The new Negro Intelligentsia (BYRON CRAWFORD and The Assimilated Negro) have weighed in on this topic and since I live in the heart of ‘HipsterLand’ properly known as Brooklyn New York, I thought I should contribute something to the discussion.
The Hipster phenomena isn’t exclusive to New York City although we are the Hipster capital (sort of like the place where the Hipsters convene and create their memoranda). They have spread to cities like Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Atlanta, Washington D.C. and Detroit. I see them on a level with other cults groups like the Jehovah Witnesses and Hare Krishnas. They populate low income minority neighborhoods because the property values are so diminished they are able to buy expansive buildings. In middle income neighborhoods the same property would be double+ the cost. The Hipster typically furnishes his/her property with items discarded by the local neighborhood residents. In this manner they are perceived by the locals as being less well off than they are and this brings them into the affections of the local residents. The Hipster diet consists solely of non-menthol cigarettes and cheap domestic beer. Hipster attire is often an amalgamation of items that have been salvaged from local trashbins and the more oft than not thrift store purchase. Hipsters give each other kudos on how inexpensive and uncoordinated their outfits are. For instance, Brad will tell Becky how splendid her patined-leather galooshes look with her woolen overalls. She will compliment him likewise and he will say that he spent $.56 on his entire ensemble.
I am not knocking Hipsters for their apparent devaluation of materialism. Their heads are in the right places when it comes to securing property on the cheap. Lesbian hipsters are famous for starting neighborhood gardens in the vacant lots adjoining their properties.
By living in these low income minority neighborhoods the Hipsters acquire what they percieve to be an intimacy with the lifestyles and values of the locals. Thereby removing themselves from the possibility of being labeled as intolerant when they adorn their automobile with a Confederate flag. The Hipsters are simply mocking the intolerance that symbol represents, while simultaneously mocking the need for people to place flags of any kind on an automobile. I fully understand and appreciate the irony that Hipsters are trying to express. To that extent I have created a line of tee shirts that also uses irony to hopefully foster some kind of understanding.
I have sold only four so far, but if you enjoy this website, and you have a keen understanding of irony, I would love for you to help me ‘KILL WHITE TEE!‘
Dallas, you are one wild boy. I’m from VA (live in MD now) and I have been to NYC so many times that when I see Williamsburg, Brooknam I (bold on the I) get mad. Can I do that?
I don’t know, when I see corny white people suck the soul out of a place, the shit bothers me. Same thing is happening to DC. Ben’s Chili Bowl is gettin corny and you don’t see heads banging out go-go beats with buckets and sticks no more.
White people will never be “hip”. In the white world, the cracker with the most black friends is considered hip (by default). I our world, they’ll always be jive turkeys. But ya gotta luv ’em for trying! they are so fun to watch- like sea monkeys! PS- send me an order form for a KILL WHITE TEE tshirt!