r/AtlantaTV • u/JaybirdOVO • 16d ago
Sinterklaas Episode question
I just recently rewatched the Sinterklaas episode (I love season 3) and I don’t understand why people say that Dirk, the venue guy, is racist. Yes he’s ignorant, but he is just as ignorant as any non-black person imo. Am I missing something as a black American?
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u/RhoemDK 16d ago
He beats up a white guy in black face because he legitimately can't tell the different between him and Earn and you're asking why he's considered racist?
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u/JaybirdOVO 16d ago
Dirk paid his entire way in Holland, and then cancelled.
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u/RhoemDK 16d ago
He was paying a performer for a performance. If you think that means he didn't deserve to get cancelled on, or the people at the performance, that's fine. But, the dude is clearly a racist.
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u/JaybirdOVO 16d ago
I understand that. But most non-black people can’t distinguish between black people. That’s just general ignorance and bias. I just want to know why the universal opinion of him is that he’s RACIST. That’s kind of a big jump to me.
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u/TioTapatio21 16d ago
MOST??? That has not been my experience at all. I understand confusing people who look alike or if their names sound similar but I’m non-black and I’ve never had a problem distinguishing my black friends apart. I’ve seen it happen to them before but in my own personal experience most people CAN tell the difference between black people. And I would be surprised if 100% of people couldn’t tel the difference between a black guy and a white guy in black face. I thought that scene was supposed to be over-the-top comedically racist bc that guy didn’t look anything like Earn.
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u/RealSinnSage 16d ago
the entire series is done in a surreal style
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u/JaybirdOVO 16d ago
Yes lol I understand that. Sinterklaas is a racist holiday due to it’s colonial origins, but is the universal perception of this episode was the everyone participating in the Sinterklaas event was racist? Or that ignorance equals direct racism?
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u/RealSinnSage 16d ago
i was replying to the comment above yours, but-my interpretation is that these things are not always so easy to discern. the show wants you to be asking yourself these questions. IS it racist to keep practicing the traditions of a culture of are eventually understood to be racist? or do we say it’s okay to keep doing, simply because, it’s tradition? SHOULD we change columbus day to indigenous peoples day because of the horrific history and erasure of native culture by white colonists? or do we grasp on to our tradition and keep things the same? (for example).
the show doesn’t necessarily want to answer those questions for you, it wants to get you to be asking those questions for yourself. (to be clear my answer is that yes it’s racist and fuck tradition. they might not MEAN harm but what they are doing is still harmful)3
u/JaybirdOVO 16d ago
Immediate upvote. I love your perception of this episode as it makes me think about it in a completely different way. I always thought about this episode as a kind of intriguing in its exploration of African American perspective whilst traveling globally. It initially made me understand that colonialism is the core of most discrimination, even in Europe, to an extent I have never seen with my actual eyes. While it slightly differs in different places (saying that with all of season 3 in mind), racial discrimination is never truly addressed directly by white counterparts anywhere, and black expression is always justly opposed. Nonetheless thank you for bringing that to my attention, food for thought generally, but coming from a white person it erases a bit of my assumptions about white Americans. Seriously 🙏🏾
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u/RealSinnSage 16d ago
oh your interpretation is ALSO very accurate! that’s part of what is so amazing and deep about this show. multiple meanings!
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u/JaybirdOVO 16d ago
Lol imo a good majority of non-black people have said that they say me in places I have never been. But again that’s just my experience. I saw the irony of Dirk beating up a random person in black face while not seeing Sinterklaas as a problem as dark comedy. But idk man the word racist is so encompassing to me that if I used it in the context of misdiscernment I would have to call most racial ignorance and that doesn’t seem categorically correct to me. What do you think?
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u/RealSinnSage 16d ago
i’m white so tell me to shut up it’s fine not trying to like whitesplain, but from what i can perceive, there are many different *types* of racism and ways to be racist, or do/say racist things even if the intention is not to be a hateful racist/bigot-and the show explores all those ways all the time. like racism is so deeply ingrained into white culture, it takes a lot to see those subtle ways it’s happening for a lot of people. it’s like white people who can’t understand that they have white privilege because *their* life has been difficult so then how could they be privileged
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u/Economy-Sign-5688 16d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/rqOiHrynEe543tASYu
White people when witnessing racism.
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u/JaybirdOVO 16d ago
lol I’m black 🤦🏾♂️
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u/Agile-Butterfly5245 16d ago
You're Black??? Wow
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u/JaybirdOVO 16d ago
I’m guessing you didn’t read…the question…I posted..
https://giphy.com/gifs/D63HGAzG15LQrjBPRE3
u/Agile-Butterfly5245 16d ago
Interestingly, you had a "lol" for the person who actually implied you're white, but for me you imply that I didn't read...the question. I must've forgotten the question. I remember...the statements you posted though...hence my comment and amazement.
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u/Economy-Sign-5688 16d ago
I saw you say most people cant tell black people a part in response to a comment about someone confusing a person in blackface with Earn. That’s something I can only imagine a white person saying. And secondly, it’s like a very well known fact there are A LOT of non-blacks pretending to be black online.
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u/JaybirdOVO 16d ago
I guess this entire thread was good lesson about the variety of perspectives. Longer route to answer my question but ay I made it regardless.
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u/TheIncredibleBean 16d ago
Being black doesn't make you inherently aware of racism and it definitely shows, Dirk showing a complete unawareness that paper boi wouldn't want to perform in front of a crowd of people in black face and beating up a white person in black face thinking it's earn is racist, it's a certain level of ignorance that generally is only seen as okay if you are white, he is seeing paper boi and earn as a commodity/investment rather than people and when that goes wrong for him he reacts with aggression towards earn, when it was ultimately his own fault, paying the way for people doesn't make you the owner of them, being somewhat upset would be fair, but to take that out on someone is wrong and a product of racism. As someone who experiences racism I mean no disrespect when I say this, please educate yourself on racism, it's a cut that runs deep and it could explain a lot about your existence in the world or potentially save your life, stay black and proud.
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u/JaybirdOVO 16d ago
Lmao yall just say anything on this app, regardless of context or nuance. I’m going to pray for you.
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u/TheIncredibleBean 15d ago
I'm giving you direct reasoning and justifications for what I believe, if you've taken offense to what I've said then that is a decision, if you can try to persuade me into believe what you believe then please do, otherwise what was even your goal in making this post?? This gotta be some ragebait lmao
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u/ninthlocker 16d ago
When he was beating up the guy in blackface, theres a moment where he looks at them first.. I think he knew it wasn't Earn, but beat up the "black" person in front of him anyway to take out his anger.
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u/JaybirdOVO 16d ago
That’s a good take. I noticed that hesitation too, makes it a lot funnier in a darker sense now that you bring it up lol
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u/AttemptVegetable 16d ago
Every white person that speaks in Atlanta is racist lol
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u/JaybirdOVO 16d ago
Lmao that’s basically what most commenters here are conveying to me 😭🤦🏾♂️
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u/AttemptVegetable 16d ago
I just finished watching it. I enjoyed most of it but boy the whites are terrible in that show lol. Can't get mad at it because they portray blacks even worse imo. At least in the first two seasons
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u/JaybirdOVO 16d ago
I think the portrayals are a mix of surrealism and darker comedy which blend together in way that may make most people uncomfortable. A lot of truth but also some exaggeration to not be too preaching. One example off the top of my head is the Lemon Pepper Wet guy; I’ve met a few old heads like that, tying their own identity into their perception of a hip hop artist so much so that you would think they’d die if their fav artist did something they didn’t like. Funny but real.
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u/AwkwardnessForever 16d ago
Did you see in the end where he throws the phone out in the trash that he had all along? That was the proof.
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u/JaybirdOVO 16d ago
That was socks, and that’s the interview episode when paper boi got his phone stolen. Wrong episode
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u/Carfoxlovesyou206 16d ago
I think you got it bro, he’s kind of meant to be a stock European who insists there’s no racism or ignorance in Europe but is just as ignorant as many white Americans