Kicking. Squealing.
I’d like to add a little bit to Steve Sailer’s post on the dearth of black Burning Man attendees. Starting with Steve’s comments:
I’d be interested in how much of a Northern European v. Southern European divide there is in who attends. The whole hippie thing seems Northern European to me. My cousin, for example, is a regular at Burning Man. He takes after his outdoorsy Swiss German mother, who regrets being too old to give it a try. His sisters take more after their Italian father, and wouldn’t be caught dead there.
This will be the first time in five years that I haven’t attended the Telluride Blues and Brews festival in Colorado. A blues festival in the mountains carries an even stranger dynamic than the 50,000 person pee-pee pow-wow north of Reno. In Telluride (and probably most blues festivals), the crowd is 90% white while the musicians are 60% black. In fact, I can remember the four black attendees I’ve seen over the years I’ve gone to the festival (two of them have been there every year I’ve gone). Besides attendees, there are usually a couple of black guys dispensing beer from Ghostbuster-looking backpacks.
To address Sailer’s question, there is a noticeable celebration of Irish roots at the Blues festival. I’m a quarter Irish and redheaded myself. Lots of “Kiss Me I’m Irish” paraphernalia and sunscreen at the festival as well. Other than Irish, Jewish people are the only other discernible ethnic cohort.
via Wired
At The Burning Blog, Caveat Magister tries to figure out why Burning Man is a white thing (only 13% of attendees consider themselves non-white whereas the general population is much more diverse; and this despite the fact that crowd is largely from diverse metro areas). The Root article which Sailer cites does mention the socioeconomic differences, and I’d also mention different cultural attitudes towards outdoor nature-focused activities. Magister’s explanations in bold:
Burning Man requires a sense of security that is not common in American minority communities.
“White people expect that they’re going to be okay,” I was told. “Black people think that they need to be prepared for something extremely bad to happen. That means differences in behavior.”
I understand what he’s driving at here, but it doesn’t explain why black people are more likely to attend the bars and clubs that end up in the news because of violence and why white people typically avoid “ghetto clubs” and ghettos themselves. No, it’s cultural. The sense of uncertain security is a symptom of the deeper issue which is blacks’ lack of familiarity (and therefore comfort and therefore desire to interact) which large white groups. It’s neither a good thing nor a bad thing; it’s just natural.
The sexual mores of minority cultures tend to be significantly more conservative than those of Burners
“Black men, in particular, are not going to feel comfortable in a sexually charged, public environment with flirty white women and overhyped, anarchic white guys,” he told me. “If somebody’s white girlfriend starts being affectionate with me in public, I’m immediately on my guard and watching him to see if he took offence, and checking the eyes of every white male around to see if he got pissed. They may be super liberal at Burning Man, but there are racist liberals too, they just hide it better.”
I’m not sure that blacks who choose not to attend Burning Man are even aware of the rampant nudity before casting it aside as “something crazy white people do”. I do enjoy the focus on the hypocrisy of liberals though. Since we could expect them to surround themselves with blacks on purpose more often, they must experience a greater absolute number of racist thoughts than would your typical conservative.
It would be difficult to get acceptance from one’s family and community
This eventually leads to a self-selection phenomenon: minorities don’t go to Burning Man because they don’t go to Burning Man.
Yes, blacks tend to not want to go because other blacks aren’t there. Think deeply about the assumption here. Magister is basically arguing that blacks should like the same things as whites. But why should they? Is Burning Man such a cultural milestone that more blacks have to attend it? I expect Magister’s article to be the first in a coming wave of introspective pieces on the inherent racism of Burning Man. It all seems so desperate. Like a child complaining that another kid won’t play with them. “Why won’t you play with me?”
A different history with counter-culture movements
“To me, Burning Man is a flower-power thing,” I was told by a minority non-burner. “That comes from white history. In the 60s blacks did civil rights, whites did flower-power. So Burning Man seems like freedom to you, but nothing about Burning Man seems like freedom to us.” This is obviously an overgeneralization, but one with a lot of truth to it.
I agree with this as one of the reasons that blacks aren’t motivated to attend BM. Whites – moreso the young and liberals – search for struggle. The same people who idealize Burning Man have probably also idealized Hunter S. Thompson and Jack Kerouac at some point. They want to bust out, explore, reconnect with their animal selves. They’re at the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Blacks, in general, aren’t looking to fill this same “void”.
David Grazian, author of a book on the Chicago blues scene, shared his thoughts on why middle class blacks ventured away from the Blues:
The blues fell out of favor with middle-class blacks in the late 1950s and early 1960s because it was considered “gutbucket,” “low-class” music that recalled the countrified terrain of Mississippi, Alabama, Oklahoma, and other southern spaces that their families had left behind. Also, since the blues has always been characterized as the music of poor people, it therefore did not resonate with upwardly mobile black audiences the way that more contemporary urban soul, rhythm and blues, and jazz music could.
Down for the struggle because it’s only temporary, yes. I sometimes display this SWPL tendency. I went to that Blues festival – that’s SWPL. There is a desire to connect with the animalistic drum beat resonating from deep inside. But if you’re asking “why aren’t black people at Burning Man” or “why don’t black people attend blues festivals”, you’re basically asking blacks to pat you on the back and say “go ahead, it’s fine; you’re doing all right.” And if they show up in droves then you’re really doing something good. Of course, if it became “too black” we all know that many of those beckoning diversity would mysteriously begin staying home.
Burning Man is also dystopian. The name of the shindig says a lot. It’s in the desert and reminds one of Mad Max. Whites’ fascination with it is the same as their greater fascination (along with Asians) of end-of-times scenarios; massive destruction; nuclear proliferation. We might as well ask why blacks aren’t into these themes, or World of Warcraft, or Renaissance Fairs, or Lord of the Rings conferences.
If you want to attend crazy white person festivals, there is a difference between attending one that outwardly opposes minority attendance and one that just happens to not attract minorities.
Black people just don’t go for a lot of white alternative culture.
I wonder how many black Joy Division fans there are.
Burning Man takes a lot of work – work to get there, work to provide for yourself and work to build up all of those wooden structures to be burned up in smoke. Thus, Blacks don’t go. They’re more interested in events like Freaknic where you just drive your car to an open area and (literally) leave your car in the middle of the street while you socialize and take videos of shaking rumps.
Besides, blacks now have the annual Foot Wash in Alabama:
Lots of booty, not so much contemplation on nature.
One problem fair skinned people have is being out in the bright sun for days on end. I guess you would want to bring some kind of tent to Burning Man. I could be wrong, but I never get the impression black men are particularly intimidated in a large crowd of white people. They aren’t going to be as likely to act out, but I don’t think they are usually scared. My guess is they just aren’t interested in roughing it, like you definitely have to do at these multi day, out in the country concerts.
Mencius Moldbug first articulated the reason why it never sat well with me to see a black person in an implicitly-white environment: tokenism is Stasi’ism.
Stasi was a notorious program in communist East Germany wherein large numbers of ordinary citizens were on the government’s payroll to listen in on their friends’ and neighbors’ — and often family members’ — conversations and report any unorthodox talk to the authorities. Everybody knew that there were Stasi informants around, but nobody one who they were.
Similarly, having token blacks around keeps whitey from socializing with other whiteys unsupervised. With a “black friend” around, there will be no red pill talk going on.
Additional reason why tokenism is annoying is because these “black friends” bring nothing to the table. It’s all about consuming the fun things white people do and hoping to troll for white girls. And not even showing the proper appreciation as these black guests either grumble about the dearth of other black faces or snicker about ‘crazy white people.’
When white people consume black cultural products like blues, they show the proper respect for the creators of that product. Blacks do not show this kind of respect.
Low black attendance at Burning Man is a definitive white person’s problem. To Magister, the only issue about racial inequality in this country that really gets his attention is wether they come to his party or not. It’s all about him.
PA, you previously mentioned that you don’t like openly sharing what your actual political views are, so how much public “red pill talk” do you actually engage in?
Does it also occur to you that a white guy at a relaxed event like Burning Man just wants to chill out, not have some Aspergery dude accost him with IQ stats and crime figures?
As Sailer has said, black people love being black. They like black things. White things are of little to no interest to them. Things that to white people, especially SWPLs, are beautiful and fascinating are boring and stupid to blacks. Environments defined by white people are actually repulsive to blacks. The burners don’t want *real* black people around, but they would like a few acculturated mullatoes for street cred.
I’ll bet white girls would sure like to see more Men of Color at Burning Man!
Maybe then they can be sexually sattsified!
Also I think every institution and event will be non white in the fututre because People of Color have man chitlins whiles whites have no childfeb and also white women are increasinly habing the childen sired by Men of Color
sorry racist white bits lool like uou lose!
the inujsted satates will soon b a nation of Color
Anti-Racist, we read each others mind dawg I was gonna say the dame thing. Tell me what action you advice for Brothas when we see white boy with a fine Sistah?
The downlow militant lovers are back.
Our bond with Anti-Racist does not concern you white boy. You are counciled to mind your own business.
I’m pretty sure that anti-racist and Promoting Justice are Obsidian’s sock-puppets.
I lived in Chicago during the late 1970s and early 1980s. I loved the Blues but I could never drag any of my black friends to go. My upper class black friends considered it slumming and would rather go hear jazz or ska which was popular at the time. My lower class black friends were into disco (which I did not like) and funk (which I really liked). I have been living in the Bay area for a long time and I noticed that few blacks attended the Blues festival and no blacks attend the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass free concerts (I like to call this event the “White Peoples Music Festival” to annoy my liberal friends). By contrast I am also into opera. At opera events you actually see a fair number of blacks (certainly equal to the proportion of the general population). It is interesting contrast.
Another poster said it well. Just like any white event, nigs are only there to look for gullible trendy white girls to fuck and do not ever get into the spirit of the thing. They are essentially ugly assholes. As a white guy when I go to a white cultural event and see a token nig with a white girl really all I want to do is kick the shit out of them. Perfect example; I see these two ‘friends’ white guy white girl who always dress up for events as a pair like they will both dress as monsters or clowns except the woman has a nig boyfriend who never dresses up. He is only there to fill white men with rage for having to hold back. I think somewhere deep down these girls want you to show your dominance and kick the shit out of their coon. Otherwise why would she bring him to what she knows is a white event?
There are a bout a billion things you can’t say in front of blacks without a potential chimpout. Forget about “IQ stats and crime figures”. You couldn’t say that you thought OJ was guilty (which he was, as all black people well knew but didn’t care, which you couldn’t call them on either). Or that George Zimmerman shouldn’t do time for shooting Trayvon. Or even that you think he should be, but that he wasn’t motivated by racism. Chimpout incoming!
Or that you ever voted Republican, especially for the notoriously racist ones like Reagan, Bush or McCain, or generally do “Republican” sounding things like complain about all of the lazy fucks without jobs that are wearing 1k worth of clothing, jewelry and electronics, or your taxes or generally anything that concerns middle-class white people at all. Those are all sure signs of being racist. Generally not harping on racist white people for the benefit of the black interloper is a sure sign of racism.
Blacks are absolutely agents of the Democrat party, and their skin color is a uniform. If there is a black guy there you can peg him on his “beliefs” and know how to self-censor with 95% accuracy and even progressive/liberal whites do it.
Reference the recent article making rounds in this section of the blogosphere about the uber-SWPL college rock climber that didn’t want her hobby “ruined” by “diversity”; citing it as a place where she could just “be herself”.
Is there any difference in Burning Man and all of those white proms that make the news every year. Whites know that the only way to do the things that whites want to do is to avoid blacks. If more than a few blacks show up, those blacks will insist that things are done there way.
Thus, if the white kids at the prom do not want to dance to rap or hip hop, the white kids have to organize their own prom. If the white college students want to socialize the way white do, they join the all white fraternity.
Norman Mailer said…
“He is only there to fill white men with rage for having to hold back.”
Jeeze-ass. Not everything is about you.
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