Race/ethnicity at Faire.

[Athena]

Blue, you have given voice to what I have long suspected, but dared not believe.

I'll second this, those posts are very enlightening.

I always figured it wasn't very diverse because it deals primarily with Northern European culture, and people tend to gravitate to what they can relate to. I've noticed, though, in recent years that's been changing, and I've been seeing more nonwhite faces in the crowds and on cast at various faires.

[Anna Iram]

Blue, I appreciate your insights too.  Sorry, sometimes I forget to ackowledge what I read and agree with. I *do*agree it will be a good day when *everybody* can say "well, alot of **** happened, but that's not who we are now."

Tipsy, there are living history events (quite alot that exhibit the early experiences of the African Americans here, for example) and cultural events from lots of cultures with food and music and dance, but I don't know that there is anything out there quite like what Ren fairs have grown into. I agree it'd be awesome. I'm already thinking who I'd be if I had the chance to visit an African Village, or ancient China, or Egypt....

Maybe it *is* just a quirk of our Euoropean backgrounds that makes us not just want to attend theatre but to get out of our seats and jump on stage. 

[Finnian]

We do get to see a good Japanese festival here, and no, it's nothing about the history.

To be blunt, I think that our nation's African Americans are too busy whining about the injustices that happened a few hundred years ago to appreciate the rich tapestry that is our history. Just my thoughts...

I actually kind of agree with this also.

[Rapier Half-Wit]

Maybe it *is* just a quirk of our Euoropean backgrounds that makes us not just want to attend theatre but to get out of our seats and jump on stage. 

I would think that, more than likely, alcohol is somehow involved with that behaviour. 

[Blue66669]

Hennessey has never made my black friends dress up like slaves.... LOLOLOLOL!!!

Ok, that may have been too far.

[VIII]

To note the Historical accurate: There is a portrait of an African trumpeter in the court of King Henry VIII and "Black Ellen" was an woman of note in the Court of Scotland.

Yes, North Africans were in England and Scotland in the 1500's

[Bonny Pearl]

Hennessey has never made my black friends dress up like slaves.... LOLOLOLOL!!!

Ok, that may have been too far.

DOH!    Oh Blue.....  you are too much lol! 

[Dinobabe]

We have Memphis in May, which everyone thinks of as BBQ and music.  There is much more to it or at least used to be.  Every year a new African country is chosen to be celebrated.  Used to be a really cool cultural immersion event but has turned into more of a noisy drunken brawl over the years. Too bad.


I do want to say how please I am that this discussion has not only remained civil but is quite informative, diverse, and enjoyable.  It is so wonderful to have a discussion such as this and not have it turn into some sort of PC/liberal/conservative/prejudice/whiny/point figures grunt fest.  Thank you, everyone, truly!

Off soap box now!

[Rapier Half-Wit]

Grunt fest! LMAO I love it!

[Imestra]

Ok, that may have been too far.

Maybe, maybe not.  Too soon ?
Did y'all know the Vikings took everybody to sell as slaves?
St. Patrick himself was a slave at the age of 16.  Then became (duh) a strong voice against slavery during his ecumenical career.
Appreciate the info, VIII !  Can't wait to read up on Black Ellen.

[Bonny Pearl]

Did y'all know the Vikings took everybody to sell as slaves?

oh yes, that is very true.  i'm sure somewhere in my genetic mish mash i have an ancestor or two that were slaves of the vikings.

[Trillium]

I'm pretty sure almost every culture in history has taken slaves at some point.  Sadly, its human nature to take advantage of others.

[Anna Iram]

Maybe it *is* just a quirk of our Euoropean backgrounds that makes us not just want to attend theatre but to get out of our seats and jump on stage.  

I would think that, more than likely, alcohol is somehow involved with that behaviour.  

LOl...yeah...and wasn't it bad beer that made the Salem lot burn the witches. Or something to that effect? Always thought that would make an interesting living history event. The cast gets to pick the biggest a** of the day from the paytrons/playtrons and they get stoned at the end of the day.

To note the Historical accurate: There is a portrait of an African trumpeter in the court of King Henry VIII and "Black Ellen" was an woman of note in the Court of Scotland.

Yes, North Africans were in England and Scotland in the 1500's

Interesting. I'd like to know more about her.

[LadySeasan]

I don't know why I didn't see this before, but Blue, I'm chiming in lol!

From my experience, in faire and outside of faire, anything that is outside of the "norm" of the typical black community is looked down upon.  Basically if you are not trying to hustle, listen to hip hop, staying in the streets, etc etc. It is considered "white" and that black people don't do these kinds of things.  I could go on for HOURS on this, but I'll keep it faire related.

When my husband and I go to the faire, we make it a point to count how many black people we see. The most we have every seen at the MDRF was 303.  And out of those, about 20 were in garb.  

My older sister, who is 33 years old, asked me why I attend Ren Faires. I told her because it is fun, I feel comfortable there (as opposed to hanging out with many people of my own race). She told me, she didn't understand why because black people were not around then. Yes, she said that. So I told her, well what, did we magically poof up?

I'm going to be brutally honest here.  In most black communities, education is not something that is pushed for as a goal. Which is probably why my 33 year old sister came up with such a remark. If you are black and smart, you are considered a sell out, a nerd. If you are doing activities like ren fairs, comic cons, dungeons and dragons, etc, then you are not considered "black" in your own community.

[Blue66669]

You know, I had always just assumed that the Europeans had gone to Africa and captured all the natives for slaves. Because of this topic, I did some research into it. I was ignorant to the fact that it was a trade from the Europeans and the African Kings. In exchange for weapons and artillery, the Kings would give the Europeans some of their slaves. So, in essence, it was the African monarchy that allowed slavery to happen on the scale that it did.

And omg Marisa.... we talked about this at MDRF last year. It's so interesting!

Now, it's a very special thing when we black people see each other enjoying faire together. It made my heart happy to see Seasan and Wesley, IN GARB, out at RenDezvous. In fact, it was a picture of her and Wesley on the old RF banner that made me stick around. There is an exquisitely garbed older black couple that attends Scarby and TRF. I always make it a point to say hello to them. They, like us, are a cultural rarity. And, it's nice to not feel so alone.