Gift of Gab: Hold racists in the vintage community accountable

If you are part of the vintage and/or rockabilly community and are racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist and misogynistic, get the fuck out!

There is no place for you here, not now, not ever. People who are part of these communities are in it for the fashion and music and that’s it, so cut the privileged-ass “life was better back then” statements.

Only those who think life was better back then are either privileged, ignorant or both.

Privileged because it definitely wasn’t hunky dory for people of color who faced constant injustice, brutality and mistreatment by racist white people and the police.

Ignorant because there is no acknowledgement of all the atrocities and violence purposefully committed against PoC, the LGBTQ+ community and women.

These issues still exist decades later and yet some people still choose to live blindly.

Let’s address racist people in the rockabilly scene first, shall we?

You people are really going to lose your shit when you find out that rock n roll and rockabilly was created and pioneered by black people.

Do the names Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Big Mama Thornton and Laverne Baker ring any bells?

Yeah, racists like you, your fathers and your grandfathers originally referred to rock n roll as jungle music.

So go piss up a rope, if you think you are going to be allowed in this scene any longer, get educated or get out.

Ooh but racism is not the only thing you confederate flag fuckers are guilty of, sexism is another favorite tune of some people in the rockabilly scene.

Many women in the rockabilly scene take on the 50s aesthetic, which consists of hemlines stopping below-the-knee or at the ankle and a bust line that completely covers the chest.

There’s been many sexist assholes within this scene that has uttered the words, “more women should dress like that. Women nowadays just dress, look and act like sluts.”

Oh, honey, you clearly know nothing about the 1950s, there was a sexual revolution, there was pin-up culture, burlesque performers and sex symbols, who openly expressed their sexuality and femininity.

Red lipstick and nail polish was also on trend and in fashion during the 50s. Oh no, not the devil’s color! Not the color of lust and sin!

Women are not play-things, sandwich makers and sex toys, they are people, so how about you shut-up, put a smile on that face and make us a sandwich.

Now that we’ve cleared out all the racist and sexist “rockabillies” let’s address the racists, sexists and homophobes in the vintage community.

First things first: if you think all lives matter and think the current climate of our nation has been blown out of proportion, stop wearing zoot suits!

You take that suit right off and donate it to a person of color in the vintage community, because that zoot suit doesn’t suit you well at all, neither does racism.

In the 1940s, during World War II, black and Mexican teens wearing zoot suits were targeted, beaten and stripped by the Navy, Army and the police, during what was called the Zoot Suit Riots, an unjust name as PoC youths weren’t inciting or participating in a riot but were instead the targets of one.

Musicians and actors like Cab Calloway and German Valdes, better known as Tin Tan, wore and performed in zoot suits.

Stop appropriating attire made fashionable by people of color if you feel that they shouldn’t have the same rights that you enjoy and take for granted without worry.

You like jazz and swing dancing? Guess what, created and pioneered by black people, who weren’t even allowed to play at or enter certain nightclubs.

It’s really not that hard to do your research and get educated about the fashion and social climate of past decades, especially the decade you are interested in. I’m looking at you peeps fascinated with the 60s, it wasn’t all daisies and peace signs.

Now let’s move onto the homophobes who try to make the LGBTQ+ community feel unwanted and invalid, because they think vintage fashion has and always will be straight and cisgendered.

Honey. Babydoll. Gay rights have always been a thing, keep up.

Stop hiding behind the vintage community as a security blanket to excuse your homophobia, racism and sexism. The phrase is “vintage style, not vintage values.”

Oh and if anyone reading this is offended, ding ding ding, you’re a racist or homophobic and/or get easily butthurt because you know you are guilty and in the wrong.

Be sure to call out others in the community guilty of having vintage values, because that isn’t freedom of speech or opinion, it’s ignorance, call it for what it is

So please, shut the fuck up, do your research, get educated and enjoy the fucken fashion show without twisting it into a shitshow. Simple as that.