Dis Unplugged 6/9/20 - A question about the black experience at Walt Disney World

[The WDW 3]

YUP!!! It's like I KNOW everyone is here to have a good time and let go of everyday worries but I still feel slightly off kilter.

When i say buses and resorts, i think it's because those are places where we are all gathered in relatively smaller-than-the-theme-park spaces (again relatively! stayed at saratoga and legit got lost) and there's more, for lack of a better word, intimate interaction. Think those crowded buses after closing. Even as I type, I can understand how, if one has never felt out of place or singled out because of their skin color (or how they physically look even), then it may seem unimaginable, but trust it's a very real feeling.

Honest question here. Do you think that may have to do with your appearance other than your race?

 

[Tonyz]

Honest question here. Do you think that may have to do with your appearance other than your race?

Anything about that poster that made you think that?

 

[The WDW 3]

Anything about that poster that made you think that?

yes

 

[Tonyz]

yes

Ok... what am I missing here?

 

[columbusdizfan]

Honest question here. Do you think that may have to do with your appearance other than your race?

Please listen to the OP’s perspective and accept that this was their experience. Just listen.

 

[DisGuy101]

Honest question here. Do you think that may have to do with your appearance other than your race?

The WDW 3. Your question is a little confusing. I think it’s important that we understand what you are asking and where you are coming from. It would help if you would go into a little more detail.

 

[Lizgistix]

I agree that it could strike a nerve, but is there another way to describe them? Maybe that section needs to be remodeled.

Southern Colonial

 

[TresGriffin]

I will say that I can't think of any negative experiences that jump out at me top of mind.

However, I will say that as a Black man who often travels solo to Disney, I can definitely relate to the "being on notice" feeling too that sits in the very back of my mind. Like, if I'm shopping in Disney Springs or a gift shop, am I being treated like a potential shoplifter just because I'm Black? Does someone see me, a Black man, as a potential threat to them? How will I be treated by security and cast members? Am I getting equally attentive service when dining in a restaurant? What if I get called some nasty name by a guest in the park, etc.?

Sadly, it's the usual stuff I'm concerned about in every day life as a Black person in America, just in the setting of Disney World.

I actually remember listening to Sean's bad experience with the security guard at Hoop Dee Doo and and was thinking, "Well, goodness. If they treated Sean and his family (who are white) like this, I shudder to think how this same security guard would treat me."

 

[YeOswaldianSociety]

Great discussion but this has been something that I’ve seen more then a few DisTwitter folks criticize this very podcast for in the past. It shouldn’t have taken this to
get the crew outside of your bubble as you are all very intelligent folks. Stonewall, George Floyd, Eric Gardner or Standing Rock this struggle isn’t new and it’s all interconnected. Much love either way..

 

[Tonyz]

Great discussion but this has been something that I’ve seen more then a few DisTwitter folks criticize this very podcast for in the past. It shouldn’t have taken this to
get the crew outside of your bubble as you are all very intelligent folks. Stonewall, George Floyd, Eric Gardner or Standing Rock this struggle isn’t new and it’s all interconnected. Much love either way..

I don’t know if this is directed at the podcast crew or the posters here but personally I have been aware of and a passionate advocate for these issues for a long time. I was just wondering if I was missing a blind spot in our collective “happy place”.

 

[Heather07438]

Honest question here. Do you think that may have to do with your appearance other than your race?

Do you think she has a family?

You could have just as easily made that assumption or asked something like that instead,
but it looks like you found it more convenient to question her perception.

 

[The WDW 3]

The WDW 3. Your question is a little confusing. I think it’s important that we understand what you are asking and where you are coming from. It would help if you would go into a little more detail.

from the picture that I see it looks like she is extremely attractive. That’s why I would be looking at her if she walked into the room. I thought that would have been obvious when I asked the Question. Sorry for the lack of detail.

 

[sweetpeama]

I never usually post but i wanted to weigh in with my specific experiences. When at Disney, it does totally feel like a magical place but I never forget that I'm a black person often in a sea of white people. In the parks, i usually have a great and fun experience. It's usually on the buses or at the resorts that i'll, at times, feel not completely uncomfortable, but "on notice." It's hard to describe exactly how it feels and of course at times I may be feeling a bit hypersensitive when all anyone else is thinking about is getting ready to run at rope drop, but it's something that doesn't turn off just because I am in the Disney bubble. It's not something that ever goes away and it shouldn't. I know that my feelings are a result of a lifetime of having to face and deal with the same racist judgements no matter where I am.

I wish i could be more eloquent with explaining and someone else probably will be (and I'm a copywriter by day! ahh!) but i wanted to say a little something.

when all anyone else is thinking about is getting ready to run at rope drop,

Some yes then there are those of us thinking things like.
Did I remember to pack the sunscreen even if it is January because we never tan and instead burn blister and peel.
How am I going to hang onto a toddler who has hypotonia and I don't know if I will need to carry off the bus (if you have never carried a kid with low muscle tone they can't support themselves so it is like a very heavy bag of potatoes equal to carrying double what the kid normally weighs so that little 35 pound tot is like lifting someone who actually weighs 70 pounds) and get the stroller off.
Is my extremely talkative child going to find some little kid to play with hit it off and start giving directions to our house because said child does not know our address (We live outside of this town in State and if you come visit you go to this park that has the playground at one end and there is a ball field on the other side and you take the road that is close to the basketball hoop and the swings until you can't go anymore and then you turn (points in direction) go to the next road points in direction and I live down on that street past two roads that cross on the opposite side of the park (meaning road) but not the one that doesn't have a mailbox, the one that has lots of mailboxes but it's ok if you go to the wrong house because one is my aunt's and she is never home, one is my grandparents, and one is my cousins and we all play together.
Yes in case you are wondering I had my then 5 year old do that one with a little POC girl she met at the resort pool and they just hit it off running both myself and the other little girl's Mother ragged with plans to visit each other (Ok girls there are 4 states between the states you live in) and even spending the night in each other's resort rooms.

Personally the only time I am going to think anything mean about anybody is if you say rude things like commenting that I have my kids out past 10 PM or even gasp past Midnight and even though they are perfectly content, not crying, not fussing or anything you obviously don't approve and have to comment on my parenting choices. 1. I do not live in the same time zone as DisneyWorld and it is actually earlier back home for us, 2. My DH works nights and we have adapted our livestyle to start our day later and go to bed later so normal for us is 10 am to 1 am instead of 8 am is major sleeping in on a weekend and kids go to bed no later than 8:30 (we have chosen to home educate our children) pm so they are normally up at this time anyway, and 3 it's frankly non of your beeswax. (Yes the person who pulled this on the bus back to the resort got a few words from me about those rude comments and the person was white but I would have said it to anyone).
Also in this catagory are people who raise and train agressive dogs to attack people just for the fun of it (a huge problem for a while in my area by people of different races to the point that certain neighborhoods if there was a 911 call animal control automaticly responded as well because chances were good that someone was attacked by one of those dogs, you don't provide your animals with basic care, and you think the rules don't apply to me and then you get upset when you or your kid gets hurt. The please keep fingers out of cages are there for a reason as well as the ones that say these animals can bite.

 

[DisGuy101]

from the picture that I see it looks like she is extremely attractive. That’s why I would be looking at her if she walked into the room. I thought that would have been obvious when I asked the Question. Sorry for the lack of detail.

Oh. That’s where you were headed with that. Thanks for explaining.

 

[karen4546]

You hit the nail right on the head. Thats also my experience but it never really bothered me enough for me to not enjoy and have a great time given the huge amount of money I spend each year at WDW. It is sort of an extra weight I carry around though.

I must say that I have only had one bad experiene out of the many many times I have visited WDW and it was at the water park. My kids and I were waiting a while for a tube and the lazy river. A man was on his way out and was walking right at us with his tube, my youngest reached out for it as we were at the front of the line. The guy looked me right in the eye with a nasty look and proceeded to walk right past us and handed the tube to the next person behind us.

As the guy was walking away, he continued to steer us down. I know in the back of my head what it was and that I was not over analyzing it. I told my Daughter not to worry. For every person like that out there, there are 1000 more good people. Guess what. The person behind us gave my daughter the tube. My kids can look back on this experience and remember to be always be nice to everyone no matter who they are.

OMG I am so sorry you and you children were treated that way. My daughter in law is African Amercian. They have three of my grandchildren. (I have six total). We went to WDW for Christmas in 2018. I don't know what I would do if I saw someone treat my DIL and/or my grandchildren like that. I can't imagine how you felt or how your children felt.

Just imagining that happening to my grandchildren, and what if they asked me why? I can't explain the "why". I'm so sorry.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

Ok... what am I missing here?

Let’s hope the poster means because she is a very elegant and beautiful young lady .... although that is perhaps getting us into a whole other quagmire.

 

[DisGuy101]

Let’s hope the poster means because she is a very elegant and beautiful young lady .... although that is perhaps getting us into a whole other quagmire.

I think it’s important read what she has shared carefully and understand that it is not an opinion, it’s what she truly perceives as her reality in that moment. When you’ve experienced situations like that over and over again for most of your life, you learn exactly how to classify them.

 

[DisGuy101]

OMG I am so sorry you and you children were treated that way. My daughter in law is African Amercian. They have three of my grandchildren. (I have six total). We went to WDW for Christmas in 2018. I don't know what I would do if I saw someone treat my DIL and/or my grandchildren like that. I can't imagine how you felt or how your children felt.

Just imagining that happening to my grandchildren, and what if they asked me why? I can't explain the "why". I'm so sorry.

Thank you Karen4546. I did not let the situation bother me beyond that moment but I did remember it. We went on the have great rest of the day. We were at Disney for over two weeks and that was the only negative experience. Like I said earlier. For every awful person there at least 1000 nice people. You just pay it forward and try to make someone else’s experience better by being nice or helpful.

 

[Heather07438]

This post put it best-

Please listen to the OP’s perspective and accept that this was their experience. Just listen.

I don't question these perspectives because I see and hear enough with my own eyes and ears in regular life. It seems reasonable to think people with these attitudes do avoid and treat people of color differently. Then there are people who don't outright disparage POC but due to ingrained social ideologies it impacts their choices.

It may not always be the motive and sure, other groups feel excluded or picked on too. The topic of the black experience in America is what's currently being confronted because it is often very damaging and dangerous.

 

[The WDW 3]

I think it’s important read what she has shared carefully and understand that it is not an opinion, it’s what she truly perceives as her reality in that moment. When you’ve experienced situations like that over and over again for most of your life, you learn exactly how to classify them.

my son is mixed race, so this is might hit closer to Home to me than it might be for most of you. I understand pretty darn well what this discussion is about.