Posted on 06/21/2020 6:49:50 AM PDT by Stravinsky
One day 40 years ago, actor and stuntwoman Sharon Schaffer returned to her SUV after riding the waves at Silver Strand Beach in Oxnard, California, to find a racial epithet written in dirt on its windows.
In surfing, "there was always the good, aloha vibe," she said recently, "but behind the aloha vibe was the other vibe — a locals-only, whites-only vibe."
"I shrugged it off," said Schaffer, of Los Angeles and celebrated as U.S. surfing's first African American female professional. "But I don't think I would shrug that off so easily today."
U.S. surfing, still viewed as largely white and advantaged, may be undergoing a new awakening following the death of George Floyd. The sport that helped popularize the graphic T-shirt, birthed skateboarding and gave the world a name for loafing online is, like other American subcultures, confronting a scourge of racism that has thrived within its own ranks.
On June 5, Schaffer was received with loud applause as demonstrators seeking justice for Floyd, who died May 25 as a Minneapolis police officer held a knee to his neck, gathered on the beach in Santa Monica for a "paddle out" in his honor.
The paddle out is a Hawaiian ritual to honor the dead. It includes venturing beyond the surf line, forming a circle of people on their boards, splashing water and tossing flowers into the sea.
"We have a right to exist on this Earth," Schaffer told the crowd of people kneeling around her, some with surfboards in hand, according to multiple videos of the event. "We have a right to be in the water."
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
I love surfing. And I would try to surf anywhere. But one fateful day, I went surfing on the West Side of Oahu. I had trouble in the water with people of dark brown skin, who said this was no place for White people (I’m light skinned Mexican) and when I got out of the water, my car had been broken into, wallet stolen and the car thrashed. Yes, I experience racism in a place where I should have experienced peace and harmony. This is what the truth is, it happens against everyone. The worst placer though, is Santa Cruz. White Privileged Surfers will slash your tires, break into your cars and attack you with knives in the water. The second worst place is Palos Verdes, in SoCal. Lunada Bay is the worst. There are a couple others, like just south of Carmel, San Francisco, and Aptos, strong liberal cities. They are the most intolerant and bigoted people in California. And I have surfed all over the world in a dozen countries and all over the USA. Even surfed in South Africa. The only thing I had to worry about there was sharks.
And this story is broadcast by what was once a leading source of news in this country. I shall patiently wait for the headlines about the “racist” NBA, NFL, etc. All such nonsense, but at the same time quite evil.
Yes. Many of the vehicle names currently identified as SUVs have been around much longer. Suburban, the CJ/Wrangler, Bronco, etc. The term SUV came about in the late 80’s. It is retroactively used to ID the older vehicles.
JKeep Cherokee
your catching on.
Get armed and stay armed. Protect yourself and yours. We are headed out the door to Church. I will be carrying. I always carry. So does my wife. The hoodlums will attack us even in Church. I plan to be prepared. The pastor is a retired US Army special forces lieutenant colonel. He is prepared also to protect his flock!!! Hooau!
The white liberals are going to be in for a shock when they are targeted.
I think that place on Oahu is called Makaha. Full of locals who will kill you for looking cross eyed. The cops in Hawaii are just as bad as the criminals also. When I was there some of the biggest dope dealers were the police. The place is beautiful, but I wouldn’t go back there. It’s a bad scene.
Despite Californians loving to think of themselves as post-racial and not burdened with the old racial hangups of back east, I found it riddled with strange racial subcultures that I just did not understand and could not navigate successfully. It was nowhere more prevalent than the beach towns, and especially on the beaches themselves. I’m not surprised.
Okay, someone has to address the elephant in the room. How many blacks swim? Very few and those that do, not very well. Best that they stay off the beaches for their own protection. Yes, it is racist, but I am white, therefore I am racist and there is nothing I can do about it according to BLM. I will increase my racism every chance I can get. Since BLM labels me a racist without knowing a thing about me they will get more than what they expect and wish for the old days. It's called push back from a formally non-racist person. (Sometimes I enjoy hyperbole, but I guess that is racist too.)
IH Scout
Surfing was INVENTED by Pacific Islanders. They come in all colors, some so black that a portion of the islands is called “Melanesia”.
Years ago my employer at the time had an event at an amusement park on the ocean. The four black employees failed to RSVP. I walked in just as the busy body party organizer confronted them in the public break room as to why they weren’t attending. The most senior on said “Black people don’t go to the beach because we can’t swim!” Wish I had a picture of the stunned look on the busy body’s face. Priceless. She immediately went into stammering apology mode and made it worse.
Of course there were SUVs, but they weren’t called that until the 80s. If you saw a 1935 GMC Suburban or a 1946 Dodge Powerwagon or a 1962 Jeep Wagoneer, you would call all of them an SUV.
I have no scientific proof to back this up, but it is said that black people have higher muscle density than whites. In other words, they sink. Obviously, that can be offset by fat, but then a fat black would flounder. The only black Olympic swimmers that I am aware of are sprint freestylers - pure muscles in and out of the water under 21 seconds. I highly doubt you'll see a black 1500m swimmer unless he is genetically challenged with white DNA. (Geez, this racism thing is fun!)
The DUKE is the GODFATHER of surfing to all surfers of any color.
This article is more propaganda from NBC. As a surfer my entire life and living at the beach in Southern California never have I witnessed surfers being racist. Territorial yes, if its not your break or city you could get hassled.
If you want to write about racism in surfing then look no further than Hawaii, the North Shore of Oahu has been run by guys of local decent for years picking out white surfers for their skin color not so much where the are from. Even island born whites get hassled.
Again, we have the media here stirring the pot, claiming surfing is some sort of exclusively owned sport. TOTALLY BOGUS DUDE !!!
Yeah, they were called station wagons then Lol
Yes, of course there have been suburbans and the like around for many many years. I guess the point I was trying to make is that they were not called SUVs, like you said in your post.
The surfer recounting the story said she went back to her SUV. If she was driving a suburban at that time, it would have been referred to as such. Suburban was used as a definition 40 years ago. Kinda like suv is used today.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.