Happy Saturday, folks -- unless you tuned into Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign and were disappointed to see a Reggae band comprised of white people open for the Democratic Socialist in Brooklyn.
White reggae band opening for Bernie. pic.twitter.com/X2MpBmdlxc
— Daniel Marans (@danielmarans) March 2, 2019
As our liberal friends like to say about conservatives, many on Twitter quickly "pounced" on Sen. Sanders daring to have this band play. Liberals criticized him for having a band of white people rather one with Jamaican heritage.
Holy shit! You can’t make this crap up. A WHITE reggae band. ??????? #BernieInBrooklyn https://t.co/t8QYArCT5s
— Jim MacFawn (@JimmyFNmac) March 2, 2019
As noted by ThePalmsJamaica.com, Reggae comes from the term “rege-rege” which means “rags” or “ragged clothes” and was started in Jamaica in the 1960s. Reggae singers often sing about love, or "about rebellion and revolution against the forces impeding that love, like the extreme violence, poverty, racism, and government oppression." Thus, Chief among the aforementioned criticisms was the idea that Sen. Sanders was "gentrifying" Reggae by having white people play the music.
You don't come to my state, with a white reggae band, of all places Brooklyn, where the west Indian day parade take place every year, where we celebrate the west Indian culture. If you took this as a shot at the band, you're use to defending whiteness. Bernie gentrified rally. https://t.co/RvCZRPTvqt
— Mr. Weeks ???? (@MrDane1982) March 2, 2019
???????????????????????????????????????????????? https://t.co/5FQmfvFjon
— Dr. Kortney Ziegler ??? (@fakerapper) March 2, 2019
Nothing says Bernie Sanders like a, white reggae band playing in the Brooklyn the gentrification capital of the world. https://t.co/8Gxx3ZI95z
— The Cocky One (@CockyMF) March 2, 2019
Only criticism is the questionable use of a white reggae band in the middle of a Caribbean neighborhood and so many white mail staffers that I met. We should do better this time around #BernieInBrooklyn pic.twitter.com/kzPTVaG8L8
— C A S-Allen (@TheFemaleChris) March 2, 2019
The dictionary definition of gentrification is "the process of repairing and rebuilding homes and businesses in a deteriorating area (such as an urban neighborhood) accompanied by an influx of middle-class or affluent people and that often results in the displacement of earlier, usually poorer residents." However, advocates say that these "poorer residents" are often minorities being pushed out of their homes by affluent white people. The term gentrification has been warped a little bit to include any time a white person takes over a traditionally non-white activity. Many argue that Brooklyn has been gentrified, only adding irony to the entire day for leftists.
However, further reports show that the band actually was multiracial and featured two black guitar players, so it is unclear if these criticisms still stand.
I figured someone would say this. But there were actually two black guys playing in the “white” reggae band. Maybe it is a multi-cultural band? pic.twitter.com/i0E6Gi4WmJ
— ?? Clark Feels The Bern (@Clarknt67) March 2, 2019