Crashed Ice and Stuff White People Like

Rant below but first off check this out:

As a kid who grew up in the "hockey belt" upholding Mario Lemieux as a living deity: two insane thumbs up. And on the subject of ice skating sadly The Pond @ Bryant Park closed its doors for the season this past weekend. The Pond is the only free ice skating rink in New York City and is always a crowded and vibrant affair. I vividly recall one moment when a Black person coming off the ice, in what was apparently their first time on skates, remarked "hey, not so bad for a person my color." If you've ever skated at Bryant Park then you quickly grasp the irony of this comment. Almost all of the "skate guards" and elite skaters are, night in and out, overwhelmingly Black, Latino and Asian; a Lupe Fiasco'esque counterculture of whiz kids, the unlikely mesh of hip-hop and hockey. Skate, push, skate, push...coast.

"Threatening to Move to Canada." It doesn't matter if you're white or a person of color, the StuffWhitePeopleLike blog is riddled with undeniably "zomglolz!" and "ah-ha!" moments. Pretending to Like Soccer? Jesus Harold Christ. And yet after wading through this supposed exposure of dominant culture I'm left with the salty feeling that Christian Lander's blog is ironically a typically non-transformative exercise in hipster-irony. It strikes me as being a sophisticated, if well-intentioned, digital version of a tight-fitting punchlined shirt spotted in the East Village. Beyond the immediate irony of the author of the site being a white man who received a $300,000 book deal (had he been Black would he have snagged such an offer?), there's just a decidedly predictable and snarky tone to it that doesn't actually challenge preconceived and often errant notions of race and culture. Is even 'white culture' in this sense so monolithic, static? Are people of color who enjoy similar things compromising their authenticity, i.e. not keeping it real? Don't a LOT more white people like 50 Cent than Mos Def? Am I uncool as a person of color for loving Mos Def? Why the singling out of liberal and even radical (Mumia supporters) whites? Is it less uncomfortable to poke fun at white people who like traveling in third world countries than it is whites who remain silent when openly racist things are spoken? Is it also ironic that Black and Brown people often fetishize upscale cars, brands and designers who frequently don't bother concealing their resentment? Why aren't the real tough questions asked concerning access and means. Do you think that youth from the ghettos and barrios of our cities wouldn't WANT to experience lands and cultures that only exist to them (in more often than not distorted ways) in movies? Would they not feel the same awe as some of "us" seeing the misty ruins of Machu Piccu, introduced to the rush of carving fresh powder at 30 mph (or 5 mph if you ski like me)?

Figure A: Jarome Iginla, Nigerian-Canadian captain of the Calgary Flames, one of the most skilled, feared and respected hockey players in the world, part of a growing generation of Black hockey players.

Maybe I'm just overly sensitive as someone who straddles so many worlds and roles, between my Filipina mother and Irish last name, as social justice advocate, incendiary rapper and soul singer, my Brooklyn pride and Adirondack roots, between hip-hop and hockey, treeline summits and sea-level streets. But I'd like to think, in the age of an Obama presidency, that culture is so much more alive, fluid, dynamic. People more nuanced, ever-changing. Race relations not so black and white, not so easily boxed and checkboxed. The truth mind-boggingly complex.

I am ALL for making light of our naive foibles and shortcomings but instead of a self-deprecating dive in (white) guilty pleasure, how about a provocative, honest and transformative dialogue on race for once? And on that note, you are sorely missed Bryant Park.

As a more constructive suggestion I urge you to check out the certifiably dope Hip-Hop to the Heights-approved non-profit organization Big City Mountaineers.