As a fan who deeply respects and admires Nicole Byer‘s courage and resilience, I can only imagine the strength it takes to face such blatant racism while performing. Her story serves as a stark reminder of the challenges that Black entertainers often encounter, even in today’s supposedly more enlightened society.
At a previous performance in Wisconsin, comedian Nicole Byer shared an “unsettling” experience involving racist audience members who heckled her.
“During an interview on Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s ‘Dinner’s on Me’ podcast on August 6th, Byer shared that he had performed in Appleton, Wisconsin, a place he discusses in his special. However, he disliked the atmosphere there intensely, describing it as having negative vibes.”
She went on to say, “During my performance, there was a white host and a Black guest star. The audience was quite boisterous, and at one instance, my Black guest performer was up on stage…. A spectator in the crowd shouted, ‘Smile, we can’t see you.’ I responded with something along the lines of, ‘What are you talking about?'”
Byer stepped out onto the floor and inquired of the server, “Aren’t you going to say something?” To which the staff member replied, “What?” (This version aims to maintain the original meaning while making the language more conversational.)
The host of “Nailed It!” exclaimed, “Oh my goodness!,” following the event. Despite meet-and-greets being offered with tickets, she declined. She informed her agent, “I don’t want to meet these people. I’m certain there are kind individuals here, but overall, they seem unpleasant. They give off negative vibes.” She was shocked by someone’s words.
The comedian remarked that the most troubling aspect of the incident was that there were “no consequences.”
“She exclaimed that it was utterly astonishing,” she said, further explaining that it gave the experience an unsettling vibe. Later on, she discovered from a friend that Appleton had a past as a ‘sundown town’, a term which denotes cities that continued to enforce racial segregation against African Americans, even after laws against segregation were abolished.
After living through that unforgettable event and gaining new insights, I’ve found myself firmly resolved: “There’s no turning back for me; I won’t return to Appleton, Wisconsin.”
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2024-08-07 06:26