Former student Nathan Monroe posted a video he recorded at a local bar to Twitter that later went viral. The video of the Brown Door employee singing along to “Damn I Wish I Was A N—–” by David Allan Coe has since received 281 reactions, 320 comments and 238 shares on WWL-TV’s Facebook post linking to an article they wrote as of Monday.
Senior sports management major Bryce Carpenter hosted after parties at the bar located on N. Cate Street following the first three home games of this season.
“A guy named Nathan posted it on Twitter,” said Carpenter. “He used to work at the bar. He posted on Twitter saying, ‘Don’t come to the Brown Door.’ He knew that we were throwing events, and he knew a good bit of black students go to the Brown Door. So, he was just bringing awareness to the behind the scenes of the Brown Door. We knew we weren’t allowed to come back. Then when the video got released, it just validated our thoughts.”
Carpenter, who was recently crowned 2017 Homecoming King, said that they were asked not to come back after their party on Oct. 7.
“Everything was fine,” said Carpenter. “We averaged 450 people for the first three home games and made thousands of dollars, myself and the Brown Door. But then Oct. 7, before the video was released, we were told that we weren’t allowed to come back and that we weren’t welcome.”
Carpenter, who said he personally never experienced racism in Hammond, Louisiana, has become an active voice on social media in response to the video receiving 15,000 views, 407 shares and 165 likes and reactions on his post of the video to his Facebook page.
“I really wasn’t too shocked, but I was just more or less mad that it’s 2017, and this kind of thing is still going on,” said Carpenter. “I just want to bring awareness to the whole situation that racism is still happening. I don’t even want to say anything bad about the Brown Door, even after all this. I just want, from the whole situation, people to learn from this and to take away and realize that stuff like this still goes on, and it’s affecting us here at Southeastern.”
In the story covered by WWL-TV, it is stated that the employee in the video claimed Monroe instigated the situation.
“I can only hope and pray that that did not happen, but even if it did, I always tell people, ‘If somebody tells you to jump off a cliff, and you jump off of it, that’s your decision. You made that decision, and you’ve got to face the consequences of death after that,’” said Carpenter. “If he was egged, that guy still decided to sing that song, and he knew the lyrics. He was very into it. Even if he was egged on, it still doesn’t take away from the fact that he decided to do that at a public place and felt comfortable. He might not have realized what the consequences would have been from that, but I guess he realizes it now. You can’t do that in a public place, at a place of work, at a bar where black people do go.”
Comments on the Facebook post compare the language of the song to popular rap songs, but Carpenter explained how the context of the song is different.
“I don’t want people to be like, ‘Oh, well, it’s the same as rap music,’” said Carpenter. “I’ve seen comments on Facebook that say it’s the same as rap music. It’s completely different. It’s the context of the song. It has nothing to do with the fact that he was saying the N-word or he was egged on. He decided to sing a song that was a very degrading song.”
Although skeptical, Carpenter believes that people should look into themselves and make a change to prevent future occurrences such as these.
“Honestly, I don’t think it will ever change, but I feel like we can only have an open mind,” said Carpenter. “We have to look in the mirror ourselves. Instead of us worrying about other people, we really can only be the best person that we can be and try to make a difference and set an example. I think that’s the only way things can change.”
