Avatar Incident

DIVERSITY UPDATE 2006

Opportunity Siezed???

Foot in Mouth (big time) department....... From Musings by Vern Stewart

February 4^th, 2006: Picture this: You are attending a large Southern California Avatar Club anniversary. Over 160 leather folk in attendance. The time came to do the parade of colors. From the pre-printed sign up list, the President of the club announced the following knowing it was not politically correct: “United Niggers on the Corner” as a club. Needless to say there is no such club. The room became so silent that you could have heard a rat urinating on cotton four blocks away. Jaws dropped. Insulting and insensitive to those in attendance.

Not funny in the least, and at some point the President of the club made an apology to those in attendance.

February 7^th, 2006

[Editor's note: This story is confirmed and deplorable. A blanket apology is not nearly enough in this instance. A face-to-face and personal written apology is due to those offended as well as to the directors of Avatar from its President and all those involved in writing and printing of the script/list - not by some representative. Removal from office or the organization should be considered. Permanently! It feels horrible! And BTW, this President is in an interracial relationship. Shameful!

Those involved as well as our entire community should all be worrying and concerned about why such outrageous, offensive comments are said, and why it would be taken as a joke.

There is also another issued contained within all of this that must be addressed and that is, that any sort of "joking" about colors, is disrespectful to the entire of Leather Tradition itself.

When things like this happen it opens the door to opportunity just as it has recently done for the San Francisco 49ers with their new diversity program. Programs and plans are only as good as their implementation, however.]

------- Forwarded message follows -------

Date sent: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 10:59:56 -0800 (PST)

From: Das

Subject: United N*##%@s on the Corner

To: Phil Ross <leather@leatherweb.com>

Greetings: Avatar Members and Board of Directors:

My name is DAS and I wish to express my comments regarding the unfortunate incident that took place at the otherwise very enjoyable Avatar Anniversary Dinner on 02-04-06.

Let me first say that I do not believe that the inclusion of the hoax "United Niggers On the Corner" was a joke or accident. I do believe it was deliberate and malicious. As a black man I felt myself and other African-Americans in attendance targeted. I can only assume the insult was perpetrated by someone within the Avatar ranks or close to the organization.

Let me say secondly, that I appreciate the efforts of the club Pres. Bert and club Founder Alexi to clarify and apologize for the incident. I accept.

I am saddened that someone used the Avatar event as a platform to vent his prejudice and racism. I urge Avatar to investigate and deal sternly with all responsible.

Word, news and rumors have spread across the country and it would seem to me that the prestige, image and integrity of Avatar have been damaged.

I would encourage Avatar Club to address this issue in a forthcoming and public way so as to restore your organizations goodwill and good standing.

Such a move would do much to reassure all People of Color. that Avatar Club Los Angeles is a beacon of education and inclusion - a true leader of the Leather Community. I remain a friend and supporter of Avatar and wish the club well. Any service or help that I might provide is at your disposal.

Yours in Brotherhood,

DAS

Trident LA

blktop108@yahoo.com

February 18, 2006 (Opportunity ceased.)

Good News – Positive Outcome:

The unofficial report is that the Board of Directors of Avatar met on February 15th and confronted the individual who set this script to print. Word is that he will no longer be welcome as a member of the organization. Avatar states that it does not tolerate such an attitude and word is that it has taken action to assure this will remain an isolated incident. Let’s hope so.

Some ten years ago there was seldom a person of color in attendance at Avatar functions. At the above event there were eight present, two of whom are members, one who is pledging. This could be a pivotal moment in the club history whereby it takes an open stand in support of present and future diversity.

Again, let’s hope so.

Stay tuned for official word from Avatar Los Angeles…

February 22, 2006
[ED: Well, the beat goes on and it's oh so very, very difficult to fathom why Avatar "ain't sayin' shit" -see below-
It looks like "opportunity siezed" is turning into "opportunity ceased".]

BlackKat - American LeatherMan 2005/06 writes:
" Now, while I was ALL UP IN MY BLACKNESS in Hotlanta…there was a whole different kinda thing happening in Los Angeles. If you haven’t heard by now I will just give you the condensed version. At an Avatar event during the Parade of Colors, a new club was announced during the processional, United Niggers on the Corner! Now in case you missed Vern’s column, the best parts of the story…"

"Before I go further you should know UNC ain’t know real club…DUH!!! But, the best part of all of it for me is the silence around the issue! I know several non-Black folks who were there who have decided to dismiss it or say nothing. Now, other times when I have brought up incidents of racism people act like I am one of the dayum Grimm Brothers or Hans Christian Andersen, but this is so public and so overt that you can’t escape it…or so you would think. The folks who have been cheerleading about how diverse and “Kuumbayah” the leather community must have all had their tongues snatched out by some of my feline kin, cause they ain’t saying shit!"

"Well, this isn’t ROAR! so I will swerve this a little differently. While ignorant asses work hard to demean us of our heritage and legacy, it is clear that Blacks have made great contributions to the leather/BDSM/fetish communities...."

"Find out a little ABOUT my time off, and how the "United N!**$s on the Corner" got me off my ass!" - ...and please use your 'back button' to return to LeatherWeb.com

On February 4, 2006, Avatar held an Anniversary dinner. As part of the celebration, it is Avatar?s tradition to acknowledge representatives of other organizations that are present at the dinner.

Before the dinner, an announcement was made for the representatives of any club present to put their club?s name on a list to be read during the presentation of colors.

A person who is not a member of Avatar entered the name of a fictitious club (on a hand written list) using a derogatory term deliberately intending to embarrass Avatar. The current president of Avatar announced the name of the club during the parade of club colors.

After it became clear that the club was fictitious, both the president and vice-president issued an apology from the podium, and also personally apologized to each guest to whom the derogatory term was directed.

After we had our board and general meeting we disided that we will take action and that this person will never be alowed at any of our functions.

Avatar offers their deepest apoligy to anybody that was and is offended by this.

MY deepest regards,
Yours in Kink and Leather
Bert Simon
President Avatar Club Los Angeles

Greetings Avatar Club Board of Directors and Members: I have received Pres. Bert's e-mail regarding the hoax at the club dinner event on 02/04/06. The e-mail gave me a better understanding of how the distasteful hoax came about. I commend Avatar Club for addressing the issue forthrightly and for the action taken as stated in the e-mail. Having done so let us hope that rumor and misinformation is ended. I remain yours in brotherhood.
DAS
Trident LA
blktop108@yahoo.com -30-

Editorial