Demonstrators intrude on St Louis Symphony Orchestra concert with a little musical interruption.
It looks like some in the audience are aghast at the invasion, but quite a few applauded.
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
I’m just going to repeat what I said on Facebook:
This demonstration was organized by a white woman in St Louis. Her eyes have been awakened to the racial inequalities in the wake of Michael Brown’s death. Anti-Racist activists need more white people to recognize their blindness and speak up and speak out. The institutional power in this country is held by white people and they are in a unique position to help tear it down, as well as raise awareness among others. Just as men are often in a position to call out sexism among other men-where women are often dismissed…so too are white people in a position to call out racism among other white people, bc black people (and Hispanic and First Nations people) are so often dismissed.
Great thinking and brilliantly done!
I saw this earlier, and it is a wonderful happening. As Tony mentions, this woman had one awakening at a Cardinals game, where people responded by chanting “Hands Up, Don’t Loot”. We have a long way to go.
As a (long retired) concert musician, it appears inappropriate. Then the part of me living through the civil rights and ‘Nam war protests of the sixties and early seventies goes *raise clench fist*. The latter wins.
I’ve been getting involved-somewhat, as my personality allows :)–with some social justice stuff–and something that a Native American said to my partner sticks out: ‘you should get more involved–they’ll listen to people like you’.
—>And then I feel real bad.
Because I *know* how much they listen to me. {</= 0}
And then to feel that your voice is even less than mine?
What kind of country have we built?
anyway–longtime lurker, seldom commenter– thanks for what you do, PZ.
I like the attitude shown by the conductor and the musicians – paying respectful attention to the protesters. Even some of the musicians were applauding at the end.
Powell Symphony Hall! What lovely memories this brings back for me.
I still have hope for the lovely city of my youth!
This is in what is called Midtown, near St. Louis University. The area around the symphony hall is diverse and the population is well-educated, thanks to the university. I hope that this attitude begins to catch on out in the county.
I think saying Demonstrators intrude is perhaps the wrong term. From the news report I heard, all of the protesters had purchased tickets to the concert.
George
georgemartin @8:
I agree with you. They not only bought tickets, but they didn’t interrupt the orchestra’s performance. They waited until intermission for their protest.
Had dust in my earlier. Hazard of living in the desert, you know.
But beautifully done. Respectful- they paid for their tickets, waited for the intermission, and left immediately after the protest. Powerful- not only in the choice of music, but in the venue. Primarily affluent white patrons who just may need to be made a bit uncomfortable to become more aware. Almost guaranteed media coverage. Activism isn’t dead.
The audience looked all white. Why?
Pete Seeger lives.
Also a great choice because it is one of the “safe” places for protest; there were a lot of relatively wealthy folks there, so it is one of the only places the cops wouldn’t just run in with sticks swinging and guns drawn.
At 0:36 I’m pretty sure somebody says “he was a thug”, and the camera operator seems to challenge him to repeat it at about 1:00. I’m appalled at the reactions of those who are clearly more interested in not having to think about injustice.
@14
I hear it too and the tone with which it is said says even more than the words themselves…what a fucking piece of shit…
That’s the whole point. “Yo white people! You don’t get to skate through life blissfully oblivious to this shit anymore.”
A great idea, and perfectly done. Good to see many people in the audience and on the stage responding positively, but oh my some of those people do look horrified. (They damn well should be horrified, but not for the same reason.)
“He-was-a-thug” guy is indeed scum. Is he the one making the great big cheesy grin at the camera once he realised he was being recorded?
Yeah, that’s the guy who said it. He got a lot of crap from people on Twitter, I heard. And yes, refused to say it again once he realized he was being filmed.
I loved this protest, venue-appropriate, powerful, well-planned and well-performed. So glad they had the good reception they had (minus those haters… but those faces are priceless, and so revealing).
I think this embodies what social justice protest is all about: peaceful without compromising the message, and occurring in a place where the people it’s aimed at are shocked and “inconvenienced”. That woman who appears to be outraged and shocked at the “rudeness” of the protesters seems to be missing the whole point. Or maybe she’s having an epiphany. Hopefully the latter.
Dear fellow white people, you disgust me.
Most of you sit through that protest and look as if this has nothing to do with you. The people who rise spontaneously seem to be overwhelmingly PoC at first. Later a few white people get up. And then some of you start clapping when you notice that you’Re going to look really bad if you don’t do anything now.
You can do better.
@20 Giliell
Uhm. What are they supposed to do? Was it necessarily participatory from the audience? Seriously, disgust? What kind of reaction is that?
Was there a particular reason they picked the symphony?
doublereed:
Care about endemic, entrenched racism?
doublerreed
A. Stop looking so fucking disgusted at the fact that their happy white bubble was busted.
B. Stand up and join. That’s what decent people do when they see their fellow beings stand up against injustice.
C, Yes, I’m disgusted at the continuous devaluing of black lives. This kid is dead. Others are dead. And white mainstream society acts as if those were isolated cases in which the black kid is somehow at fault. And when people gently, peacefully and artfully point out that their very lives are at risk, they act like the poor white people afre now somehow the victims because they had to wait for 5 minutes. If you’re nit disgusted by that I can’t help you
@22 Iyeska
No, I mean what are they supposed to do? Like physically? Are they supposed to get up and join in? Are they supposed to clap? Are they supposed to smile and enjoy the protest? Are they supposed to shout? Act shocked? What?
It’s purposefully being shocking, confusing, and surprising. To act disgusted at other people for their shock, confusion, and surprise is completely unfair.
doublereed – Of course it was participatory from the audience. The singers for Mike Brown WERE audience when they stood up and began singing. When other members of the audience who weren’t forewarned chose to respond or not to respond, it’s worth considering *why* they chose as they did.
Daily Kos:
The organizers gave accounts in the same article:
doublereed @24:
They could try listening to the message, and realize what the protesters are saying. Then they could decide that they’re opposed to racism, and stand up in support. It’s not hard.
I just don’t consider it immediately obvious that people are supposed to stand up and join in. I wouldn’t know if there’s another portion to the protest (which there was, because afterwards they said “Black lives matter”).
Maybe you think I’m a total fucking idiot and you’re disgusted with me. But I would cheer and clap afterward, not join in while they’re singing.
doublereed:
Yes, all of that.
I don’t think it was shocking or confusing. A surprise, yes. It should have been a welcome surprise.
No, it isn’t. I know exactly what Giliell was talking about, and she’s right. The majority of white people in the States are very comfortable with their racism, and they seldom think they are racist, and they sure as hell don’t want to bother changing anything. Of course, they don’t want to appear racist, so yeah, in the end they’ll stand up.
If a few people did get shocked out of their complacency, that’s a good thing, but I expect it was more along the lines of what Giliell said.
doublereed:
I think you should spend a few days reading the Good Morning America thread. Start on page 1, and go all the way through to page 4. You might learn something, rather than being content inside your own bubble of complacency.
The article from rawstory says this happened during (or after, considering the orchestra onstage) intermission, when they were about to perform Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem. I don’t know what other reasons they may have had, but that’s appropriate.
Seriously, read the Daily Kos article. It’s by Shaun King, who’s been covering Ferguson since the first weekend, and he interviewed the organizers. Link again
Elizabeth:
@29 Iyeska
I think that kind of undermines the point. This is an immediate reaction. That video is only 2 minutes long. No one there has the time to read that thread before reacting.
And because of my hypothetical idiocy and lack of immediate reaction to a surprising situation, you and Giliell are disgusted with me. I think that’s unfair.
But sure, I’ll read the thread. Maybe it will shock me personally out of my complacency and my hypothetical actions, but I doubt it will change my opinion that disgust an unfair reaction.
I think you’re interpreting them unfairly. If you don’t know the words or the tune, or don’t otherwise know what’s happening next, they wouldn’t expect you to be a psychic and do it anyway. I’m pretty sure they simply expect you to not act like an asshat if you were in such a situation, just as I would expect. You apparently wouldn’t do that, so it isn’t directed at someone like you. But if there is actually something for you to act defensively about here, that’s entirely up to you.
@33 consciousness
Fair enough. There were some people with almost comically bad reactions.
Thanks to those for the links to the context of the protest. It sounds quite powerful and well chosen.
doublereed
You know what I find unfair?
That Mike Brown is dead, that the man who killed him is not treated the way he should be treated, that many people think that this is OK and that you are making this about yourself as if your poor fee-fees were the most important thing here.
doublereed:
Where did I say I was disgusted with you?* Or are you assuming the burden of all white people on your shoulders? It has been explained to you, the problem of white people and racism in the States. There’s no need for you to take it personally, however, living in the States, I do take it personally. There is no excuse to act as if racism isn’t really a problem, and when a white person in the U.S. tries to raise consciousness about racism, and is countered with people chanting “Hands Up Don’t Loot”, it’s a stark illustration of just how bad things are, and that people need to act.
*Giliell was speaking about people at the symphony, not you. So, you were at the symphony performance, then? (If not, you really need to stop acting like this is all about you.)
CR @ 33:
Yes. This was explained, upthread.
doublereed #32:
Then maybe, since they live IN St. Louis, where protests over Mike Brown’s killing got national-level media attention and events have been ongoing ever since, these audience members could and should be expected to have a minimum level of awareness, interest, and education. (The one who muttered “thug” obviously recognized what it was about.)
Remember why the citizens of Ferguson protested with such fervor and outrage in the first place, on the weekend of August 9th? Because otherwise cops killing black people for no reason gets swept under the rug.
Pteryxx:
The killing and protests got international level media attention – we had people chiming in from outside the U.S. to say Ferguson had made their front pages.
I’m wondering if anyone in the St. Louis Symphony considered officially dedicating the program to Brown (and the rest of Ferguson) or if anyone in the protest proposed it to them. I’m not sure if the big muckety-mucks in the donors list would have approved, but fuck ’em. Anyway, was there resistance to it from someone in the organization or elsewhere?
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-worlds-media-covering-ferguson-2014-8
Iyeska: true but I don’t expect that many people at the St. Louis Symphony this weekend were following international Ferguson coverage more closely than local or US coverage. Much less doing so in the two-minute window between hearing the protesters start to sing and deciding whether to stand up or applaud afterwards.
Though I hope at least *some* of them who were surprised are reading up *now*.
CR @ 39:
Going by the Daily Kos article, no. I don’t think that would have been effective anyway – a dedication would have allowed white people to feel all good about themselves, allowed the open bigots to handwave it quietly away, and wouldn’t have shaken anyone’s complacency.
Pteryxx:
Yes. I made that point specifically for doublereed, who is not in the U.S., if I recall correctly.
Well, that’s good if it’s true. The VP felt free enough to write a supportive tweet, so it can’t be all bad. I’m not saying the protesters should’ve worked that way because it’s a better idea of something; but if there was bullshit happening behind the scenes, I’d want the bullshitters put in the spotlight and held responsible.
Perhaps you’re right, but I doubt the “he was a thug/criminal” dude was shaken as it is. His handwaving wasn’t quiet, but it also was certainly still happening. Maybe the seats would be emptier (which isn’t entirely good), because some of the bigots wouldn’t attend such a concert — especially if there were something more tangible than a line on the program notes, like some of the proceeds going to the Brown’s legal fund or something like that. Then they wouldn’t have the satisfaction of hearing Brahms live, unless they want to help.
I wouldn’t have joined in the singing either. Before you ascribe motives, it’s because my singing voice should never under any circumstances be inflicted upon the public. I would have clapped and applauded, and if necessary played human roadblock to someone attempting to make the singers stop. I
I was pleased to see that there weren’t ‘security’ officials trying to stop the protest or manhandling the singers. Probably because it appeared that most of the singers were white… and I’m actually really glad to see that quite a few white people were willing to make such a public stand.
WithinThisMind @45:
I feel the same.
Well, Kos’ format confused me. I’m actually following the link to The Rest is Noise, and that wasn’t a tweet but a comment he made during the radio broadcast. It was after someone said “now for some real music!” (some fucking idiot, apparently, who moans about “real music”).
People being stunned and not sure how to react is a normal human reaction. They’re at the symphony, their mental protocol is “sit and be respectfully silent.” When this is interrupted, now the question is which mental protocol takes over.
(White) Folks who may internally object to racism and support the Ferguson protestors may still not have ingrained mental reflexes to speak up about it because their environment hasn’t encouraged them to do so (or actively discouraged them, possibly). So their feelings and their mental protocols–how to react in a situation–are confused. Two minutes is a long enough time that some people got past their surprise and were able to applaud.
Perhaps if there are more such demonstrations in mostly-white spaces, it will allow those people to feel more comfortable and ready to speak up against racism. I assume that was the intent of the demonstration (“Which side are you on?”): to encourage those folks to feel safe to speak up in the future. White people definitely have much more safety, particularly physical safety, than POC to speak on this topic. But social pressure is still a thing, and they are still humans, with all the baggage of socialization.
Consider that some assholes felt perfectly safe to make their support for the other side obvious. That right there tells us which way many people in the audience are socialized, and why even those who support the Ferguson protests might have a hard time speaking up. That is clearly an environment where racism is condoned, and speaking against it shouted down and derided.
Again, look at the horrified woman at 1:20. She looks as if she expects an army of scary black folks to come charging in right then and start slaughtering everyone. That is the bullshit she’s been fed her whole life. I’m glad she was discomfited; maybe she’ll think about it later and wonder what other lies she’s been told. I hope this was just one of many counterexamples she’ll experience in her life until she finally understands what a pot of bullshit she’s been stewing in.
But I’m not going to sneer at the people who have been socialized in a racist environment for not instantly getting over it. Yes, it’s long past time they did, but that’s not how humans work. What needs to happen is more demonstrations like this, to re-socialize them to a more expanded, inclusive understanding of the world.