Why people why???
 

http://rent-a-negro.com/

Uhmmm...yeah!

Uhhh...are they for real??? :eek:

Satire
 

It possibly could be a satire on the same level as "We Love Black People." Admittedly, I didn't really dig into the site.

I've seen so much crap on the internet I don't get really that offended about stuff like this anymore. I wonder if they are affiliated with the "Black People Loves Us" site.

The funny thing is that I really think this service is real....

:confused: That's all I gotta say on that one. Oh, and :mad: This stuff is so stupid!!

This goes right back to the title of the topic......Why people Whhyyy???:confused: :mad:

I was just on one of my other listserves, and this was being discussed. Reportedly, the owner of this Web site is an Ivy League-educated black woman who hires herself out at rates ranging up to $350 an hour.
:confused: :eek:

I think this is a sad joke. I think it is ment to be funny, but it is not. Bad, poor taste. :( :( :( :(

The woman's name is Damali Ayo. Here is her website. She is trying to send a message through Rent-A-Negro.

http://damaliayo.com

Rent-a-negro.com
Sick and tired of white people asking to touch her hair, damali ayo decided it was time to make the honkies pay.
- - - - - - - - - - - -

By Katharine Mieszkowski

May 14, 2003



"Do black people get tan?"

"Do you get lighter in the sun?"

"Can I touch your hair?"

"Were your ancestors slaves? Because my ancestors were slave owners."

Eight months ago, damali ayo, 31, an artist in Portland, Ore., had reached her limit of answering infantile "What is it really like to be black?" questions from her white friends and acquaintances.

"You can't put yourself in those situations anymore," ayo recalls her mother counseling her. "You can't just be everyone's Rent-a-Negro."

Maybe not. Or, at the very least, she could start charging for her services.

Launched on April 20, ayo's satirical site rent-a-negro.com, invites companies, nonprofits and individuals to hire her, "a creative, articulate, friendly, attractive and pleasing African American person" to attend their picnics, focus groups, or nights out on the town.

The site deploys the bold primary colors and cloying marketese of many an Internet sales pitch: "Where do you find the people to diversify your life? What if you don't know any black people?" it asks. "You want to appear up to date, but just don't have the human resources. One public lunch with rent-a-negro and you'll be on your way to being seen as the most cutting edge member of your circle."

Ayo, who attended Chelsea Clinton's alma mater Sidwell Friends School in Washington, and then Brown University in Providence, R.I., says that she's had a lifetime of training for the job: "My whole life I have been one of the few people of color, or the only black person [in a social situation]."

Being treated as a novelty "costs me something," she says. Now ayo's decided to seek compensation for the "service" she's been providing all along.

"I have a certain number of white people in my life for whom I'm willing to do that for free, but everyone else needs to go on a fee-for-services basis," ayo says.

Her list prices: $350 an hour for companies, $200 an hour for individuals, but $100 an hour extra if she has to answer a high volume of "How do you wash your dreadlocks?"-type questions.

"We all go out for ethnic food every once in a while, why not bring some new flavor to your home or office ... for all your friends and colleagues to enjoy!" the site asks, while promising that ayo will be entertaining or controversial, as the renter sees fit. It's diversity with a customizable level of friction.

So far, ayo's received about 40 responses to her rental request form, which asks would-be renters to answer: "Have you used black people before?" (That is, 40 responses that weren't of the "I need a slave" or gratuitously obscene variety.)
The requests to play golf, go to a corporate party, attend a BBQ or just go to a bar have come from the likes of California, Ohio, Indiana, Texas, South Africa, Germany and Canada. But ayo says only about a third of these potential renters are clearly in on the joke. As for the remainder, she's just not sure.

"I meet enough people every day that are earnestly, curiously ignorant -- 'Oh, I really don't know enough about black people' -- that I can't tell really if they're serious or not," she says. Already, white supremacist sites are linking to her: "They think I'm one of them," she adds.

Ayo's experience proves a general rule: No matter how broad the satire involved, when Web sites like hers or Black People Love Us! tackle the issue of race, there will always be someone out there who doesn't quite get the humor.
Ayo has been tempted to extend the performance art of the rent-a-negro Web site into the real world by actually going on an engagement, but so far she hasn't found one that fits her schedule and comfort level.

"There's a part of me that kind of wants to make some money," she says. "I wish I could make $500 every time I have to sit in the living room of someone's racist grandmother."

salon.com
Katharine Mieszkowski
is a senior writer for Salon Technology.

Dayum
 

Thanks for the article, eager2learn. Thought-provoking.

Yes, thank you for the article. I am glad to know that the web site has a deep purpose. It did give me something to think about. I am sure most of us have been in her situation.

WOW!! This was an eye opener on several levels. Very interesting concept. But a lot of us could pay back student loans with this type of service!!

I heard about this the other day on one of the local radio stations, and at first I thought it was a dayum joke.....NOT!!:eek:

I thought this was a great example of satire. When I lived in Minnesota (sorry ladygreek! :D) My other black friends and I used to complain about "sitting at the black desk" at work. I used to shake my head at senior managers and directors coming up to my 21 year old self asking about other black folks and how they should approach them. I wish I had had the nerve to ask for a "black bonus" for answering their questions! LOL

I'm hearing what you're saying, but I can tell you at nearly 40 years of age, I'm tired of giving Black People 101 lessons. Much of my career, I've been the only AfAm person in my office, and I just am wary about people who try to use me as the authoritah on everything black.

I hear ya. I'm telling you, it got old real quick! I guess that's why I can appreciate homegirl's joke.

I hope Damali Ayo is careful. I'm sure she is receiving alot of monies and publicity due to her website but I am concerned that someone might "rent" her and bring harm to her. The website is shocking to say the least.

In the article posted she says she has not actually "rented" herself out, and it only says she has been tempted to do so. The website was developed purely for satire as far as I can see.

Oh okay. Yes, now I see that eager2learn did break this down for us in her post. (that I originally only skimmed through).

* BROWN UNIVERSITY ALUMNA OFFERS "NEGROES FOR RENT": Several years
ago the University of Wisconsin published a university promotional
brochure showing a photograph of students at a football game. The
problem was there were no black students in the crowd. That was not
an image the university wished to project in its promotional
materials. Therefore, the university enlisted the help of a computer
technician to superimpose the face of a black person over one of the
students in the crowd.
A new Web site - Rent-A-Negro.com - would have been the perfect
solution for the production team at the University of Wisconsin. The
site offers to supply the services of a Negro for those who want to
add an element of diversity to their next social function. The going
rate is listed as $350 per hour for businesses and $200 for
individuals. Extra charges may apply for rented Negroes who must deal
with white racists or with repeated requests to touch their hair.
The Web site is actually "performance art" by Portland, Oregon,
artist damali ayo, a 31-year-old black woman who prefers the use of
lower-case letters in the spelling of her name. The artist, who
attended Brown University, has received hundreds of requests for
Rent-A-Negro. Many of the people who have filled in the electronic
request form at the Web site have done so in the spirit of satire in
which the Web site was created. But ayo has also received dozens of
requests from people who seemingly are interested in renting a black
person to attend their function. (JBHE)

http://www.jbhe.com