IRONIC WHITENESS - SO WACKY

reach out and smack somebody
In about a day or two, expect the blogosphere to be buzzing about this article that came out in today's Washington Post about a club night in Williamsburg, Brooklyn where the theme is "Kill Whitey!" To break it down simply, what the article details is an evening where white, 20-something hipsters gather around, play Miami booty bass music, yell "Kill Whitey!" and ape dance moves they've probably seen on BET. Fliers for the night have included offers for free admission for those bringing a bucket of chicken. We're not certain about this, but we wonder if burnt cork is optional. Moving on:

Author Michelle Garcia interviews the night's DJ, Jeremy Parker, aka ... "Tha Pumpsta." (Yes, you read that right. Tha Pumpsta). Here's what he has to say about the evening:

"I'm throwing this party, and it's obvious that I'm white and I'm kind of appropriating this culture but in an ironic way. Kinda poking fun at myself and my origins and white people in general. I'm trying to kill the whiteness inside."

Putting aside the fact that his statement makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, all we can say is that Parker should anticipate a flood of curious and/or outraged Black people to descend on the next Kill Whitey night and we'll have to see how "ironic" it all seems to be minstreling it up in the presence of actual Blackness and not just the perverse performance of it.

I posted this story to Soulstrut.com and there's been some notable comments made in reply:

• "Black people couldn't throw a "Kill Whitie" party and have people think it's cute, even if it's in jest. First of all that shit wouldn't be a sidebar human interest story (look how crazy these young white kids are!) it wold be full scale news complete with lots of smart ass people using that stupid fucking made up word "reverse racism". Second, the cops, either on their own or by upper eschalon orders, would clamp down on that party so hard, only nuns and librarians could get in. Third, it would only add fuel to a media fire that's dead bent on making the black community look like folls, criminals, and uneducated.
  
  The whole concept and title is in itself an exercise of white privilage.
  
  When black people get together and talk about killing whitey the CIA fucks 'em up, when white people do it it's cute."
  

  
  

• "You can witness white people listening to the same music, dressing the same styles, and acting the same way as this party in clubs in just about any city in America. I guess the main difference is that outside of Wmburg, they don't call it "Kill Whitey."
  
  You can chalk that up to the rest of the country either having decency and common sense, or lacking arrogance and for lack of a better word, imagination."

--O.W.