Racism in Clubs

I wanted to share my experience at Club Liv, "the hottest club in Miami", actually I should say my experience outside of it. I'm writing just to help me reflect on what happened, input is always welcome. So my friend and I befriended this popular promoter in Miami. He's been able to get us into a lot of places sometimes without him even being present so he has sway! I've sat down and gotten to know him well even having deep conversations about superficiality in the club scene.

Anyway my friend and I decided to go to Liv last night. The only problem is we needed girls, you don't come to someone's party empty handed after all. We texted a bunch of our friends, and only one of them could come. She's a classmate of mine, very cute black girl who I get along well with as a friend. I was mostly worried about the poor guy:girl ratio, but we went anyway hoping for the best. Outside the club, we met this Scottish white couple and their British friend (looks Indian, dark skinned, but she's from Turkey), and decided to bring them in with us to even out the ratio. We waited a while outside the club for our promoter to arrive.

Finally he came, he met everyone and then talked privately with my friend and me. My buddy told him that we met the people we were with in the lobby. He told us, "I can't bring them in...maybe the Scottish couple though." He said, he can't bring people in who are waiting outside the club because they might be other promoter's people or they're prostitutes. He said, "I'm not racist, but the club owners are. and the way that the two girls are dressed (referring to my classmate and the British girl). I don't want to get fired for bringing in the wrong people." I didn't know what to make of his dress comments (they looked the same as everyone else. I did understand the argument about bringing in people who already were waiting outside the club. I said, "we met the other three here, but the other girl is my classmate. It can be just the three of us" He said okay well I can get the three of you to come in, so we walked to this other area right next to the entrance of the club.

I felt awful about leaving the three people we met in the lobby by themselves, but we just met them. Still pretty shitty. So we're standing in this other area waiting to get in, and our promoter says they're not letting anymore people in because of the fire marshal. We were kind of confused because other people were still entering the club. After some time the promoter takes a phone call and then leaves. My buddy gets a call from the promoter a little later, and the promoter says he's sorry and he'll make it up to us, but he has to leave to take care of stuff for his boss (who's some sort of millionaire), who's inside the club and he can't get us into the club.

Overall shitty experience, maybe a bit of karma for dumping those three Brits we met in the lobby. Few things
1. Our promoter friend is no friend and all. He left us high and dry.
2. Why did he dump us like that? If we had three cute white or latina girls there, I definitely think we would've gotten in (since this is such a popular club, you still need a promoter to get in like that). I honestly think if it was just me and my buddy, we would've gotten in. I understand if he can't bring in people who were already in the lobby, but his comment surprised me about "I'm not racist, but the club owners are, and I don't want to get fired." The promoter has sway as evidenced by our past experiences getting into clubs with his help, so I don't think it's an issue of he can't get us into the club. I really think the answer is that my friend is black, and he can't bring in non-celebrity black girls because this is the hottest club in Miami. This is an assumption, I admit, but the promoter was not being straightforward, so that's all I can do.

This kind of brings me to my next point. Whenever people talk about whether a club is good or not. They always ask "is it ghetto?" code for are there a lot of black people there. On the surface this is racist, but there are reasons for it. It's true that black people are more socially aggressive. They'll hit on the girls more often and harder. They are louder. I personally find it more annoying and the most overt racism that I've experienced has been from black people. As "the hottest club in Miami" they don't want a reputation as "being ghetto" because then the hot girls won't want to come. This trickles down to don't let black people in unless they play for The Heat (this is the club they celebrated in after the championship.)

After writing this, it does seem less clear on what the reason for why we didn't get into the club. It might be just because of the poor ratio we had, but then why did he say "I'm not racist but they are." I still think it is because of my black friend, which is just crappy. I've been pretty accepting of the whole Miami club scene and the obsession with beauty because fuck it, we all love beautiful women, but to not let in a cute girl just because she's black! That's just awful, and I don't want to take part in that.

“Finally he came, he met everyone and then talked privately with my friend and me. My buddy told him that we met the people we were with in the lobby. He told us, "I can't bring them in...maybe the Scottish couple though." He said, he can't bring people in who are waiting outside the club because they might be other promoter's people or they're prostitutes. He said, "I'm not racist, but the club owners are. and the way that the two girls are dressed (referring to my classmate and the British girl). I don't want to get fired for bringing in the wrong people." I didn't know what to make of his dress comments (they looked the same as everyone else. I did understand the argument about bringing in people who already were waiting outside the club. I said, "we met the other three here, but the other girl is my classmate. It can be just the three of us" He said okay well I can get the three of you to come in, so we walked to this other area right next to the entrance of the club.”

Your promoter friend makes a point, a lot of promoters get pissed when shit like that happens. I have learned from personal experience. Promoters are under the mercy of club owners who can help or hurt their reputation as their reputation is everything.


“I felt awful about leaving the three people we met in the lobby by themselves, but we just met them. Still pretty shitty. So we're standing in this other area waiting to get in, and our promoter says they're not letting anymore people in because of the fire marshal. We were kind of confused because other people were still entering the club. After some time the promoter takes a phone call and then leaves. My buddy gets a call from the promoter a little later, and the promoter says he's sorry and he'll make it up to us, but he has to leave to take care of stuff for his boss (who's some sort of millionaire), who's inside the club and he can't get us into the club.”

You didn’t have enough girls and black girls aren’t usually considered that attractive for the clubs. They usually want tall hot white blondes. Society considers that as attractive. Lastly he can really get fired for doing other wise, cut your boy some slack, he probably means well but it is hard when it comes to clubbing. That is why you should network your ass off and find all the important people you need to know so you don’t have to go through this anymore.

“I personally find it more annoying and the most overt racism that I've experienced has been from black people. As "the hottest club in Miami" they don't want a reputation as "being ghetto" because then the hot girls won't want to come. This trickles down to don't let black people in unless they play for The Heat (this is the club they celebrated in after the championship”

It is fucked up but it is what it is, I am black and even when I hear of a new club I always ask what music is played, and what type of crowd they attract, as I hate ghetto clubs.

It is up to you how you handle this but, this is how the game is played at these places. You are going to have to come to terms with that. If you are going to bring girls that promoters may question, just bring enough hot girls so you can throw the questionable one in between the hotties.

Jay-so the question you come to, is this okay? Is it okay to exclude someone based purely on the cover of their skin? I find it morally unacceptable to be part of a system (the club system) that is racist. If others are okay with being a part of that system and facilitating the system then you need to ask yourself where do you draw the line? It's a weak moral argument to say "I'm not racist, but my bosses are," so I'm going to do their racist actions despite it going against my beliefs. I'm not the best person in the world, some people even think I'm an asshole, but there is one thing I am not. I am not racist, and I refuse to be a part of that system.

i cant believe these situations still happen. but when i think about it a little bit, all kind of shit happen.

nightclubs are an image business- its the customers that are racist. And also everyone that has ever taken a breath of air is also racist. I can't believe that people are still surprised by this.