The Montgomery melee shows that Black Twitter isn’t going anywhere

August 9, 2023 7:24 AM

Fade in the water. The Alabama Sweet Tea Party. Malice in Montgomery. A massive brawl between white boaters and Black bystanders in Montgomery, Alabama, has gone viral, leading to some of the best jokes, memes, and videos Black Twitter has to offer. (archive.today link)
posted by Etrigan (89 comments total)

This is the most delightful version of "fucked around, found out." I admit when watching one of the longer videos, I yelped out, "Whoop their ass!"
posted by Kitteh at 7:27 AM on August 9, 2023 [13 favorites]

All because some shitheads couldn't be bothered to not be racist for 2 minutes and move their tiny ass pontoon 10 feet to another dock to make way for a LARGE ass riverboat party.

This was indeed the fuck around and find out of situations. And they found out the hard way. I'm glad that dock worker had other people jump in and help. This could have gone south in so many ways but the fates lined up just right and these bigots had their asses handed to them.
posted by Fizz at 7:35 AM on August 9, 2023 [33 favorites]

Dude who swam to the dock to help was amazing. I thought for sure after climbing up onto the dock that he'd be exhausted, but he jumped right into the fray! Superstar.
posted by grumpybear69 at 7:36 AM on August 9, 2023 [19 favorites]

The first I even HEARD of this incident was when a friend reposted this particular photo and I innocently asked them to explain it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:40 AM on August 9, 2023 [12 favorites]

I enjoyed reading Touré's take on it.

we see Black people having one another’s backs. We see brotherhood and sisterhood. We see the vibe of “No, y’all ain’t piling on my brother. We fight back.” Black people showed up in droves to defend our brother, and it was heartwarming to see us show up for us like that. ...

The video also gives us all a sense of catharsis. We’ve seen so many viral videos of Black people getting beaten up or killed. Here’s one where things went the way they would if we were writing the script. ...

There are also footnotes that add critical context. Nikole Hannah-Jones tweeted, “If you understand the history of Montgomery — one of the most prolific slave-trading cities in the US turned brutally repressed apartheid regime after … it gives so much more perspective to this video. Trust.”

posted by Nelson at 7:43 AM on August 9, 2023 [39 favorites]

Of course I am now worried about backlash and harassment of those on the video. But I'm still glad they fought back.
posted by emjaybee at 7:54 AM on August 9, 2023 [8 favorites]

The feelings of simultaneous sadness (that this happened at all) and schadenfreude (fuck those racist rednecks, they earned those beatings) are indeed peculiar. But having grown up in the deep south and seen so many drunk, racist White people just get away with being overtly, aggressively hateful, this was definitely deeply cathartic to see.

(I mean, the unearned confidence on display by the instigators is downright astonishing...not just the frumpy dudes who started it, but the women who jumped into the brawl to "defend" them, and then just got beat down, because they were obviously inciting a mob and the mob responded entirely predictably.)
posted by LooseFilter at 8:00 AM on August 9, 2023 [13 favorites]

"Michael B. Phelps" is the best, most economical joke that will be written this year.
posted by Etrigan at 8:03 AM on August 9, 2023 [73 favorites]

Of course I am now worried about backlash and harassment of those on the video.

Something I heard on the radio this morning is telling: there have been some arrests relating to this incident....but all the people arrested have been white.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:04 AM on August 9, 2023 [35 favorites]

"Michael B. Phelps" is the best, most economical joke that will be written this year.

I'm partial to "Lift Every Chair and Swing", myself.

Something I heard on the radio this morning is telling: there have been some arrests relating to this incident....but all the people arrested have been white.

That's the big thing - it's pretty clear that the hammer is falling on the pontoon boat bigots, and not on those who were defending themselves.
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:07 AM on August 9, 2023 [46 favorites]

I think this quote from the article helps too:

"In a press conference held Tuesday, Montgomery Police Chief Darryl Albert explained that the co-captain [the man in the white shirt] was doing his job and just trying to move the boat where it could park safely.”"

Like, I don't think the pontoon boaters won any friends here.
posted by gc at 8:13 AM on August 9, 2023 [8 favorites]

I'm thankful they were idiots on boat, and not idiots with guns on a boat because we'd not be joking about this.

Gotta say though, the guy swimming to the dock to join and the chair... can't make that up. Saw that one this morning, made me smile.
posted by WaterAndPixels at 8:15 AM on August 9, 2023 [25 favorites]

The most astonishing thing to be about all this is that no one died and not shots were fired. In America, that's damn near a miracle.

The causity of the pontoon owners pulling that crap in front of boat full of people who were clearly wielding cameras is incredible. Like, all you they had to do was either 1. not park there in the first place or 2. move when asked. Reportedly the captain of the boat spent about 40 minutes asking them to move before the co-captain managed to get on the dock and attempt to move the boat.

TikTok has been pretty lit with the memes too.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:26 AM on August 9, 2023 [21 favorites]

Particularly funny, imo, are black people singing Jason Aldean's 'Try This In A Small Town' and then gleefully noting "That's our song now".

No, I won't stop grinning about all this.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:33 AM on August 9, 2023 [91 favorites]

Something I heard on the radio this morning is telling: there have been some arrests relating to this incident....but all the people arrested have been white.

They're also asking the gentleman who was delivering bonks with the chair to show up for further questioning. Which kinda implies they know who he is already.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 8:36 AM on August 9, 2023 [3 favorites]

So when the dock employee threw his hat right before he was attacked, I keep seeing that interpreted as some kind of bat signal or something, but he was just trying to distract the dude attacking him, right? Like, get him to look at your hat as you throw it so you can get a quick punch in while he's distracted and looking up. (It didn't work, but it was a decent gambit.)

black people singing Jason Aldean's 'Try This In A Small Town' and then gleefully noting "That's our song now"

Yep, hilariously, it is their song now--this incident has absolutely flipped the meaning of that song, forever. And I wanna know how Aldean feels in his heart of hearts about having accidentally recorded a new Black anthem, because we now have a fresh textbook example of irony.
posted by LooseFilter at 8:39 AM on August 9, 2023 [35 favorites]

Some reasons I think this has gotten the response it has :

* it’s very obvious who started it. There’s no way to paint the dockworker as somehow to blame. That’s forever a “yes but” tactic in police violence, vigilante justice (“I felt threatened”), etc.
* Black people getting to be the rescuers, and being seen by even a lot of white people as rescuers.
* no one got seriously hurt. It’s got that heroes vs. villains barroom brawl vibe. No guns, no extreme violence, just a good old-fashioned punch-up.

Swimming guy for the win.
posted by caviar2d2 at 8:41 AM on August 9, 2023 [39 favorites]

I would pay good money to deliver chair shots to some stars-and-bars good ol' boy.

brb, signing up for a Vision Pro dev kit to work on my killer app.
posted by uncleozzy at 8:49 AM on August 9, 2023 [9 favorites]

I'm partial to "Lift Every Chair and Swing", myself.


Funny, because 'Swing Hard, Sweet Chair-riot' came to mind unbidden when I saw the clip yesterday.
posted by jamjam at 8:51 AM on August 9, 2023 [41 favorites]

I have yet to see a clip with the chair guy. Where is that happening? Maybe I'm just seeing shorter clips or something.
posted by Windopaene at 8:54 AM on August 9, 2023

I was camping when this happened so I was confused by all the memes when I got home.

I would like to strongly state 1) nthing SO grateful that no one was shot/seriously injured 2) really enjoying Black America getting to take this win and run with it. the memes are golden.
posted by supermedusa at 8:55 AM on August 9, 2023 [10 favorites]

They're also asking the gentleman who was delivering bonks with the chair to show up for further questioning. Which kinda implies they know who he is already.

He was named in at least one press release from the police that invited him to come in, so they definitely know who he is.

The amazing thing about this to me is how limited any injuries were. It was like a movie brawl, with everyone swinging wild and crazy but no one getting badly hurt.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:56 AM on August 9, 2023 [5 favorites]

I think my favorite nickname was Scuba Gooding Jr.

Having grown up in FL, I know intimately that sort of drunken, sunburnt "I've got a boat" entitlement that's bad enough before you frost it with a thick coating of racist bull. There was also one of the ship workers (white kid) who came in early in defense of the dock crew and took a shot to the jibbles. He got back up and tried to help, but that's a good kid.

But, yes - no guns! And when combined with the fact that people seem to be near universally on the side of the dock crew and the black folks who jumped in - damn Christmas miracle.
posted by drewbage1847 at 8:56 AM on August 9, 2023 [25 favorites]

Feels like there has to be a Malcolm Little => Malcolm X || Black Twitter => Black X joke in there somewhere in the maelstrom of horse shit that is the mElon Twitter Xcapades.
posted by robotmachine at 8:56 AM on August 9, 2023

the fact that people seem to be near universally on the side of the dock crew and the black folks who jumped in

Oh i'm sure that's just the circles we communicate in.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 8:58 AM on August 9, 2023 [7 favorites]

the dockworker

That was Damien Pickett, the co-capatain of the boat, Harriett II.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:58 AM on August 9, 2023 [16 favorites]

The amazing thing about this to me is how limited any injuries were. It was like a movie brawl, with everyone swinging wild and crazy but no one getting badly hurt.

Truly a best case scenario.
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:58 AM on August 9, 2023

I'm impressed that Pickett didn't just start chucking crackers in the water. Honestly that would have been my reaction. But it could have turned out badly if them chucklefucks didn't know how to swim. So that's good, too. And I'm guessing he thought about it, because co-captains have to think about shit like that.
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:06 AM on August 9, 2023 [4 favorites]

Thanks for linking to What I'm Reading. Looks like a good site to add to my daily reads; much appreciated. Like others, I'm so glad no one was seriously hurt. I'm also glad this story has gotten the traction is has in the news. (I was cheering while watching a fight, and I don't think that's ever happened. Never stop growing, eh?)
posted by heyho at 9:09 AM on August 9, 2023 [4 favorites]

Oh i'm sure that's just the circles we communicate in.

Maybe it's just that the conservatives who tend to spout a lot of their crap at me on facebook are all big fans of "FAFO" mentality or something, but I've literally heard nothing from them even when they were the ones posting shitty takes on Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd. (Color me very very surprised by that)

And I suspect they didn't go into the drink cause he still needed to make sure the boat could get where it needed to be, because yeah, I would have been getting people in the water in a hurry since it takes them out of the fight.
posted by drewbage1847 at 9:10 AM on August 9, 2023

Like, I don't think the pontoon boaters won any friends here.


When you see a crowd of sunburned, shirtless white men in a. pontoon boat, you can safely presume that they are shitfaced and that they have no sober friends.
posted by ocschwar at 9:14 AM on August 9, 2023 [28 favorites]

I think my favorite nickname was Scuba Gooding Jr.

Blaquaman
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:15 AM on August 9, 2023 [27 favorites]

Pull quote of the year, from the article:

“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” - Shirley Chisholm
posted by gimonca at 9:23 AM on August 9, 2023 [55 favorites]

I have yet to see a clip with the chair guy.

You can catch him here; video contains voiceover commentary. I do condone this.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:27 AM on August 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

Yeah, I found it in the clip of after the boat docked.

He bonked that woman pretty good. Her yelp upon impact means she wasn't expecting that!
posted by Windopaene at 9:29 AM on August 9, 2023

That video in the link of the 3 and a half minutes before the shithead surprise attacks the Black riverboat crew member is must-viewing. Note the white riverboat crew member in the blue shirt and khakis at 3:44; he's ineffectual in the fight (as I'd be, I'm sure) but he was there.

According to the captain of the riverboat in this radio interview, most of the folks going for revenge were crew members, black and white, who'd just watched their first mate get jumped. The captain also talks about how the white folks from Selma were known assholes and cause trouble every year; last year they stole a golf cart the boat uses for elderly passengers, I guess as a prank or something. He said the police discouraged him from pressing charges then. The Selma shitheads refused to move their pontoon boat *4 feet* so his boat with 200 passengers could dock, and *then left* the dock. The captain says that it's not unusual for boaters to move a boat a few feet in that kind of situation, and that most boaters understand, but these assholes got all HOW DARE YOU.
posted by mediareport at 9:39 AM on August 9, 2023 [40 favorites]

[corrected link to interview with the captain]
posted by mediareport at 9:41 AM on August 9, 2023

The link posted by mediareport is unavailable unless you're willing to jump through YouTube's hoops. Specifically, the message I received is:
"Sign in to confirm your age. This video may be inappropriate for some users."

(Yes, I'm of age. No, I don't have a YT account and I don't want one.)
posted by sardonyx at 9:43 AM on August 9, 2023

My half-Jamaican self loves "Sea Murda". Dancehall cover of that small town song incoming?
posted by May Kasahara at 9:44 AM on August 9, 2023 [7 favorites]

And most of the videos in the main link similarly locked.
posted by sardonyx at 9:45 AM on August 9, 2023

Sorry, sardonyx; it's an essential video from the posted link, but here it is posted on Twitter, which you should be able to access even if you don't have a Twitter account (the site usually lets you see one tweet before asking for a login).
posted by mediareport at 9:48 AM on August 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

You should be able to listen to the captain's interview on TikTok; I don't have an account there but could access it just fine.
posted by mediareport at 9:50 AM on August 9, 2023

I think my favorite chair meme so far is this remix (Twitter) of the painting from the show Good Times that author Nnedi Okorafor reposted.
posted by indexy at 10:53 AM on August 9, 2023 [5 favorites]

The other three pics she shared in that same post are fun as well.
posted by indexy at 10:59 AM on August 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

It’s got that heroes vs. villains barroom brawl vibe. No guns, no extreme violence, just a good old-fashioned punch-up.

My wife and I are very into Letterkenny, which is a very white show set in rural small town Canada with some token PoC and a lot of weirdly good-hearted punch-ups that are all about friends rallying to someone else's aid ("because when a friend asks for help, you help him.").

When we saw the videos for this, we both just looked each other said, "looks like a proper Donnybrook, eh, boys?"
posted by bl1nk at 11:20 AM on August 9, 2023 [15 favorites]

Mild tangent re: YouTube age restrictions, I use yt-dlp to download videos, then view them in a video player. I do that mostly to avoid creating an account. I feel, though, that YouTube occasionally applies the 'adult' designation a tad haphazardly & tendentiously.
posted by BCMagee at 11:20 AM on August 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

Has anyone posted the Good Times title sequence redone video yet? It's pretty great.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:34 AM on August 9, 2023 [14 favorites]

Instead of “Black Twitter” are we now supposed to be calling it “Malcolm X?”
posted by gelfin at 11:53 AM on August 9, 2023 [20 favorites]

"Black people showed up in droves to defend our brother, and it was heartwarming to see us show up for us like that. ..."

It was heartwarming until the guy with the chair hit that fallen woman repeatedly over the head.
posted by storybored at 12:00 PM on August 9, 2023 [3 favorites]

My favorite is the original narrator. I haven't seen anything about her, and she should be famous. Boop ah boop ah boop boop boop ah. (I don't know if the account I linked is the actual original. There are so many videos at this point.)
posted by Mavri at 12:06 PM on August 9, 2023 [3 favorites]

It was heartwarming until the guy with the chair hit that fallen woman repeatedly over the head.

She probably should have refrained from joining in, certain that her white womanhood would protect her.
posted by Etrigan at 12:26 PM on August 9, 2023 [53 favorites]

Unable to see any Part 2 videos on YouTube or anywhere now, everything locked down.
posted by Rash at 12:32 PM on August 9, 2023

Only saw one solid blow from chair guy on that woman. And she had totally been fucking around and finding out early in the fight.
posted by Windopaene at 12:35 PM on August 9, 2023 [17 favorites]

It was heartwarming until the guy with the chair hit that fallen woman repeatedly over the head.

No, that was heartwarming too.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 12:44 PM on August 9, 2023 [64 favorites]

We'll see what chair guy's lawyer says, I suppose, but yeah, to me that was pretty clearly a case of going over the line in a heated moment. She was just sitting there, looking already kind of dazed. Maybe she hit his wife or something, I dunno. But I don't think calling that guy out for what clearly looks like overkill interferes at all with calling out the shitheads who started the fight.
posted by mediareport at 12:51 PM on August 9, 2023 [3 favorites]

I liked “Swimmy Hendrix.”
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 1:05 PM on August 9, 2023 [8 favorites]

I've been off twitter, so a dear friend shared this with me and I have been cackling ever since. The article is a great summation of events, and I am in awe of all the art this has inspired. Best possible outcome!
posted by Space Kitty at 1:17 PM on August 9, 2023

But I don't think calling that guy out for what clearly looks like overkill interferes at all with calling out the shitheads who started the fight.

If we give this non-professional man the same leeway we give cops when they have to account for what they do in the heat of the moment, he'll walk free.

So let's do that.
posted by ocschwar at 1:27 PM on August 9, 2023 [38 favorites]

I am willing concede that a good person should not take pleasure in seeing that white lady hit in the head with a chair while seated.

I am also willing to concede I am not that good of a person.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:27 PM on August 9, 2023 [33 favorites]

as has been mentioned above, that particular woman had been in the thick of it from the get-go. chair guy may have gotten a bit overzealous, but she was no innocent bystander.

DELIVER BONKS!
posted by supermedusa at 1:34 PM on August 9, 2023 [9 favorites]

I saw Aquamayne and that is my favorite.
posted by ob1quixote at 1:40 PM on August 9, 2023 [4 favorites]

I love that he shut down donations for himself.
posted by mediareport at 1:58 PM on August 9, 2023 [5 favorites]

Dude who swam to the dock to help was amazing -- "Michael B. Phelps" is a 16-year-old kid who did not hesitate to defend his co-worker.

More coverage at The Root, including: It Turns Out Good Ol’ Fashioned Racism Is To Blame for the Start of Montgomery Brawl.
According to documents, the fight was started by a racial slur and a gun threat.
posted by Iris Gambol at 2:06 PM on August 9, 2023 [24 favorites]

According to documents, the fight was started by a racial slur and a gun threat.

[surprised face gif]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:24 PM on August 9, 2023 [18 favorites]

Via one of the articles at The Root about Scuba Gooding Jr, I hadn't seen the bit where he body slammed one of the shitheads. That's him in the dark blue.
posted by mediareport at 2:37 PM on August 9, 2023 [8 favorites]

Local Radio Interview with Lauryn Lauren, the incredible commentator who recorded the long video, on WJIZMo ntgomery's hip hop & R&B station.

I love her.
posted by wowenthusiast at 5:53 PM on August 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

I wouldn't be surprised if the amount of fighting combined with the lack of injury is a result of solid customs for bar fighting.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 10:55 PM on August 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

Wouldn't be surprised if we soon start seeing charges against some of the crew members in addition to the 3 white guys and (likely soon) chair guy. I've seen video of one woman online who says that some crew have already been fired, but haven't verified that. I'm guessing chair guy, at least, will be charged with more than a misdemeanor, and it also wouldn't surprise me if he gets more serious charges than the shitheads who started the fight in the first place.
posted by mediareport at 4:36 AM on August 10, 2023

I saw the jokes about this before I saw the news, and I'm so glad. As an Australian, if I'd seen the footage of the boat guys jumping the co-captain without knowing how it turned out, I'd have been so terrified for him. From my far-away perspective it seems really unusual for something like this to avoid a shooting in the US - could someone explain why this is different?

As it is, I'm so glad for how it turned out, and am thoroughly enjoying the Black joy and memes and solidarity. I wish more racists got their arses handed to them like this.
posted by harriet vane at 5:06 AM on August 10, 2023 [1 favorite]

I hate to say it but the most likely reason the white dudes didn't have guns is because they were kitted for "drunken revel on a boat" with shorts and bathing suits and whatnot. Open or concealed carry guns are pretty awkward to have on your person without a holster or a belt to tuck them into. They probably left their guns in their douche-trucks from wherever they set out that morning. If one of them had brought a gun along to stow on the boat "just in case" the day might have turned out very differently.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:16 AM on August 10, 2023 [7 favorites]

Oh and TikTok is telling me that a black man, Nathaniel Alexander, patented a design for a folding chair in 1911. Poetic justice.
posted by harriet vane at 5:19 AM on August 10, 2023 [3 favorites]

I thought it must be something like that, seanmpuckett. They didn't seem like the kind of people who be anti-gun in a black-majority city, and they definitely would have used one if they'd had one.
posted by harriet vane at 5:20 AM on August 10, 2023

I wouldn't be surprised if the amount of fighting combined with the lack of injury is a result of solid customs for bar fighting.

Maybe there's some of that, but I think it's more that most people just really suck at fighting. Some of those people are fighting to prove a point and some of them are absolutely trying to hurt the other person, on both sides. It's mostly luck that no one landed something impactful.

As for the gun thing, while the US has an obvious problem, not literally everyone is armed at all times, and the shootings get on the news and are a focus, international news does not typically care about the random fistfights and stabbings and whatnot that happen literally everywhere.

On preview, I also thought about the boating aspect of it, but I'd still say that 'most likely' is still wildly overstating the matter. Maybe one of those guys would otherwise be carrying, but to suggest that if this happened over parking an RV at a Wal-Mart they'd all be packing and it would turn into a shoot-out is just not realistic.
posted by neonrev at 5:22 AM on August 10, 2023 [3 favorites]

neonrev in general I'd agree but don't overlook the specifics -- these were specific white dudes notorious for being racist assholes and causing trouble at this particular marina before, the exact kind of white dudes who would be packing "just in case" etc etc. I stand by my assessment that it was mostly a bit of luck and laziness that things didn't get very sad that day.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:25 AM on August 10, 2023 [5 favorites]

“Rosa Parks tried to warn you”—Soulbunni, 08 August 2023
posted by ob1quixote at 6:07 AM on August 10, 2023

Maybe there's some of that, but I think it's more that most people just really suck at fighting. Some of those people are fighting to prove a point and some of them are absolutely trying to hurt the other person, on both sides. It's mostly luck that no one landed something impactful.

Most people haven't been in a fight since seventh grade, and even that fight probably wasn't serious. I sure haven't been in a fight in many decades (and don't want to), and doubt I'd be much use in a bar fight. I completely agree about the lucky part -- there was a moment early on where a guy went to stomp on the head of one of the white instigators (jumping in the air for extra power), and that must have missed or just not landed right, because that is something that could be incapacitating if not actually fatal.

About guns -- yes, many people own them, but few people carry them around routinely. Probably a number of people on either side of the fight had guns in their vehicles, but I'm not surprised that no one was carrying on a sunny day by the shore. (Or, perhaps anyone who was carrying had the good sense to stay out of the fight.) If the fight had gone on longer, or things had gotten more serious, maybe some people would have had time to run to the parking lot and back, but the police were there way before that could happen.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:41 AM on August 10, 2023 [2 favorites]

The scarier part of this is that asshole racists are going to arm themselves even more. And the next time, it's going to be tragic.
posted by storybored at 8:03 AM on August 10, 2023

Goddamn I'm old-- my first thought at the idea of jumping on someone's head was "Don't do that! You could fall and hurt yourself!"
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 8:23 AM on August 10, 2023 [2 favorites]

The scarier part of this is that asshole racists are going to arm themselves even more. And the next time, it's going to be tragic.

my thoughts went there, but I'm struggling to imagine an alternate timeline where events led to better outcomes.. certainly there can be worse outcomes, but living and acting in correspondence with trying to anticipate how you can minimize the shittiness of others is just not a viable way to live. I think standing up to it, and yes this may mean injury or death one day, is sometimes the only option
posted by elkevelvet at 9:43 AM on August 10, 2023 [1 favorite]

The scarier part of this is that asshole racists are going to arm themselves even more. And the next time, it's going to be tragic

Probably not a great use of mental energy to just make up scenarios in your head to fret about
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:45 AM on August 10, 2023 [11 favorites]

Probably not a great use of mental energy to just make up scenarios in your head to fret about

And that was sorta my point about the gun thing, especially in the context of talking to people outside the USA. There is a major issue with gun violence, yes. It is not to the point where every single violent confrontation involves them, or even should be assumed to involve them, and it's just weird to present reality that way.
posted by neonrev at 10:18 AM on August 10, 2023

The memes have been giving me life this whole week, it has been so much Black joy.

My favorite nickname for the swimmer is now Dock Cousteau.

I'm not going to worry about how the racists are gonna arm themselves even more because we already live in that timeline. We're taking a rare W in the face of belligerent racists.
posted by TwoStride at 10:34 AM on August 10, 2023 [13 favorites]

excellent quote from the Soulbunni video ob1quixote posted

You had white men rushing, coming in here to go focus on the fact that a white women got to say hello to a folding chair. ... Oh they were trying to shame us, they were trying to make it seem like we were uncivilized. ... They ignored the full context of the situation. ...

It's really the white privilege of it all, to think that you can join a hugfest to not expect to get hugged back, especially by the loving folding chair, ... and these white white were trying to fixate on that. As if they had a gotcha, which its wasn't. At the end of the day, you can't join a hugfest and not expect to get hugged back.

Note: the "hugs" and "hellos" are work arounds to YouTube content moderation,
posted by zenon at 11:39 AM on August 10, 2023 [15 favorites]

This could have gone south in so many ways

I see what you did there.
posted by scratch at 2:51 PM on August 10, 2023

This event may be more culturally impactful than the Stonewall Inn riot In N.Y.C.
.
posted by hortense at 3:45 PM on August 11, 2023

Hopefully they both remain culturally relevant to their respective communities, with no need to compare and contrast which is more impactful.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:04 PM on August 11, 2023 [11 favorites]

Chairs and crackers.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:45 AM on August 12, 2023

More coverage at The Root, including: It Turns Out Good Ol’ Fashioned Racism Is To Blame for the Start of Montgomery Brawl.
According to documents, the fight was started by a racial slur and a gun threat.
posted by Iris Gambol at 2:06 PM on August 9

Some commentators connected the caucasity to the Trump/Tuberville rally one block away the night before; but perhaps this is also not worth thinking about. Most of the reporting on that rally is about the indictment

I prefer to laugh at that video of the kids in formation, drilling with folding chairs
posted by eustatic at 3:02 PM on August 12, 2023

This Moment (yep, with a capital M) in American history has produced all kinds of emotions in me, but one of the things I find uplifting about it is the expressions of solidarity with my people from other people of color.

My FB feed has been full of images of folding chairs adorned with cultural signifiers from communities of color and indigenous peoples from all around the world, stating that they stand with us.

As I told one of my best friends, I absolutely cannot condone violence, but the U-N-I-T-Y in the aftermath of the brawl (and during it!) has been a supremely wonderful thing to behold.
posted by lord_wolf at 10:27 AM on August 14, 2023 [7 favorites]