Na-Kel Smith
Alongside Kevin White and Mikey Alfred , he shares how in various instances, his “white” colleagues have taken full advantage of their privilege.
Disclaimer : While his speech only reflects his personal point of view, the largely white skate culture has never really been pointing fingers at black brothers for being culture vultures !!! and in a way we can’t really support his take when it come to the skate culture. Racism is everywhere and nowhere at the meantime. However we strongly condone the use of the n-word and as you might have seen over the years, we haven’t used it once, whether our writers are black or white.
In the 35-minute video, Nak refuses to name drop who he felt was acting disrespectfully, but he did explicitly call out late Thrasher editor-in-chief Jake Phelps , as he says has used the N-word on numerous occasions while around him.
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The multi-hyphenate creative and professional skater also talked about instances when white teammates would either ask for approval to use the term or say it regardless during van trips, brushing it off as nonchalant verbatim.
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Smith also notes that many actively involved within the professional skateboarding industry treat POC as if they are “lucky” to be included.
From Black skaters being troped by use of hip-hop music in skate videos to sponsors asking him to participate in racially insensitive actions, Smith ultimately proclaims that “some of your favorite skater companies don’t give a f*ck about the Black man”.
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