September 14, 2011

Kelis has taken to Twitter after she was allegedly the subject of a recent verbal racial attack at a London airport.

In a series of rants on her page Twitter/iamkelis, the singer said she was abused after she was accused of queue-jumping at passport control.

She wrote:

This fat red faced sweaty 'man' (I use the word man loosely here) started calling me a 'slave' and told me to call him 'sir' and how I was probably a 'disgusting Nigerian'. He called me 'kunta kinte' and ranted and raved some more. The man behind the passport desk laughed, shook his head in agreement I guess, and said 'kunta kinte'. All the while the entire line full of people I just sat on a plane with for almost three hours said nothing. I mean literally nothing. Didn't flinch.

Kunta Kinte was the name of a central character in Alex Haley's 1976 novel Roots: The Saga Of Am American Family. The character was an 18th century Gambian man kidnapped into slavery.

The singer went on to say that "racial issues in the UK are disgusting" and suggested the recent riots were caused by racial tension.

She added:

I didn't say anything at the time of the riots in London for a lot of reasons. But I am in London all the time and today I'm gonna say that racial issues in the UK are disgusting. It's racially decades behind progression because everything is swept under the rug. People don't talk about it. People don't fight about it. Not mentioning a problem doesn't make it go away.

http://www.nme.com/news/kelis--2/59207

Well, I'm sure rolling around in a pile of Nas's money will help her get over it. If he'd had known who she was, he might have called her Cunta Kinte.

By Nas' money do you mean child support and alimony? Why shouldn't he pay? And what do court-ordered payments have to do with overt acts of racial insensitivity?

Identity said:

By Nas' money do you mean child support and alimony? Why shouldn't he pay? And what do court-ordered payments have to do with overt acts of racial insensitivity?

Yes, I meant alimony; no I didn't mean child support. Why SHOULD he pay? She has had her own money. On the last question: nothing, but I connected them.

BlaqueKnight said:

Well, I'm sure rolling around in a pile of Nas's money will help her get over it. If he'd had known who she was, he might have called her Cunta Kinte.

I'm sorry, I'm having a hard time understanding how Nas not asking for a prenuptial agreement and being racially attacked at an airport have to do with one another.

Unholyalliance said:

BlaqueKnight said:

Well, I'm sure rolling around in a pile of Nas's money will help her get over it. If he'd had known who she was, he might have called her Cunta Kinte.

I'm sorry, I'm having a hard time understanding how Nas not asking for a prenuptial agreement and being racially attacked at an airport have to do with one another.

Did you skip the post above yours before you typed this? I said nothing; I CONNECTED them.

Racism sucks. She already knows that. Most black folks deal with it throughout life at some point and time unless they stay sheltered and never leave the communities they grew up in. Even some of them deal with it and are so used to it that they just accept it. Its not new.

She's right. It is "disgusting" as she put it.

She's still a gold-digger. But I digress.

If she's a gold digger, what does that make Nas, a deadbeat dad? He had to be legally forced to feed his child with her.

Identity said:

If she's a gold digger, what does that make Nas, a deadbeat dad? He had to be legally forced to feed his child with her.

HELLO!

[Edited 9/14/11 12:30pm]

What rubbish, London is one of the least racist places in the world...hell there's nearly every nationality in the world represented there.

TheFreakerFantastic said:

What rubbish, London is one of the least racist places in the world...hell there's nearly every nationality in the world represented there.

"Rubbish"? Really?

So those recent riots had nothing at all to do with race or ethnicity?

No it wasn't a race riot...

TheFreakerFantastic said:

What rubbish, London is one of the least racist places in the world...hell there's nearly every nationality in the world represented there.

Stuff like this . . . since when does representation = not racist???

South Africa was 99% black during Apartheid

And let's not forget about the inequality in Brazil

[Edited 9/14/11 13:19pm]

^ I'm speaking as someone who visits there frequently and have worked there. London is not a racist place, it is very tolerant.

You can't make judgements if you've never been there and don't know the climate.

The riots WERE NOT RACE BASED. They may have involved a lot of blacks but it wasn't an inter race riot.

TheFreakerFantastic said:

^ I'm speaking as someone who visits there frequently and have worked there. London is not a racist place, it is very tolerant.

You can't make judgements if you've never been there and don't know the climate.

The riots WERE NOT RACE BASED. They may have involved a lot of blacks but it wasn't an inter race riot.

I've been to London several times. Are you black? If not, YOU can't make judgments and assumptions about someone ELSE's experience as a black person.

[Edited 9/14/11 13:42pm]

Seems like London has class issues which almost always involve race and economic status. I don't live there but I'm willing to bet my life's savings that its no paradise with racial harmony.

HotGritz said:

Seems like London has class issues which almost always involve race and economic status. I don't live there but I'm willing to bet my life's savings that its no paradise with racial harmony.

But for some reason we're supposed to believe they are exempt or unaffected by racism when England instituted MOST of the shit through colonization and is STILL reaping the benefits. Please.

As for Kelis situation, I would be disappointed too if people around me witnessed me or someone else being racially attacked/insulted and did/said nothing.

SCNDLS said:

HotGritz said:

Seems like London has class issues which almost always involve race and economic status. I don't live there but I'm willing to bet my life's savings that its no paradise with racial harmony.

But for some reason we're supposed to believe they are exempt or unaffected by racism when England instituted MOST of the shit through colonization and is STILL reaping the benefits. Please.

As for Kelis situation, I would be disappointed too if people around me witnessed me or someone else being racially attacked/insulted and did/said nothing.

I'd be in jail for smacking that dude in his fuckin' mouth.

HotGritz said:

SCNDLS said:

But for some reason we're supposed to believe they are exempt or unaffected by racism when England instituted MOST of the shit through colonization and is STILL reaping the benefits. Please.

As for Kelis situation, I would be disappointed too if people around me witnessed me or someone else being racially attacked/insulted and did/said nothing.

I'd be in jail for smacking that dude in his fuckin' mouth.

They know not to try that shit with Naomi

SCNDLS said:

HotGritz said:

I'd be in jail for smacking that dude in his fuckin' mouth.

They know not to try that shit with Naomi

A celly..........2 the throat.

BlaqueKnight said:

Unholyalliance said:

I'm sorry, I'm having a hard time understanding how Nas not asking for a prenuptial agreement and being racially attacked at an airport have to do with one another.

Did you skip the post above yours before you typed this? I said nothing; I CONNECTED them.

Racism sucks. She already knows that. Most black folks deal with it throughout life at some point and time unless they stay sheltered and never leave the communities they grew up in. Even some of them deal with it and are so used to it that they just accept it. Its not new.

She's right. It is "disgusting" as she put it.

She's still a gold-digger. But I digress.

[img:$uid]http://stylealchemy.com/ruminations/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/lafayetteearrings.gif[/img:$uid]

paisleypark4 said:

[img:$uid]http://stylealchemy.com/ruminations/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/lafayetteearrings.gif[/img:$uid]

Look at the eyes! That's how you KNOW it's going down when you get the unwavering gaze . . . yeah that's ya ass!

paisleypark4 said:

[img:$uid]http://stylealchemy.com/ruminations/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/lafayetteearrings.gif[/img:$uid]

That's a hair brush beatin' just waiting to happen.

As an ethnic minority in England living in the inner-city..... if you don't think there's SERIOUS race issues in this country you have no fucking idea.

And yes, the riots were race related. A black man in London was shot dead by police officers for no reason and that's what triggered it. This is not the first time, there have been dozens of such cases, and dozens of black deaths from police brutality, both in jail and on the streets. There's so much racial profiling it's unreal and the conservative government is making things a LOT worse.

There is also a lot of inter-racial problems, ie Asian communities VS Black communities..... Three Asian guys were murdered by a black guy at the peak of the riots because they were trying to defend their businesses from the looters.

I have lived in this country most of my life, was born and raised here, and things have NEVER been worse than they are right now in regards to race. So this Kelis story doesn't surprise me at all.

Militant said:

As an ethnic minority in England living in the inner-city..... if you don't think there's SERIOUS race issues in this country you have no fucking idea.

And yes, the riots were race related. A black man in London was shot dead by police officers for no reason and that's what triggered it. This is not the first time, there have been dozens of such cases, and dozens of black deaths from police brutality, both in jail and on the streets. There's so much racial profiling it's unreal and the conservative government is making things a LOT worse.

There is also a lot of inter-racial problems, ie Asian communities VS Black communities..... Three Asian guys were murdered by a black guy at the peak of the riots because they were trying to defend their businesses from the looters.

I have lived in this country most of my life, was born and raised here, and things have NEVER been worse than they are right now in regards to race. So this Kelis story doesn't surprise me at all.

Humans are really disappointing.

TheFreakerFantastic said:

^ I'm speaking as someone who visits there frequently and have worked there. London is not a racist place, it is very tolerant.

You can't make judgements if you've never been there and don't know the climate.

The riots WERE NOT RACE BASED. They may have involved a lot of blacks but it wasn't an inter race riot.

It is tolerant but it doesn't mean there is no racism, speaking as someone who spent my formative years in London. Infact the racism in the UK IS buried quite deep and therefore it is not obvious to anyone , who hasn't lived and worked in UK, who is not blACK. But if your black and you have lived and worked in the UK you will see how it is swept under the rug.

Quite frankly the success of someone like Oprah, Obama and even Mj would NEVER happen in the UK. As a black person in the UK you can really only go so far. Don't let the huge number of mixed relationships fool you to think there is hardly any racism in the UK.

[Edited 9/14/11 13:58pm]

The race issues in London are small fry compared to parts of LA or some Southern states, and if anyone is oppressed it is the whites!!

Militant said:

As an ethnic minority in England living in the inner-city..... if you don't think there's SERIOUS race issues in this country you have no fucking idea.

And yes, the riots were race related. A black man in London was shot dead by police officers for no reason and that's what triggered it. This is not the first time, there have been dozens of such cases, and dozens of black deaths from police brutality, both in jail and on the streets. There's so much racial profiling it's unreal and the conservative government is making things a LOT worse.

There is also a lot of inter-racial problems, ie Asian communities VS Black communities..... Three Asian guys were murdered by a black guy at the peak of the riots because they were trying to defend their businesses from the looters.

I have lived in this country most of my life, was born and raised here, and things have NEVER been worse than they are right now in regards to race. So this Kelis story doesn't surprise me at all.

And isn't it amazing that you have a completely different perspective/experience than other people who live there who are not minorities but INSIST that there are no race issues???

[Edited 9/14/11 14:03pm]

whatsgoingon said:

TheFreakerFantastic said:

^ I'm speaking as someone who visits there frequently and have worked there. London is not a racist place, it is very tolerant.

You can't make judgements if you've never been there and don't know the climate.

The riots WERE NOT RACE BASED. They may have involved a lot of blacks but it wasn't an inter race riot.

It is tolerant but it doesn't mean there is no racism, speaking as someone who spent my formative years in London. Infact the racism in the UK IS buried quite deep and therefore it is not obvious to anyone , who hasn't lived and worked in UK, who is not blACK. But if your black and you have lived and worked in the UK you will see how it is swept under the rug.

Quite frankly the success of someone like Oprah, Obama and even Mj would NEVER happen in the UK. As a black person in the UK you can really only go so far. Don't let the huge number of mixed relationships fool you to think there is hardly any racism in the UK.

[Edited 9/14/11 13:58pm]

Respectfully disagree...