What a week it’s been! I celebrated my birthday Wednesday and have had a particularly busy week at school. I had to cut back on a lot of my training but I’m happy to report that I fit in my long workouts and they were amazing!
Here’s a little of what’s been going on.
I came home on a break from school on Wednesday to find the house covered in fake money, gold chains and lots of loot with heavy rap music blasting.
And so began my Wednesday night gangsta semi-surprise birthday party.
I blew out my carrot cake birthday cake with a shot of Absenth. And that basically sums up the night.
The morning after I had twenty miles on the schedule (isn’t that always when the best nights happen?). I woke up late and had to get to work so I ran 17 miles…and they were awesome!
Thursday night we went downtown with friends and rounded out the night with some of the best pizza in Orlando.
Friday I made my way 30 minutes east of Orlando to Clermont, where the Great Floridian is next month, for some training. I rode 85 HILLY miles @ 16mph average followed by a four mile run. I’m learning that after getting off the bike, I’m best running slow and steady.
Much of my course took me around Lake Minneola where I’ll be swimming in a few weeks. It’s so beautiful!
What’s the best themed party you’ve been to?
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Is that Gino’s? I recognize the double plate. Yessss that stuff is goooood!
that sounds like a whole lotta fun right there. parties and long runs and nice hilly bike rides? yes thanks.
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Did no one at your party stop and think about why or how “gangsta/black” parties are hurtful and racist?
This might be a thought-provoking article for you, your husband, and your friends to read: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16912374/ns/us_news-life/t/black-stereotype-college-parties-spark-outrage/#.UGydt_ncrcY
I understand you were just having fun at a party your friends threw for you and may not have thought about the feelings I imagine you have provoked in some of your readers. Developing cultural awareness and sensitivity is a life-long process, and can be especially challenging for non-minority individuals. I hope this is a growing experience for you.
Wow, just wow. How do you not see (IMMEDIATELY) how insensitive and blatantly racist your party was? I am embarrassed just from looking at your pictures – I can’t imagine how I would feel walking into such a party. Actually, I know what I would do: turn around and walk out. This is disgusting and you should be ashamed.
Ash the only offensive part about your gangsta/rap party is that I wasn’t there to be a part of it. Glad you had a blast, people need to lighten up and learn to laugh at themselves. When I have my Jew party, yes I’m Jewish, you bet I’ll be taking advantage off all our stereotypical quirks.
When you say “lighten up,” you seem to be missing the fact that humor can still be hurtful, particularly when it’s coming from people with power and directed at people who have been historically marginalized (and still are today).
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Just want to second this really important point.
Also – thanks, Ashley, for taking responsibility for your post. I don’t agree with the stance you’ve chosen to take, but I do appreciate that you took the time to think about it. I wish some commenters had chosen their words more carefully, as I think harsh words make it really easy to dismiss the sentiment right along with the personal insults. I am sorry you had to read those rude things.
We’re about the same age. A few years ago I probably would have looked at this issue similarly to the way you are now. But, through education, working closely with disadvantaged groups, and swallowing a huge amount of pride, I’ve realized there are some things I truly can’t know as a white person. This party is an example – it just looks like good fun, and our friends (even the ones from historically disadvantaged groups like your Jewish friend) tell us it’s a great idea. So what’s the problem? The problem is explained by Rachel – there are just some types of “fun” that aren’t fun for everyone. White people have undeniable privileges that certain groups don’t have, and this power differential means it really is insensitive and hurtful to – for example, theme a party around stereotypes of inner city African American individuals.
The process of understanding this as a white person takes critical thinking, humility, and empathy. I choose to understand that I just cannot and will not know what it means to be a non-white individual in our society, so my go-to response is to validate the thoughts and feelings of those who do. In the case of your party, I know that similar parties have hurt people (as illustrated in the article I originally posted), so I wanted to bring that to your attention. The choice is yours whether you’d like to pay attention to those voices or not.
Here are a couple of links to articles I have found really helpful in developing my identity as a white person, and in understanding how that impacts my interactions with others:
Peggy McIntosh’s Invisible Knapsack: http://www.nymbp.org/reference/WhitePrivilege.pdf
Jezebel article on Hipster Racism: http://jezebel.com/5905291/a-complete-guide-to-hipster-racism
Thanks for reading, happy birthday, and please email me if you want!
First, kudos to your critics who were able to express themselves in a thoughtful, productive way, instead of posting hateful words and responding in blind anger. Second, Ashley, I think you clearly opened yourself up for attack here in a context that you may not have been prepared for. Personally, I don’t take issue with your party or pictures; I have a pretty good idea of who you are and I believe it was all in good fun. Obviously you wouldn’t have publicly shared the event if you felt you had to be ashamed of it. However, there are many out there who still link their own identity to the perception of others, and therefore will be outraged at anything that seems even the least bit culturally or racially insensitive (they are not always the same thing). I suggest you take an objective look at the who (attended), what (was happening), and why (that theme was fun) of your gangsta celebration and figure out whether it is something you should be ashamed of, or whether this was really just another theme party that anyone should have felt comfortable attending.
I couldn’t have said it better. Thanks for your comment.
Thank you for the comments. I recognize that my party can be taken as offensive to some and that as a public blogger, I do have a certain level of responsibility in what I post. The party was about rap music, fake money and a whole lot of silliness; it was never about a specific race. I’ve taken time to think about it and I’m not ashamed for the party but in hindsight I am sorry if it was taken as offensive. My friends and I don’t get caught up on stereotypes or worry about offending each other. But when I have my Holy Land Halloween party at the end of the month, I’ll take caution sharing the photos on the blog.
First off, happy birthday! Second off, it sounds like you had an amazing birthday and I am glad you had such a good time. I can see how some might take the photos/premise behind the party badly but I am totally with you…it was a night of silliness that didn’t appear (to me, at least) to poke fun at anything except for the ridiculous of some rap music.
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