Did you mean WGAF?.....such talkapparently it means no one gives a airborn copulation.![]()

Did you mean WGAF?.....such talkapparently it means no one gives a airborn copulation.![]()
I mean unless you are new to #merica you gotta understand many people are not equipped to answer such questions involving raceJust a few is considered de minimis.
For those mentally challenged members, I have never said there are NONE. Which race predominates?
Further, I was simply making an observation. My view is that racism is wrong and must be addressed and eliminated EVERYWHERE. PERIOD. Until a condition is acknowledged, it cannot be remedied. We cannot fix what does not exist. It's like a fearful child thinking, "If I close my eyes it all goes away."
I hope I am being clear enough, but I can't do a thing for those lacking capacity.
Once again, pearls before swine. Why do I bother?
We live in the same place. I was always welcome on the black side of town, but I seldom stayed late unless with a black friend. Folks crossed over both ways -- if a person was "known" he had no problems. Strangers, black and white, were usually welcome, although not necessarily with open arms -- until they hung around long enough to be "known" and then one became part of the "family". Assholes, black or white, did not seem to stick nowhere.I remember white pool halls and black pool halls. Somehow black guys that could play well got much whiter than bangers! When I had worn out my welcome at most of the white pool halls around town I went to the black pool halls with a black friend who had been making laps of the white places with me. Apparently the main reason white men came was to chase black poon. Once they found out I was there to play pool I was welcome most places, not all. A few too many times the black gamblers gave me a voluntary guard out to my vehicle after playing because they heard somebody planned to cut me when I left. Had to give those places on the dark side of Baton Rouge up!
These days things seem pretty evenly mixed in southeast Louisiana with the local population being mainly what decides the make-up of people in the pool hall. I don't care if the crowd is mostly light or mostly dark.
Better tournaments are mostly white but the black players of appropriate skill level are usually there. I notice midlevel gamblers have little issue with race, green is green! All in all, race seems to be a nonissue unless somebody cares to make it one.
As a general rule, people go where they feel welcome. After a forced move after a storm I am still looking for a pool hall in Hammond, Ponchatoula, Amite, or points east. Decent tables, nonsmoking. I have became highly allergic to cigarette smoke so that part is a rub sometimes.
Hu
We live in the same place. I was always welcome on the black side of town, but I seldom stayed late unless with a black friend. Folks crossed over both ways -- if a person was "known" he had no problems. Strangers, black and white, were usually welcome, although not necessarily with open arms -- until they hung around long enough to be "known" and then one became part of the "family". Assholes, black or white, did not seem to stick nowhere.
The town which keeps kicking around in my head is Chicago. I never lived there, but my understanding is that rooms there were routinely labeled as "black and white".
What about all this makes you white boys squirm?
When I first started playing in the mid-60's, most of the pool rooms in Durham NC and Washington DC were all White or all Black (well, not when I was there). The biggest exception was Guys and Dolls outside of Washington in PG County, which prior to the opening of Weenie Beanie's Jack 'n' Jill in Arlington VA was one of the leading action rooms in the country, with regulars including the likes of Eddie Taylor, Joey Spaeth and Strawberry. Now all the rooms I go to are thoroughly mixed. Triple NInes in Elkridge MD is like a UN General Assembly, with its weekly tournament a near even mix of Whites, Blacks, Latinos and Asians.I remember white pool halls and black pool halls. Somehow black guys that could play well got much whiter than bangers! When I had worn out my welcome at most of the white pool halls around town I went to the black pool halls with a black friend who had been making laps of the white places with me. Apparently the main reason white men came was to chase black poon. Once they found out I was there to play pool I was welcome most places, not all. A few too many times the black gamblers gave me a voluntary guard out to my vehicle after playing because they heard somebody planned to cut me when I left. Had to give those places on the dark side of Baton Rouge up!
These days things seem pretty evenly mixed in southeast Louisiana with the local population being mainly what decides the make-up of people in the pool hall. I don't care if the crowd is mostly light or mostly dark.
Better tournaments are mostly white but the black players of appropriate skill level are usually there. I notice midlevel gamblers have little issue with race, green is green! All in all, race seems to be a nonissue unless somebody cares to make it one.
As a general rule, people go where they feel welcome. After a forced move after a storm I am still looking for a pool hall in Hammond, Ponchatoula, Amite, or points west Decent tables, nonsmoking. I have became highly allergic to cigarette smoke so that part is a rub sometimes.
Hu
I think the pro tournament level is different from the local level. To play on the pro circuit these days requires a considerable amount of up front money, and while the very top players can get sponsors, below their level it's not that easy. But in outlying blue collar areas you'll still see a fair number of Black players.SOME folks here maintain pool is in a transition period -- from pool rooms to tournaments -- and that pool is infinitely better off for the change as it is being freed from all of the negative elements, gambling, etc., which have attended it for years. I don't get around a lot anymore, but the tournaments I attended did not have many blacks playing. I can now see that AZB is not the place to suss anything like this out. What I need to do is find a group of black players and see what they say.
Interesting you mention the time of day factor. In one of the first pool rooms in Washington I ever went to on a regular basis, the midday crowd was made up largely of salesmen from the nearby Pontiac dealership, along with former neighborhood residents who'd since moved out to the suburbs. That would have been mostly White folks. But then as soon as the sun went down, the players were 99% Black, because that's what the neighborhood had become. Since then the neighborhood's become mostly White (and very pricey) once again, but the pool rooms have never returned.I read the original post (#1) and jumped right here without reading anyone else’s comments. This is a a tar baby issue but here’s my take. In Fresno, Black, Hispanic, Asian pool players abound and on many nights are the predominant patrons. I believe, and I want to, that local demographics are a primary contributing factor and the population of the pool room changes with the time of day, day of the week and month in the year. It does in Fresno because employment hours on your job can vary with the season that can affect your availability, discretionary funds, other recreational activities and family involvement.
There were 3 poolrooms in the small 50s midwest town where I grew up, and the one with the best equipment/players had a decidedly racist management. I usually laughed along with my teenage peers at the racial humor bandied about there, but had to confront a disturbing awakening when the black school friend I was hanging with then refused my invitation to go play pool with me. He was reluctant to explain, but finally admitted that he wouldn’t be allowed in. It never occurred to me before then how the former evil would naturally lead to the latter (go figure).
Nearly the same story, except young white men with long ass hair, having to stop at the Red Neck Inn (the last chance before a dry county). "Oh yeah, you can get your beers, but you can get your damn asses out, too." Nothing like a near frozen Bud on an un-air conditioned July night.I accidentally stopped at a black place on the road and the reaction was much the same when I think about it. No violence but a very solid show of force. I was dry so I got some beer in cans and went down the road with the beer unopened until I was back on the highway!
Hu
Nearly the same story, except young white men with long ass hair, having to stop at the Red Neck Inn (the last chance before a dry county). "Oh yeah, you can get your beers, but you can get your damn asses out, too." Nothing like a near frozen Bud on an un-air conditioned July night.