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immalittlepiggy t1_j00lfke wrote

So, I used to work in a restaurant and every time we’d hire a new person I’d ask them what music they like so I could throw some onto the kitchen playlist. We had a woman of color start working for us that liked a lot of music similar to this band, and one of this bands songs was playing at the time, so I asked “Are you into Slaves?”

Of course they’d change the name AFTER I embarrassed myself like that.

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quitofilms OP t1_j00m42f wrote

She's likely telling that same story and having a laugh at you (in a good way) being embarrassed since she likely knew the band...

I, as a person of color, had someone say that, to motivate me, they were going to whip me...

Awkward eye moment

They said "I cannot believe I said that"

They didn't mean it in a racial manner just like you didn't

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DauthIeikr t1_j00p4bj wrote

I had a coworker a couple jobs ago who had a nasty habit of working off the clock. Free labor to the company. I didn't think about it before saying "are you trying to be a slave" (or smth to that effect) and it didn't hit me till the drive home. I will think about this when trying to sleep for the next 20 to 40 years.

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Isthisworking2000 t1_j014phq wrote

I can’t speak with the experience of a non-white person, but it SEEMS like it wouldn’t be a big deal. They were right to change it, but only because it was just an awful name.

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Shazbot42069 t1_j03f4xz wrote

Man, that's a shower thought moment they'll have to enjoy for the next 70 years.

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Opivy84 t1_j00yqmz wrote

I told a black coworker that something respectable he did was mighty white of him. I had heard someone in some fucking show say it, and for some ungodly reason it categorized in my head as a generally nice thing to say. Obviously, as soon as I heard the words in the open air, I froze. I apologized to the 3 people present and explained how I never said that phrase before and had just regurgitated some random shit. We turned it into a convo about unconscious racism and programming. The guy was super cool about it, we’re decent friends now, but I still die inside every time I think about it.

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Liet-Kinda t1_j02ffkd wrote

Ooooof, that’s the kind of thing that makes you want to leap screaming into a mine shaft 20 years later.

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Opivy84 t1_j02jfsa wrote

Yeah, especially because my grandparents were pretty racist, that side of the family fought on the wrong side in the civil war, so I’ve always been hyper conscious of not spewing that same vitriol.

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Liet-Kinda t1_j02m1ar wrote

Same story here. My grandfather dropped hard-R n-bombs well into the 1990s.

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somereallyfungi t1_j083vd0 wrote

I only use that phrase sarcasticly. "Oh, you took our seats" "Sorry" "Mighty white of you"

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quitofilms OP t1_j00jkg6 wrote

>"When we called our band Slaves, it was intended solely as a reference to the grind of day to day life,” the two wrote in a post on their new official Instagram page."

That tracks

>"Someone once wrote on our Facebook wall, ‘Nobody but African-Americans have a right to use the word slaves.’"

That's BS

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umastryx t1_j00mjig wrote

Like Egypt, Sparta, Mongals and many others didn’t happen.

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Professional-Can1385 t1_j00n2y0 wrote

Or Africans who were enslaved outside the US.

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silashoulder t1_j01skzq wrote

You mean “are”?

Slavery is still a huge problem in most of the world.

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donotdothething t1_j02bkqo wrote

It’s worse than it’s ever been

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Isthisworking2000 t1_j014vul wrote

Depends on what you’re referencing Egypt about. The pyramid builders were actually well respected craftsman.

Edit: I’m sure I’m still going to get downvoted into oblivion, but it would be cool if people actually tried reading the many articles and research out there before you do.

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umastryx t1_j02cvz7 wrote

Slavery occurred in civilizations including ancient Egypt, ancient China, the Akkadian Empire, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, ancient Israel,ancient Greece, ancient India, the Roman Empire, the Arab Islamic Caliphate and Sultanate, Nubia and the pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas.

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Isthisworking2000 t1_j047yft wrote

Slavery has occurred basically from the start of civilization to the current day. There’s even hidden slavery in the US, much of it still in the south picking tomatoes. There are some very interesting studies and articles on the subject.

That said, I specifically only mentioned the pyramids because they were proof positive built by experienced craftsman and tradesman that lived in large communities, well paid, with benefits most people wouldn’t have. Even sick days.

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silashoulder t1_j01t76s wrote

That’s another antisemitic dogwhistle, mi amigo. Yes, there were paid contractors involved in the architecture, but those paid contractors used slave labor to build. Denying the use of slave labor is erasure.

You’d be hard-pressed to find any monuments that don’t include a history of someone getting screwed out of a lot of money. See also: Gutzon Borglum’s Mount Rushmore.

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Isthisworking2000 t1_j0451kr wrote

No, they didn’t. There were entire communities of respected craftsman and tradesman. Archaeologists have definitive proof that they were not slaves. Try googling it, there is a LOT of easily accessible documentation.

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christhomasburns t1_j02qdc0 wrote

It is erasure, it's definitely not antisemitic. No one beyond a very few extreme religious types believes that the Hebrews were actually enslaved in Egypt.

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silashoulder t1_j02rjro wrote

I was trying to emphasize that the dogwhistle is the antisemitic part. Hence the separation between the two sentences. The notion that “They got paid, quit complaining” is common rhetoric in hateful circles.

See also: The “40 Acres and a Mule” rhetoric that racists often use to shut down discussion of reparations for black Americans.

Racism is a hell of a drug, apparently.

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Isthisworking2000 t1_j045lz9 wrote

They didn’t just get paid. They had amenities the general public didn’t have. They even got sick days. The only “evidence” that slaves built the pyramids is the same document that says the world flooded for a boat carrying two of every animal and the world is 6000 years old.

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Isthisworking2000 t1_j045axr wrote

I don’t know if they were enslaved, though if were using my the same text that spawns creationism, I’d hardly hold my breath. That said, the pyramids were not built by slaves.

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bird720 t1_j00rciv wrote

wait until they find out where the word slav comes from lmao. Absolute hogwash

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andygchicago t1_j00ptun wrote

OK I generally don't believe that woke stupidity truly exists and then they have to go and prove me wrong

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quitofilms OP t1_j00q3x8 wrote

I take it more as marketing than being Woke

Many venues and labels wouldn't want to deal with the social backlash of booking them

Would be a hard sell

Similar to just change the band name

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andygchicago t1_j00qiuz wrote

That’s totally fine, I get it, but highlighting a ridiculous statement like “only African Americans are allowed to used slaves” when slavery has impacted numerous cultures and races recently is absolutely, mind boggingly stupid. Maybe even a little offensive considering Australia’s history with slavery was primarily involving Aboriginal people

But also they’ve pretty much disqualified from calling themselves punk if they are seriously concerned about commercial issues

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BristolShambler t1_j01523o wrote

It’s literally a comment from some random on Facebook. It only has as much weight as we grant to it.

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andygchicago t1_j01aq61 wrote

As THEY granted to it is what I’m discussing. They highlighted it and changed their name, citing it. All I’m doing is calling them out

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UltimateThrowawayNam t1_j01zkn9 wrote

They could sincerely decide that isn’t a name they want for themselves. I mean, if they sincerely didn’t want that name but kept being called “slaves” to appeal to people then that would also be about commercialism. I don’t get the impression this is about selling more records. But maybe you have more direct insight into the band than I do.

I also think that FB comment is ridiculous but if it moved them to change their name sincerely then I would think that is “punk”. I also doubt that comment was the only thing that convinced them to reflect and change. It’s just one they felt worth sharing.

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andygchicago t1_j04tg2t wrote

But by highlighting a comment that says that only African-Americans can use the word slave, that’s erasure of the slavery the indigenous people of their home country endured. You don’t find that problematic?

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UltimateThrowawayNam t1_j06btky wrote

As I said, I thought that particular highlight was stupid and agree with you there. My main point was about how I don’t think this was a change based on commercialism and the band retains whatever “punk” status exists. And now with your new reply you ask about something else, an idea that I had addressed above. And at this point they’ve both seemed to have reached their conclusion.

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LowDownSkankyDude t1_j01v7mf wrote

There was a band in my home town called free beer, that had to change their name, cause bars wouldn't hire them. Sometimes the names are just too clever for their own good.

I imagine it's why throbbing gristle isn't the household name it should be.

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Theher0not t1_j01z12z wrote

Wasn't that what Barenaked Ladies used to be called too? At least I'm pretty sure I've read that somewhere.

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OrangeFortress t1_j00r1vs wrote

…it’s literally everywhere…. What do you mean you don’t believe it exists?

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Mischevouss t1_j00z1ol wrote

It means he don’t want to believe it exists and thus believes it doesn’t exist

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SomeOtherRandomHuman t1_j013wr1 wrote

You don’t believe one person is stupid enough to write that?

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andygchicago t1_j01dgy1 wrote

But then a punk band highlighting it and changing their name over it?

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Camus____ t1_j06gb9w wrote

Every group of people have been slaves at one point in history. Slavery was very common before the last 200 years, hells it’s not all that rare today.

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LowDownSkankyDude t1_j01uux9 wrote

Not gonna lie, I always felt weird telling people what I was blasting. They're pretty effing good, but yeah. I thought tropical fuckstorm, was a dumb name for a good band, but then I heard "one more day won't hurt", by Slaves. It was on repeat at work and the reaction of people who'd ask was hilarious.

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Murderyoga t1_j00nw0w wrote

That's what I like in my punk bands. Knuckling under to popular option.

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PM_ME_UR_DIET_TIPS t1_j00pdf3 wrote

Rain City Drive did it first.

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quitofilms OP t1_j00pyy6 wrote

TIL

>On June 25, 2020, the band announced that To Better Days would be their final release under the name Slaves, on a Facebook statement, the band wrote,

As obstinate supporters of the BLM movement, we cannot continue to tie our music and our positive message to a word associated with such negative weight and hurt.[31]

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Kukamungaphobia t1_j035wq5 wrote

Anthrax considered changing their name during the 2001 Anthrax attacks that made the news back then.

>After 9/11 and the Anthrax attacks that came after that, the band considered changing their name. Scott Ian jokingly announced that they were considering the name "Basket Full Of Puppies". They eventually decided to keep the name
>
>Anthrax.
>
>
>
>https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthrax_(American_band)#:~:text=After%209%2F11%20and%20the%20Anthrax%20attacks%20that%20came,They%20eventually%20decided%20to%20keep%20the%20name%20Anthrax.

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StallOneHammer t1_j00szn6 wrote

They kept all of the Jonny Craig era songs under the old Slaves name so that he’ll forever be tied to it

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mossryder t1_j00p5y4 wrote

How very punk of them. Cunts.

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No-Plankton4841 t1_j00ruhz wrote

Punk rock? Suuuure.

There's a metal band 'Enslaved'.

Is anyone actually getting offended over the word Slave in this context? Yes? Well sorry punk rock doesn't give a fuck.

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bevilthompson t1_j00tl5j wrote

How very punk rock lmfao. Pussies.

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djambates75 t1_j00w1vv wrote

I dont think they can call them selves a punk band anymore either.

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gyxkid t1_j00skek wrote

They wanted to show how slave they are by being real slaves to popularity

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Woodrovski t1_j034tb9 wrote

Anal Cunt is also changing their name to Evil Lovemaking Female Anatomy

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One-Patience4518 t1_j0hqvoo wrote

Limp dick would be a better name for the band

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EmbarrassedToe627 t1_j03khm7 wrote

It is so very punk to change your name because of people's feelings

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