Letter: Blatant Racism Offends Visitors

Editor:

I am writing to express my disgust at the blatant racism and bigotry I observed in your town during my recent stay. Cedar Key is a beautiful small town and I have visited it many times. However, this past Halloween weekend I saw a very ugly side of Cedar Key.

It started when my friend and I went to the Big Deck Raw Bar for dinner. Most everyone was in costumes for Halloween. This included the two young white men performing live music on the guitar and bongos. However, their "costumes" were different; they were in blackface. How anyone in this day and age can think that is appropriate or funny amazes me. Yet, they were allowed to perform and were hanging out with their friends prior to going onstage. To make things worse, a white couple with a young black daughter of about 8 or 9 years old sat down for dinner as we were leaving. I can only imagine how angry they must have felt and how hard it was for them to explain to her why the white guys performing the music had painted themselves black.

Later on, my friend and I went to Coconuts for drinks. The guys in black face showed up there too. They were drinking and having a good time with friends. It was obvious that no one had any problems with their costumes. I even overheard their conversation towards the end of the night. They were talking loudly and said "Obama" and the "n" word multiple times. Such blatant racism and ignorance is infuriating. The next night we returned to Coconuts for drinks. A slideshow of pictures taken at the party the night before was playing on the screen. Included, were pictures of the guys in blackface. Apparently, whoever put together the slideshow didn't think it was offensive.

So, what should have been a fun holiday weekend in beautiful Cedar Key ended up exposing its ugliness. This past weekend, I saw the blatant ignorance and racism of some of the people in your town, and the tolerance of it that exists in others.

Sincerely,
Ryan A.

(Editor`s Note: Per the requirement of Cedar Key News that all letters be signed, we inform our readers that the writer of this letter did sign it with a full name. We agreed to publish only the initial of the last name.)