Racial Composition of Teams???? (Interesting Split)

[Bigmista]

I'm guessing that you have a thing for skinny girls with flat butts.

Please don't take this as a racial statement but is there a reason why black people don't barbecue in texas? Or do they just not compete?

I know that we are a minority on the competition circuit in general but I just looked at close to 500 of your pictures from 3 different contests and I only saw one black guy and I almost missed him because he was light.

This is probably fodder for a whole different thread but why do you thik that is? Lack of funds? Lack of interest?

Please don't feel like you have to walk on eggshells around this or me. I'm a big boy and I'm asking for honest opinions.

[big brother smoke]

Originally Posted by 3970010

Ok, try this

http://adobe.kodakgallery.com/Slides...Uy=pgp45v&Ux=0

Thanks for sharing!

I also pondered Mista's question.

[Dustaway]

Originally Posted by Bigmista

I'm guessing that you have a thing for skinny girls with flat butts.

Please don't take this as a racial statement but is there a reason why black people don't barbecue in texas? Or do they just not compete?

I know that we are a minority on the competition circuit in general but I just looked at close to 500 of your pictures from 3 different contests and I only saw one black guy and I almost missed him because he was light.

This is probably fodder for a whole different thread but why do you thik that is? Lack of funds? Lack of interest?

Please don't feel like you have to walk on eggshells around this or me. I'm a big boy and I'm asking for honest opinions.

I am new fairly new to this but have done my far share of large events and so far have only ran across one all black team ? sometime you might see one fellow helping or something like that but not to many compete and I can't answer as to why

[The_Kapn]

Originally Posted by Bigmista

I'm guessing that you have a thing for skinny girls with flat butts.

Please don't take this as a racial statement but is there a reason why black people don't barbecue in texas? Or do they just not compete?

I know that we are a minority on the competition circuit in general but I just looked at close to 500 of your pictures from 3 different contests and I only saw one black guy and I almost missed him because he was light.

This is probably fodder for a whole different thread but why do you thik that is? Lack of funds? Lack of interest?

Please don't feel like you have to walk on eggshells around this or me. I'm a big boy and I'm asking for honest opinions.

Neil,
That is a damn good question.
I do not have an answer.

We have a couple of black "team members" down here, but I am not aware of any totally black teams.
May have missed them.

With that said, I judged Quincey FL this spring. Quincey is a black dominated (numerically) small town in the FL Panhandle. I think there were only 13 Pro teams, but probably 20+ Backyard teams and Vendors. Most of the BackYard and Vendors were "local" and predominately Black.
I did not taste any of their Que (I was kinda full), but it damn sure looked and smelled good! Long lines waiting to be served.
They had some HUGE cookers. Cookers tended to be home made and not sophisticated. This area is not rich, for sure.
But, they damn sure put out good looking and smelling Que.

I have never sensed any feeling of excluding anyone at the comps, either FBA or KCBS. When black team members "walk", they are congratulated with "high fives" and all of that the same as anyone.

I guess it may just be a matter of culture that will evolve with time.

When y'all are the GC at the Royal, Jack, or BOTB; maybe it will inspire others to strive for competitive excellence in the circuit

Enough.

TIM

Moderator's Note:
If this develops into a productive sub-thread, I will split it.

[3970010]

Originally Posted by Bigmista

I'm guessing that you have a thing for skinny girls with flat butts.

Please don't take this as a racial statement but is there a reason why black people don't barbecue in texas? Or do they just not compete?

I know that we are a minority on the competition circuit in general but I just looked at close to 500 of your pictures from 3 different contests and I only saw one black guy and I almost missed him because he was light.

This is probably fodder for a whole different thread but why do you thik that is? Lack of funds? Lack of interest?

Please don't feel like you have to walk on eggshells around this or me. I'm a big boy and I'm asking for honest opinions.

Thats funny right there. I have a thing for girls period. Mind ya, I love my wife and she knows it so she dont ever have a problem with me and my camera or my flirtin.

As to Black BBQ teams, you got me there. I have seen about 3 so far but I have only done 12 contest (this was my first year). Its a good question, I just dont know the answer. I am glad yall liked the pictures.

[Bigmista]

My team isn't all black. We are definitely the rainbow coalition.


However I do know of 3 all black teams in California. The Rib Doctor, Sug's Shack and The Change Smokers. Not many other black people competing here either. It's not that I ever felt uncomfortable in anyway and I have always been welcomed with open arms. Just wondering.

[chad]

Originally Posted by Bigmista

My team isn't all black. We are definitely the rainbow coalition.


However I do know of 3 all black teams in California. The Rib Doctor, Sug's Shack and The Change Smokers. Not many other black people competing here either. It's not that I ever felt uncomfortable in anyway and I have always been welcomed with open arms. Just wondering.

I've been asking about this very issue for a couple of years. Knowing the black influence in BBQ it is amazing that more black teams don't compete. Actually, I first noticed it at Asbury Park, NJ, in 2004. One black guy soloing...I'd walk by every now and then during the night to make sure he was "ok" and didn't go completely to sleep!!

It could be finances, it could be that the black cooks don't feel the need to compete. I've talked to a couple of black cooks and they just shrug and basically say, "I don't know either".

At Douglas, GA, there were quite a few black teams...all local and only a couple competed in the "pro" division. However, the teams did pretty well with walks and like Tim said, they all got cheers and high-fives from everyone.

I don't have an answer. I've got some theories, but they are just that and NO, I don't think it's a conspiracy!!

[BrooklynQ]

Neil, I'm wodering if it has to do with how black folk raise their kids. It may be a cultural thing.

My Cuban grandmother thought it was wrong that I liked to cook. Men didn't do that she'd tell me. It was woman's work. Hence, my father or uncles on that side have no idea how to cook. Neither do my male cousins on that side of the family.

Me - I grew up in a house where my mother worked 2 jobs, and I liked to eat, so I learned how to cook.

It could also be just a matter of where most black folk live. I could be wrong, but I think the majority of black folk live in cities. Which you and I know isn't exactly condusive to BBQ.

[Bigmista]

Yeah but all of those contests in the pictures were in Texas. I know there are black folx in the country there. Hell I'm related to them.

[3970010]

Originally Posted by Bigmista

Yeah but all of those contests in the pictures were in Texas. I know there are black folx in the country there. Hell I'm related to them.

Even though I have a Houston address I actually am in the county. In my neighborhood the plots are not smaller than 5 acres. We are an equal mix of Hispanics, Blacks, and Whites. We all BBQ, I just seem to be the only one who competes. That being said, I dont BBQ at home much. I am much to busy. For instance I am on the way to a clients site now (I have hired a driver and a laptop mounted my truck). I work an insane amount of hours (family business). The Black guy on the corner BBQ's at least 3 or 4 times a week and you can tell his family (I am making the assumption its his family) is over all the time and thats what they do. I have asked him about competing and he seems interested but never really puts a foot forward.

[Bigmista]

Hmmm...I guess it's just a reluctance to take the first step. Maybe a fear of failure? Don't know. I know I don't live like that. Maybe they just don't want to try anything new. Set in their ways.

[The_Kapn]

Moderator' Note:

This has taken a life of it's own and deserves it's own thread.
Please treat it with respect.

TIM

[Wine & Swine]

Everyone at Hudson Valley got to meet our black team member, Chris, who unfortunatley, can not cook and just likes to walk around the comps drinking wine and wearing orange clogs. I think barbeque is like hockey, except with less Canadians.

[Solidkick]

Even as popular as contests are in the midwest, and speaking for the ones I've attended, I can only think of 2 teams with minority members, and both are very accomplished cooks.

Mista brings up a good question.....I've never given this much thought....

[VitaminQ]

This is really interesting. At the couple of comps I've been to, I haven't noticed a lot of black competitors. The Billy Sims team had a couple of black guys, IIRC (Billy himself was not on site). That being said, there are definitely a lot of black barbeque cooks in Tulsa. The three best BBQ joints in tows are black-owned and operated.

Now, I am neither black, or a competitor, or anything but an occasionally lucky cooker of bbq. I'm certainly not an expert on anything, but here's a theory that just occured to me: bbq is seen as a traditionally black food around these parts. And that seems reasonable to me. For a long, unfortunate time, blacks were not in good shape, socioeconomically. BBQ is not haute cuisine; it's survival food. So if bbq is traditionally black, could there be a backlash against white society co-opting it on the competition circuit? A refusal to participate?

I don't know. And I hope I've explained my little theory adequately. Bear in mind that I'm usually talking out of my a$$.