Are people going crazy?

Lololol. What do the anarchists want us to drink instead? Shoplifted bud light?

 

So my image of Yellow Belly from Omnipollo was deleted as it was listed as racist imagery, even though the picture is listed on the beer on this website. Not to mention based on the name its technically the opposite of a racist imagery.

I stick by my comment of getting one and placing next to this said lamp.

 

It's hard to take a website seriously whose mission statement is, "Abolish all that currently exists!"

 

Seems like they see craft breweries as a common component of gentrification (in their view, segregation gentrification) efforts and are extrapolating from there to get to white supremacy. Craft breweries do tend to be a part of many neighborhood gentrification projects but poor choice of rhetoric and extreme demands make this a wasted opportunity for intelligent discussion on how to make craft beer feel more inclusive.

 

I agree that there are legitimate discussions to be had concerning gentrification in Seattle and the housing situation, but targeting craft beer as white supremacy is awfully low hanging fruit that is hard to take seriously. I feel bad that Standard Brewing was targeted in particular.

 

Here and now? I suggest not.

 

Or maybe Barrel Love Matters.

 

If the gentrification issue applies to the defunding or relocating of section 8 housing then I understand the plight, but if we're talking about rising cost of living we have to realize that can take place regardless of what kind of business moves into said neighborhood.

 

It's not section 8 being taken out. New people are coming to Seattle due to the tech boom, old houses and businesses are being torn down in way of new high rises and neighborhoods that historically were home to minorities and the gay community are no longer that. And our real estate market is also fucking insane right now. Most houses go $100,000+ over asking with lots of cash offers.

Beer.

 

I fundamentally disagree w/ any premise that craft beer is at all representative of white supremacy. However, even though I'm a longtime, dedicated participant in the craft beer scene, I will absolutely make the claim that it's a scene that's representative of white privilege. (And although there are many signs of change, perhaps it's more accurately stated as white male privilege.)

 

Sure, I'll give an abbreviated version of why I consider the craft beer scene to be representative of white privilege (if you ever wanna hear more, happy to grab a brewskie and chat):

i. A lot of my feeling is simply based on my observations of the scene, and these are my observations having lived in rural upstate NY, Boston, Pittsburgh, Philly, and now Seattle: It's a scene overwhelming comprised of, by most accounts, privileged white people. That's true of both the consumers and the brewers.

ii. Craft beer is fuggin pricey, often acting as a barrier to entry for many non-white minorities. (Also, "craft" anything is typically expensive, so this is hardly unique to beer.)

iii. Related to i. and ii., I've been a long time urban cyclist, especially in Pittsburgh and Philly, and I made a concerted effort to explore those cities, even the neighborhoods where I was completely out of place, both culturally and economically. Craft beer, at least presently, has no connection in these areas. People simply do not (cannot?) relate to it. This is obviously anecdotal evidence, but it's the evidence that has formed my own impressions.

In a nutshell, as a relatively privileged white dude that's deep in the weeds of craft beer, it's a feeling that's developed over time and one I doubt I can shake without literally experiencing something different.

(I'd also caveat all of this a bit: Saying the craft beer scene is representative of white privilege is not meant to suggest that anyone is actively promoting the scene to be one of white privilege. I don't think many of us want the scene to be this way. It's more of an implicit bias issue, I think.)

 

@ewendel put it well, John. Craft beer, like, say, designer cupcakes, is a luxury item--something that is relatively costly, unnecessary (in the scheme of things), and therefore only available to privileged consumers and communities...which overwhelmingly tend to be white (and male).

None of us should feel guilty about this, but we should maybe all be mindful about how lucky most of us are, simply by virtue of circumstance. And we should also try, every chance we get, to incorporate and enable others who are less privileged, whether it comes to (fucking) beer, or anything else far more important. Especially now...

 

After a close look at the website I still can't decide if it's serious or not. Obviously, gentrification is a real issue in both Portland and Seattle, rendered visible by new construction, higher prices, New Seasons & TJs, food cart pods, coffee shops, artisanal ice cream and - yes - craft breweries. However, the article is just so hyperbolic it's hard to take seriously.

Aside from misspelling the first word (crarft) the writer's style is faux academic, yet much of it makes little sense (which is why I thought it might be satire at first).

I also think the statement "Once a local grocer or corner store begins selling craft beer, as opposed to that which signifies the “other”(Old English, Steel Reserve, Fortified Wine, etc,.) it registers itself as a colonized space for the colonizer to patronize " perpetuates some racial stereotypes that anyone fighting for social justice would do well to leave alone (although they later acknowledge the sterotype isn't true, which makes it unclear why they said it in the first place). Furthermore, what if the corner store does what most do - sell both? Is it all good?

The website promises to soon publish some "anti-fascist propaganda" so I'll have to check that out later. Mabe it'll make more sense.

 

As hard as it is to follow, it's real.

 

Ok, now I looked at the previous article on the site and This one seems way more satirical.

https://actionfrontblog.wordpress.com/2016/12/04/everyday-white-supremacy-part-1/

 

He can correct me if I'm wrong, John, but that's all I took @ewendel to mean. Namely, that there's nothing about being white in and of itself that makes craft beer more enjoyable to people belonging to that race, but rather that the institutional and economic advantages that white people enjoy tends to make them more likely to have the time, freedom and money to plunge themselves into (semi-frivolous) craft beer culture--and whether as producers or consumers.

It is an eminently fair, and possibly unassailable point, in my view, and could just as easily apply to a whole host of other pursuits and industries. There was nothing more, I think, to his observation than this, but definitely also nothing less. Society has come a long way towards equality, but it still has a long way to go...

 

The author of the article is talking about breweries and bars moving into the neighborhood. I just don't see how this is comparable to the tech boom in Seattle.