”.
Or if you’re short on time, just listen to some rap music.
This example shows a woman in a metropolitan residential elevator, probably New York City, and this black man in the video is probably a neighbor or a visitor of one of her neighbors— these people are of the same social strata. Her response in the video would not happen in real life.
Now there are some people (blacks, whites, hispanics, asians, etc) who go to lengths to look bad ass. A good example of this is backyard brawler, porn bodyguard and MMA fighter Kimbo Slice. Since being and looking bad ass are the tools of his trade, we can agree there are identifiable characteristics of this type of look:
This of course is one type of bad ass look. There are others. The point of this look is to frighten others, specifically other bad asses but if it frightens (or excites) some blond chick, great.
Now look at this elevator:
RandomRED“> Posts
Loading…
value=”YToxOntzOjc6InBvc3RfaWQiO2k6MjEzMDt9″ />
Loading ...
all human beings are shit. i would act the same(protecting my stuff) regardless of race or gender. I dont see color i just see ignorant human beings.
Rate This Comment:
1 
0
I dunno, how can you say you don’t see color? Race ( or ones assumption of race) is the first thing you see when you look at someone. It’s called being aware of your surroundings.
Rate This Comment:
0 
0
Everyone sees color, race and gender and we judge someone within the first few seconds we make visual contact. Fear of another race is BS, fear is caused by environment and ones own personal life experiences. Watch out for that buggy-man around the corner he might me green!
Rate This Comment:
0 
0
i like black people in general, but the only people who’ve assaulted/called me bitch for no reason are black guys. so of course im gonna look out for myself
i wouldn’t clutch my purse though, thats weird…
Rate This Comment:
0 
0
Being on a higher level of guard around blacks is only logical. The distribution of violence instigators, liars, thieves, and manipulators is higher in the negro race then all other races combined.
To not be at a higher level of awareness and guard around blacks is to forgo one’s ability to reason in favor of protecting black egos from being emotionally hurt.
Rate This Comment:
3 
1
i like white people in general, but the only people who’ve assaulted/called me nigger for no reason are white guys. so of course im gonna look out for myself
i wouldn’t clutch my purse though, thats weird…
Rate This Comment:
2 
0
That first commercial poses an unlikely scenario. The picture you created is much more likely to be the racism they’re speaking about; though if that burly, bearded guy were of a different race, I am sure she would clutch her purse just as tightly.
Rate This Comment:
0 
0
A mate of mine – a woman – was sitting on an underground train. A man got on. (She’s white, Welsh. He’s mixed race.) She lifts her bag from the seat next to her and puts it on her knee. He loudly reprimands her for reacting in a way that implied she feared he might steal her bag.
“But I was only… Never mind.” That’s her response.
She was just politely making room for him to sit down beside her.
He was nowhere near as scary as he liked to think he was.
More irritating though.
Rate This Comment:
0 
0
This post is both funny and true. I wish people would acknowledge the fact there are stereotypes and for the most part, these stereotypes often have a grain or two of truth. There is a stark difference between being racist (hatred towards a race for no apparent reason) and racial (aware of characteristics often associated with race etc.).
Check out http://www.weirdlawsuits.com for weird and dumb lawsuits.
Rate This Comment:
0 
0
One should bear in mind those actors and musicians on “The Tonight Show” are playing a part for The Man
Rate This Comment:
0 
0
I’d just like to point out that if anyone suddenly turned around and yelled “Boo!” at me in while I was alone in an elevator, I would react the same way, regardless of race.
And in my opinion, acting like an asshole about the whole situation is only going to cement that person’s racist feelings.
Rate This Comment:
0 
0
yeah no kidding, i guess i didn’t think of that when i first wrote this. PC people are so stupid.
So basically it’s poor casting. Although in Bubba Smith’s defense, it would be difficult for him to stand there looking all scary and then turn around and say “i do declare-what irrational nonsense” after he scared the shit out the ginormous lady (seriously? she looks like she could beat the crap out of anyone)
Rate This Comment:
0 
0
Hmmm…interesting video: every 45 seconds, a black man enters an elevator.
The thing is, this video is professionally made. I didn’t know that until I watched it.
It seems sort of light, and maybe to be a little bit humorous, but I think I know what they’re trying to get across.
The thing is, we humans will probably always be pre-judging others, not just on ethnicity, but on dress, status, rank, title, etc. It’s like we put a label on the person before we get to know that person.
And in a way, we sort of have to: if you see someone dressed really shady, you sort of have to make a guess as to what kind of person this is.
Now, having said that, that’s no excuse for racial profiling. I’m just saying that this is a sort of dilemma that we humans–black, white, and everything in between–are in.
Rate This Comment:
0 
0
I agree with this statment “i would act the same(protecting my stuff) regardless of race or gender. I dont see color i just see ignorant human beings” I mean does anyone know who that black guy in the lift is ? Well he is a famous `street fighter` called kimbo Slice who made his name on youtude by knocking people out cold in legal undergound fights 1
Black , white good bad in everyone !
thanks James
Rate This Comment:
0 
0
If this film was the real thing and not a fictional “reenactment” we could learn a lot more from it. Though it was a parody loads of women would react defensively to be being alone with a man in a lift for many different reasons – nothing to do with race. I have known white women react to me, a white man, in ways not dissimilar. I don’t think she was being outwardly racist. I would like to remake the film – this time she starts defensively but he soon talks her round and invites her on a date that she accepts. The reality is that is also perfectly possible.
Rate This Comment:
0 
0