Thank you. Perhaps if all of us People of Color fans of Punk Rock, Metal, Indie (yes, passive-aggressive racism counts), and all other Genres of Rock spoke out more — these bone heads will finally clue in. To be fair, Phil is particularly dense — but right before the incident, Spin had claimed the Metal scene to be the most active in combatting racism, which I found puzzling until Phil helped confirm my suspicions that Spin is frequently full of shit.
My first show was Type O Negative when I was 14. Within 15 minutes the asshole in front of me and my friend raised a giant Swastika-Flag. Although it was a grim indoctrination, He and I fell in love with ear-ringing distorted guitars, and learned the fundamentals of playing to start a super-janky punk rock band named WhiteFlight.
Our first Show was a backyard Kegger deep in the San Fernando Valley. After a brief set-up, we started playing. Halfway through Filler by Minor Threat, a squadron of Nazi Skinheads came in and started to heckle us. My buddy is full Black, I’m mixed but look Hispanic, so he caught the brunt of hate. They lobbed endless racial epithets at us luckily we were both too frightened to hear right, as the people with fingers in their ears could testify to. We were barely 16 — and they were old enough to make-up in White Power Tattoos for what they lacked in teeth. So, we fled. I remember in college, someone asked what constitutes fleeing. That. We fucking fled — and made a getaway worthy of the Dukes of hazard, or in hindsight, perhaps A-Team as their vehicle wasn’t emblazoned with a symbol of hate.
Anyways, as a mixed-heritage — Asian, Black, and White Musician — identity politics, heritage-conflict, and mixed culturalism are the primary issues I enjoy discussing. Music is a HUGE cultural identifier and can be used to bridge or exclude. Phil and others need to know what pain they cause by alienating us — from excluding us from the music we love, putting us in dirrct danger at shows, to the fact that they break our fucking hearts when they say dumbshit like this. So thanks for sharing! And forget that crap about the Oxford comma unless you are being required to do so by a Teacher. It is no longer necessary and a matter of choice. So is the rule of ending sentences with a proposition. To. English majors hate that. Obviously your story and statement connected with enough people that you don’t need any unsolicited help. ROCK ON!
