To twerk or not to twerk…
For me…this is bigger than twerking. It’s the policing of black women. I have questions? Is twerking really really that bad? Is it offensive to do it in public? How about in a restaurant? Well…maybe not, but what about a restaurant that is black-owned and playing some really good music? Why should we, as black people always be made to feel guilty and be ridiculed for just having a good time? And why does it usually come in the form of being chastised by another black person? I ask all of this to say…dude…calm down! It’s not that serious. This restaurant owner (who I posted in the video) reacted in a way that was ridiculous. He made himself look ridiculous. When everyone else besides black women calls themselves attempting to twerk and culturally appropriating…they get celebrated. Regardless if it’s a joke or not. When we as black people do anything, especially black women…there’s always someone there to tell us how wrong and “ghetto” we are acting. Now, I know people are saying this is his restaurant and he doesn’t have to have this behavior in his establishment if he doesn’t want to. And yes, I agree with that as well. Especially with this being a new business…yes…I can see why he may not want people to be acting this way in his restaurant. It’s possible that he could think it may turn people away. Personally, I doubt it seeing who is patronizing his restaurant, but still yes it’s possible. So what’s my problem then? Well…I believe that his approach was very degrading to the patrons of his restaurant who were obviously just enjoying themselves. His response had a lot of hatred behind it and that’s what completely rubbed me the wrong way. I mean…he told them to “Get the fuck out!” Baby!!! For him to be a business owner, he obviously doesn’t know how to talk to people and if he will talk to his patrons this way…then how does he speak to his employees? When anyone reacts this way, with so much vitriol…it’s usually something deeper there.
Now, do I believe that twerking should not be going on in any restaurant without a dance floor. Absolutely! Especially on the damn table. Now…that does require a certain type of reaction, but damn dude. If you don’t want the GURLS and boys…to turn up, then turn the damn music down! My problem was his reaction to this. Personally, I would have liked to see him address it in a different way. I do agree with him for wanting to keep his business respectable, and I understand it. But damn! To go off like that on your customers, paying customers was a bit too much for me. But I guess that goes with how customer service is now days. The policing of black women needs to stop. Thoughts?
