LISTEN TO NA-KEL SHARE HIS EXPERIENCES AS A BLACK PRO SKATER

June 1, 2020/ / VIDEOS/ Comments: 49

The world is grieving the loss of yet another innocent black man killed by the cops, as protestors take to the streets across the country in memory of George Floyd, who was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd, like so many others we can’t even name, did nothing to deserve his extrajudicial treatment by Chauvin and his gang of officers, who all initially faced no consequences for their clear breach of protocol. That’s American racism in action, brutal and fatal.

But racism shows up in more insidious ways as well. Take, for instance, a ridiculous display of racial privilege and profiling that happened in New York a few days before Floyd’s murder, when a white woman, Amy Cooper, called the cops on a black man, Christian Cooper, for innocently bird watching in Central Park. In the video that Christian filmed, it appears that Amy knows she’s weaponizing the same forces that killed Eric Garner in 2014, in the same place that five innocent black boys were wrongly arrested back in 1989 no less–she emphasizes “African-American” as if it were a crime.

The United States has a police problem, and the United States has a race problem, and those are an especially potent poison if you’re skin is dark. Skateboarding, as a product of America, also has a race problem, even if it’s something a lot of us would rather not hear or talk about.

Na-kel Smith doesn’t care whether you want to hear it or not. He’s black, and has to face daily discrimination of all types, even from within our beloved skate industry. He recently shared an off-the-cuff conversation he had with friends that touches on some of the shit they’ve gone through being black skaters: from being called slurs by teammates to being asked to perform racially insensitive requests from sponsors.

Throughout the 35-minute video, you can tell it’s a tough thing for these guys to talk about, which is why it’s so important for us to listen. The least we could do was amplify their voices (with permission, of course), and we urge you to hear out Nak and company in the video above.

If you’re one of those people that don’t care, well, don’t be. These are life-or-death problems to confront, and now, more than ever, we should be listening to our black friends, peers, and loved ones (only when they want to share!) as we all process and grieve the shared injustices they face.

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Comments

  1. wereallone@peace.com

    June 3, 2020 5:01 am

    The problem of racism definitely needs to addressed. Good on Nak for doing that. But calling people out is probably very counter productive. Especially when these people that you’re calling out are probably anything but racist. Using the word ‘nigger’ is an absolutely wrong thing to do for a white person, but I don’t think that it necessarily makes you a racist. When I’m sitting in the van and singing along a rap song with my friends, am I supposed to go ‘beep’ every time the word comes up ?

    • Rhianon

      June 3, 2020 5:56 am

      One alternative is to sing “meow” instead. Try it! Or just say nothing. Not so hard.

      Also, using the n-word is absolutely racist. Honestly it’s like the easiest thing you could do to be respectful to the feelings of black people (whether there are any who can hear you or not). And there are so many other less overt ways we are racist that every single white person (including myself) needs to work on. Stop resisting, start listening.

      • wereallone@peace.com

        June 3, 2020 6:52 am

        Thanks for the tip. I’ll try it. Might end up being funny.

      • wereallone@peace.com

        June 4, 2020 5:20 pm

        I thought this thing over and I actually think it’s ok for a white person to sing along a rap song and say the lyrics as they are.
        Am I supposed to say “black fellows with attitude” when talking about NWA ? Isn’t it ridiculous?

    • Rhianon

      June 10, 2020 5:18 am

      The perfect response via twitter:

      ‘white people will be like “dont wear thrasher if you don’t skate” but don’t understand why they can’t say the n word’

      https://twitter.com/cosmicvag/status/1270020521929740288

      • Abbsbs

        July 20, 2020 4:09 am

        You are so hypocritical.. oh yeah only white people hate that?

        The problem isnt singin along song, the problem is real racists and also people who egotrip and are seeing every fuckin small stupid things always as racism. ( not commenting to nakel video)

  2. Cinnamon Throat Fuck

    June 3, 2020 10:05 am

    I support the fuck out of this and I want to see more, I want to see people speak their mind and telling everyone how they feel and by all fucking means do call out the people who are racist. I would love to see this more in depth too and not just with black skaters, I want everyone to be able to talk about this and I think that’s the only way we can go forward.

  3. Johnny Sack

    June 3, 2020 2:39 pm

    watched the whole thing all him and his friend did was save face..only name mentioned was a dead guy..what a hero..

    • an actual black person

      June 4, 2020 4:08 am

      You have completely missed the point. It could definitely seriously impact his career if he was to be completely blunt about it and name people directly. I’m assuming based on your comment that you’re white, but if you’re not and have never been faced with the prospect of losing friends/employment for calling out someone for being a racist POS, you’re lucky. They’ll find any reason to let you go if you’re “not a team player” or you’re “difficult to work with”, and one surefire way to make sure you’re seen as that is to directly call people out for BS like this.

      It shouldn’t have to be on us to call out every single person who pulls some racist shit. At least he’s making it known that behind closed doors, people in the skateboarding industry are continually doing racist things. Hopefully they see that, recognize that they need to change, and do the right thing. I don’t have a ton of faith in that, but I 100% understand needing to keep your career to put food on the table. Especially during times like these.

  4. Random guy

    June 3, 2020 3:43 pm

    The worst thing is when you are a white guy and carry some weed. If you are hanging with a black / arabic friend you are pretty sure you gonna get check by the police.

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