We've recently documented the string of robberies happening to bands in St. Louis and wrote a PSA advising bands to either never leave your van unattended in the area, or just skip the city altogether to avoid being robbed.
Last night, Cali metalcore group Kingdom of Giants had their van broken into and lost a few laptops and passports. This prompted Kansas City metalcore band The Browning to post a Facebook status trying to be helpful, maybe… but instead comes off incredibly racist:
Our friends in Kingdom Of Giants are yet another band in a long line, including ourselves, to fall victim to personal property theft in St Louis, MO. This is just disgusting and it's beyond out of control. While ignorant citizens of Ferguson are stopping traffic to "raise awareness" of a year old tragedy that every person in America already knows about, let us come together to raise awareness of the ongoing wave of crime that continues to plague bands and fans alike. More and more bands are refusing to play in St Louis because it's simply not safe and this affects the fans who would love nothing more than to see their favorite bands just one more time, but no longer can. Please share this post and drop by Kingdom of Giants page and leave them something positive!
They eventually deleted the "ignorant citizens" part, but Facebook keeps a record of all edits. Here is a screenshot in case they delete it. There is so much wrong with this statement, I don't know where to begin. Luckily, Intronaut frontman Sacha Dunable saw the post and left a comment that perfectly summarizes exactly how ignorant the above post reads:
You're correlating some stolen personal property (which is coverable through homeowner's or renter's insurance) to violence and hatred that's a result of institutionalized racism – one of the biggest problems our country needs to face. You downplaying the protester's efforts is true ignorance, and clearly helps perpetuate other hateful and unproductive sentiments, as seen in this comment thread. St. Louis is definitely a dangerous place but you need to think about what made it that way.
Perhaps, the band came to their senses, or they got a frantic note from management telling them to shut up. The band have began peddling back on their statements, responding to accusations of racism with the following:
Guys lets try to get along. This post was not meant to offend anyone and we are seriously sorry if it has. We are not comparing Ferguson to St Louis other than that they are basically the same area. As we already stated, what has happened in Ferguson was and still is a tragedy. We do not intend at all to downplay that or to say that some stolen laptops can compare to the loss of life. All we were saying is that standing in the road to stop traffic isn't going to do anything but cause more senseless violence. People were almost run over for that. It all needs to stop. The murder, the theft, the violence. We can live in a world of peace if we all just try!
If you don't like our music, please feel free to unlike our page and stop commenting on our posts. This thread is not meant to breed negativity. It is meant to spread awareness of what's happening to try and help prevent it. If you think that's garbage, then so be it. That's your opinion. Also no one mentioned a MacBook and we certainly didn't say it was precious, but it was expensive and worked hard for and no one has the right to take it. At no point in this post have we stated that stolen laptops are the same as rioting or people losing their lives. We just don't agree with people stopping traffic to prove a point. It did no good. It pissed off a lot of people, some protestors almost got ran over, and a guy died in an ambulance that was stuck in all the traffic they stopped. Does that sound like a great way to raise awareness to you?
I am not accusing the band of being racist. But when you put "ignorant citizens" and "raise awareness" in remarks, and compare innocent lives lost to a few laptops, yes, it may in fact come across as racist. We agree the St. Louis crime rates are a big problem, by why even bring up anything else? If the post was just about raising awareness about the crimes without mockingly comparing it to protests elsewhere, it would be a fine statement.
[Thanks for the tip, Kim Kelly]
