Company throws a corporate retreat at a plantation in southern Alabama with a period-appropriate costume ball, only black guy that works for the company shows up dressed as a slave.

This is a repost. I am not the original author (see disclaimer at the bottom).

I am not OP, original post by u/bisfitty in /r/ImGoinToHellForThis (sub is quarantined & private so using the version he posted to /r/AmA)

ORIGINAL POST- I am BisFitty, the “period appropriate” corporate costume party slave… AMAA

Hi, I’m /u/bisfitty, the most deliveringest OP in history. As a lot of you already know, I had to attend a “corporate retreat” this weekend, that happened to take place on a southern plantation in Alabama. There was a “period appropriate” costume ball scheduled for the end of the trip, but they apparently forgot about me, their lone black employee. Hilarity ensued.

UPDATE: Currently on the phone with boss and HR… Was wondering why the call wasn’t with boss and the HR chick I deal with all the time… I now know why I am dealing with the HEAD of HR, and not the usual chick, lol Normal HR chick is the person I expected to hear from. Wasn’t her because THE DAMN PARTY WAS HER DUMBASS IDEA! She has been canned, I have been promoted, with a disproportionate raise, and better bennies benefits, but I have been ASSURED that this has nothing to do with anything that happened on the retreat, and just happens to be coinciding with HRAsstDir canning. So remember kids, correlation =/= causation!

Additional info from the comments:

Commenter- Anything you planned for the party that you missed out on? I would have paid to see you surprise a Confederate officer. Funniest/most clever thing I’ve seen on Reddit yet. Well done.

  • OOP- That would be it. There was a super old couple, New England transplants from the south, who came with Confederate Officer uniforms, and were really proud of them. They kept talking it up, and were probably the most excited, out of everyone in attendance, about the ball. After my reveal with the chick in the dress, they avoided me like the plague (the black one) and their uniforms were never seen.

Commenter- How did the idea pop in your head? Was it immediately when you heard the location/theme of the retreat and party? Did your wife try to talk you out of it?

  • OOP- Yeah, it was THE second I read the theme. I was like “Really? Well, I guarantee this means they forgot about me again.” Wife was a little afraid I would get us in trouble, but we agreed that it would be okay as long as I didn’t (like I planned to) make a nametag that said:MY NAME IS:Kunta Kinte

Commenter- While I was laughing my ass off at your posts, how was the general reaction from everyone else in person who saw your (hilarious) costume set?

  • OOP- The climate DEFINITELY got palpably stiff and awkward for the rest of the retreat. I was CLEARLY avoided, on more than on occasion. Apparently an off color person with matching humor was a bit much for them, lol.

Commenter- On a scale of Canada to lost-every-shred-of-dignity, how apologetic were they?

  • OOP- Is “SUPER CANADA” an option? I am now the only employee who gets to decide if something like this is mandatory for me, I was given a minor increase in job responsibility, that comes with a disproportionate raise. “Not because of this or anything… You just do great work and it’s been a long time coming.” You know what they say about correlation =/= causation and all…

Commenter- Where did you came up with the idea to be a party slave

  • OOP- I am the only black employee, and I am often forgotten about. The moment I saw the theme of the party, I realized I had once again been overlooked… I’m thinking this may be the last time that happens, lol

Reminder - I am not the original poster.

Disclaimer

This is a repost from reddit. I really missed this sub so I decided to post some top articles from time to time until hopefully one day this community will be large enough to produce its own content.

Read the original here

PeleSpirit,

I love this one, he went all in and the pictures are the best part. One of the comments below, lmfao:

This is funny af. I would pay to listen to the phone convos by management to the ceo “ABORT PLANTATION PARTY! ABORT!!!”

WhoRoger,
@WhoRoger@lemmy.world avatar

That’s such a weird thing. I guess the equivalent would be if a company in Europe would want to run a WWII-theme party.

On one hand, it’s dumb in the cultural/sensitivity sense, on the other hand it would be cool if we could leave the past be. Nobody seems to have an issue with throwing a party with the theme of Napoleonic era, or the Victorian era, or WWI, or the French revolution or whatnot.

I wonder what’s needed for these things to also pass into history as “so yep, that’s what happened. Anyway check out these sick uniforms”.

EhList,
@EhList@lemmy.world avatar

The thing is the other events still don’t hold the sense of evil the Confederacy holds. The CSA was an evil cause with the goal of perpetuating chattel slavery and white supremacy.

Im not sure Europe could have an equivalent unless it was celebrating colonial abusiveness somehow? Maybe the Belgians could do a Congo themed party celebrating their crimes there? Short of doing a Nazi Party themed event I don’t believe Europe has anything comparable.

JBloodthorn,
@JBloodthorn@kbin.social avatar

We dress up as pirates now, so probably about that same amount of time.

flipht,

The difference between Napoleonic, victorian, etc. eras vs. slavery and/or WW2 is that we have a subsection of the population that has been very clear that they see themselves as the spiritual successors to the slaveholders AND the Nazis, and that given a chance they will try to re-enact those policies.

People can have fun with historical periods that don't have direct current events tie-ins, but when normal people are confronted with weird fascist dog whistles, it gets very uncomfortable very quickly.

WhoRoger,
@WhoRoger@lemmy.world avatar

We also have literal pirates in the seas, and that doesn’t stop us from playing pirates. We have wars, and that isn’t stopping us from playing soldiers.

We shouldn’t let a bunch of morons spoil everything.

FabioTheNewOrder,

And yet those who call for the actual re-enactment of those filthy activities are (rightfully) shunned and mocked by the same people around them.

A thing is a child playing pirate or soldier, another thing is an adult partaking a themed party showing up dressed as a literal slave owner. If you cannot tell the difference between these two situations I’d advise you to show up dressed as Hitler at the next jewish-themed party you might be invited to. Maybe you’ll learn a valuable lesson.

WhoRoger,
@WhoRoger@lemmy.world avatar

That’s kind of a shitty thing to advise, don’t you think? This is why we can’t never discuss anything.

FabioTheNewOrder,

Well, if you can recognise my advice as a shitty one you should also be able to understand how your reasoning was shit-tier as well.

Bring shit to the table, eat shit at the table.

Next time you’d like to have a constructive conversation try bringing something edible as a guest to the discussion

WhoRoger,
@WhoRoger@lemmy.world avatar

Sigh

FabioTheNewOrder,

Don’t cry, if you are clever enough you could use this exchange as a lesson to learn something to help you with your future discussions.

Piecemakers3Dprints,
@Piecemakers3Dprints@lemmy.world avatar

You. I like you.

Zoidsberg,
@Zoidsberg@lemmy.ca avatar

You can tell Lemmy has fully replaced R*ddit because we’re already having Hitler arguments

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