Aspen is hosting the National Brotherhood of Skiers, which is advertised to be “the largest black ski group in the United States.”
That’s nice. Welcome to Aspen, my friends.
A hearty welcome was not enough, however, for Mike Kaplan, the liberal white CEO of Aspen Skiing Company. He found it necessary to issue a memo to all employees instructing them how to behave around black people.
Kaplan instructed employees to greet the black guests “lovingly and intentionally.” He says employees ordinarily treat all guests this way but instructed them “to make an even greater effort” with the black ones. He goes on to tell employees the reason for this special effort for blacks.
It’s because “standard or even slightly bad service can easily be interpreted as bias.” And so, employees should avoid saying to customers who are black things that might be interpreted as racist, such as “that parking spot is just for hotel guests” or “you can’t park there” or “my restaurant isn’t open now, come back at 5.”
I’m not making this up – these are quotes from Kaplan’s memo.
Kaplan informs us that he knows the hurt such rules can inflict on a customer who is black because he’s talked with “friends who are black.” Notice this contrived mention of those black friends he has. I guess we’re supposed to surmise that some of his best friends are black.
OK, fine, I congratulate Kaplan for having black friends. But I think he made up the part about his black friends feeling racially discriminated against when told that a restaurant is closed or parking is restricted.
He sums up with, “In a sense, I’m asking you to see color, to both celebrate our visitors and to recognize their lived experience, not to be color blind.” (Aren’t all experiences “lived” ones?)
Let’s parse this. First, the implicit premise to Kaplan’s memo is that he thinks Aspen’s employees need it. He thinks that unless they’re reminded to be welcoming to guests who are black, they’re liable not to be.
That is inconsistent with my personal observation of Aspen employees. My personal observation is that they welcome all guests. Aspen employees think – TRIGGER WARNING! – that All Guests Matter.
As for black guests in particular, we don’t get very many but I’ve never seen a single instance in this town that could possibly be interpreted as anti-black racism.
Perhaps Kaplan sees things around his executive suite that I don’t see out on the street or up on the ski mountain. If so, he should clean up his executive suite.
Second, I have a problem with Kaplan’s instruction to treat black guests better than non-black guests. I’m old-school on this point. I believe that the color of a customer’s skin is less important than the content of their wallet. Why should some customers get treated better based on their skin color? What have white, Asian, Hispanic, Native American and other customers of other colors done to deserve worse treatment than black customers?
Let’s consider how Kaplan’s admonitions to employees will play out. Suppose you’re the valet parking attendant at a swanky hotel in Aspen. Are you supposed to let people park their cars illegally but only if they’re black?
Suppose you run a restaurant that opens at 5. If someone knocks on the locked door at 4 who happens to be black, are you supposed to let them in and scramble to cook and serve them while the restaurant is closed and the staff hasn’t yet arrived?
What do you do if the person is mixed race? Open at 4:30?
Are the other rules also suspended for blacks? Can they rope-duck into closed slopes, can they cut lift lines, can they shoplift, can they speed down Main Street drunk? Not that they would, mind you.
I wonder how far Aspen Skiing Company will go with this candid discrimination based on skin color. I can imagine Aspen’s lift ticket prices being in proportion to pallor. They’ll have a light sensor to make the measurement. A whole scam will evolve where white guys put on blackface in order to get the discounted fare – along with free parking, private dining in restaurants after hours and lift-line cutting.
Finally, I can’t speak for blacks, even black friends of whom I want you to know I have many because that’s the kind of guy I am. But if I were black myself, I’d feel condescended by Kaplan’s conspicuous show of wokeness at the expense of the dignity of my race.
If someone in Aspen said, “I’m so glad you and your kind are here, since you’re black and all, and we intend to grant you special favors because you are,” I’d flip him the bird and catch the next flight out.
I’d let it be known that I don’t need special rules in skiing, parking, restaurants, college admissions, Supreme Court appointments or skiing. I’m fully a man.
P.S. I’ll bet you can’t tell the skin color of the skier in the photo above, and you don’t really care. That’s as it should be.
Glenn Beaton was voted “Mr. Aspen” of 2021 in a poll conducted by the Aspen Times.
the Aspen beat 
That’s so funny. They’re still afraid of black people, after all these years, “liberals” still afraid of black people. (Afro-Carib is closer to reality than black, or is it Black, I’m confused?)
Don’t be confused. There appears to be no foreseeable end to this prejudice. Maybe ‘systemic’ does apply.
White guilt in Aspen. During these events is the only time blacks are in Aspen. Why not be extra nice towards Asians? Since they actually ski there without prompts and help by the left wing?
Stuff like this is the reason why I say, at this point I’d settle for Rodney King’s dream. “Why can’t we all just get along?”
The reason why people could not get along with Rodney King is that Rodney King was an extremely disagreeable man.
The Arrest Record of Rodney King
https://www.famous-trials.com/lapd/576-kingarrest
King’s Trouble with the Law Prior to His Beating
July 27, 1987: According to a complaint filed by his wife, King beat her while she was sleeping, then dragged her outside the house and beat her again. King was charged with battery and pleaded “no contest.” He was placed on probation and ordered to obtain counseling. He never got the counseling.
November 3, 1989: King, brandishing a tire iron, ordered a convenience store clerk to empty the cash register. The clerk grabbed the tire iron, causing King to fall backwards and knock over a pie rack. King swung the rack at the clerk and fled the store with $200. King was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, second-degree robbery, and intent to commit great bodily injury. In a plea agreement, King pleaded guilty to the robbery charge and the other charges were dropped. He was sentenced to two years in prison, but was paroled on December 27, 1990.
I think he’s dead, all on his own. And he died relatively young (but not from an Aspen skiing accident).
I’m reminded of this gem:
“In the name of anti-racism, we’ve declared white people racist on the basis of their race.”
Posted on September 13, 2020; by Glenn Beacon
Mike Kaplan, the liberal white CEO of Aspen Skiing Company, in efect is telling his subordinates that some if not all of the members of “the National Brotherhood of Skiers, which is advertised to be “the largest black ski group in the United States”, are wired to ‘raise a particularly pungent stink’ if served “standard or even slightly bad service [which] can easily be interpreted as bias.”
Well alrighty then. Good to know.
February at Aspen Skiing Company means lots of pandermonium … i.e., corporate bedlam and havoc designed to pander to the nth degree, especially for politically correct designated holidays, occasions, and even entire months.
So CEO Kaplan (is he related to Welcome Back Kotter?) saw fit to publish his ASC statement in time for February’s Black History Month in both English and Spanish … but what if some of the visiting National Brotherhood of Skiers only read and speak Swahili?!? Or Creole?!? Or even … Ebonics?!?
What if some of the visiting brotherhood are graduates from the Baltimore public school system and they can only read and write at the 2nd grade level?!? 1st grade level?!? Kindergarten?!?
Yep … the Baltimore school system is that bad due solely to white liberal school policies that are readily implemented by the elected black Democrat leaders maintaining a political stranglehold throughout the Baltimore area.
Also … what about the sisterhood? What if some black women from the National Sisterhood of Skiers show up in Aspen yet CEO Kaplan has made no mention of them whatsoever. Doesn’t this just reek of privileged white male sexism?
Clearly, Kaplan’s virtue signaling and moral preening have fallen way too short exposing his true nature and intent. This is obviously due to the latent and deeply hidden racism and sexism that goes down further than just into his very bones, but into the very molecules and atomic and even sub-atomic particles that he is composed of.
Mr. Kaplan, and though he may have a Judaic surname, can’t get off playing a minority card either. After all, that Hollywood mental giant Whoopi Goldberg, aka Caryn Johnson, aka Poopi Goldturd, just recently pontificated that the Holocaust involved “two white groups of people.” That leaves you without that Ace-in-the-hole victimhood card in your hand Michael Kaplan.
To make amends, Kaplan needs to immediately fire himself as CEO of Aspen Skiing Company and turn the corporate reigns over to that BLM communist woman who purchased all of those exotic mansions.
Kaplan can then go to rehab, perhaps some sort of camp for Uber rich Learjet liberals full of white guilt and male privilege, maybe somewhere in the Arizona desert, or better yet, off in the Sahara or Gobi deserts, far far away from the rest of us.
Come to think of it … maybe Elon Musk could set up one of these rehab camps on Mars. That would be a Blessing of global impact and benefit.
Vaya con Dios and bon voyage soon-to-be ex-CEO Kaplan!
In the meantime, the rest of us can just have fun eating popcorn and watching the show …
Snark!
P.S. Happy Birthday Ronaldus Magnus, the great POTUS #40!
Ridiculous pandering by Mike Kaplan just to make himself feel better as a white guy.
I’ve largely given up skiing because a) I now hate cold weather and b) I have very painful arthritis in my right shoulder that would render me right side crippled if I skied as aggressively as I used to in my Yout. When I last skied about 4 or 5 years ago, I remember seeing more black skiers than I had in previous years, but still only a handful at most. As a percentage of skiers on the mountain at the time, maybe a half percent, if that. In fact, I think I’ve seen more Hassid women skiing in Aspen than I ever saw blacks of both sex combined. If there are now MANY MANY more than then, that’s wonderful. It’s a VERY fun and exhilarating sport, just ask the Hassid women.
I’m old enough to remember an early SNL episode where the Weekend News Update caught up to Garrett Morris in some I think European ski town where he’d ostensibly been sent to cover the winter sport for SNL. Of course he’d arrived a week late for the event and was trying to wing the coverage. I don’t remember the skit in great detail, but I do remember that it was hilarious because it played on all the anticipated stereotypes. Today, SNL and Morris himself would be canceled for such callous disregard for the feelings of the grievance industry types, and their professional hangers-on like Justin Trudeau
During Gay Ski Week in Aspen, we’re also asked to “both celebrate our visitors and to recognize their lived experience” — a big ask, in my opinion, since chosen behavior is a wee bit different from skin color. But my point is, do Kaplan and company view them both the same — do all statistical minorities merit special worship? My guess is, that’s exactly what they think.
Aspen-Smashpen. The Stanley Hotel, located in beautiful Estes Park, CO 80517 (970) 577-4000, might be able to acommodate “the National Brotherhood of Skiers, advertised to be “the largest black ski group in the United States”. Although, Dick Hallorann (played by Scatman Crothers in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining – 1980) had a pretty bad day ‘off’ the slopes as I recall.
“What do you do if the person is mixed race? Open at 4:30?”
I guess you could apologize for your oversight regarding the obviously sincere dining requirements of the prospective customer (along with the insensitive scheduling regimen of your dining establishment) and insist that their meals will be complimentary should they give the restaurant a second chance and chose to return at 5:00.
A ‘win-win’, right? A non-disgruntled customer, and your restaurant isn’t disassembled because of a misunderstanding.
I can’t comment on the particular comment by the CEO of the Aspen Ski Company, but as a New Yorker, I find the world if full of difficult, disrespectful and surly people who “serve” the public. As a non-black person, I find that behavior really annoying, but I don’t feel that the person is singling me out because of my race. I can certainly understand that a black person might feel slighted because of his race. That doesn’t seem unreasonable, though it may not be correct. Thirty years ago, I went to a restaurant in NJ with a black woman I was dating and the not-particularly fancy restaurant refused to seat us because I wasn’t wearing a jacket. It’s the only time in my life when I’ve been refused a seat for not wearing a jacket.
I suppose he doesn’t understand how condescending he sounds. On the other hand, this may be a ham-handed attempt at lawsuit prevention, in case one or two of the guests are difficult people.
I don’t know this Kaplan person, but the black folks I know would likely cock their heads back a smidge and say sheeeee-it if they were on the receiving end of such condescension.
isn’t that discrimination?
Kaplan sounds like a Five star asshole and I am furious on behalf of all minority skiers.
“A hearty welcome was not enough, however, for Mike Kaplan, the liberal white CEO of Aspen Skiing Company. He found it necessary to issue a memo to all employees instructing them how to behave around black people.”
If Mr. Kaplan wants those of his employees who depend on tips to maintain the heartiness of their welcome to black guests, he might want to find a way to supplement their tips.
I suspect that it’s not a matter of blacks lacking education about tipping. My guess is that blacks think of poor tipping as DIY reparations.
Click to access JFSBR_race_revision_article.pdf
RACE DIFFERENCES IN RESTAURANT TIPPING
ABSTRACT
Research on race differences in tipping suggests that (a) Blacks leave smaller average restaurant tips than do Whites, (b) Black-White differences in tipping persist after controlling for socio-economic status, (c) Blacks tip less than Whites even when provided comparable levels of service, (d) Blacks tip less than Whites even when the server is black, and (e) Blacks are much less likely than Whites to know that it is customary/expected to tip 15 to 20 percent of the bill size in U.S. restaurants. The practical implications of these findings for restaurant managers, restaurant industry organizations, and restaurant chains are discussed. In general, those implications center on the need to educate Blacks about the 15 to 20 percent tipping norm.
Rodney died tragically at the age of only 47, being found at the bottom of his* swimming pool, with alcohol, PCP, and cocaine probably contributing to his tragic demise. I’m sure he would have appreciated that the Reverend Al Sharpton came by to give him a rousing send-off.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_King#Death
Death
On Father’s Day, June 17, 2012, King’s partner, Cynthia Kelley, found King dead underwater at the bottom of his swimming pool.[84][85] King died 28 years to the day after his father, Ronald King, was found dead in his bathtub in 1984.[86] Police in Rialto received a 911 call from Kelley at about 5:25 a.m. (PDT).[87][88] Responding officers removed King from the pool and performed CPR on him. Still pulseless, he was then transferred to an advanced life support ambulance where paramedics attempted to revive him. He was transported to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, California and was pronounced dead on arrival at 6:11 a.m. (PDT) The Rialto Police Department began a standard drowning investigation and said there did not appear to be any foul play.
On August 23, 2012, King’s autopsy results were released, stating he died of accidental drowning. The combination of alcohol, cocaine, and PCP found in his system were contributing factors, as were cardiomegaly and focal myocardial fibrosis.[89] The conclusion of the report stated: “The effects of the drugs and alcohol, combined with the subject’s heart condition, probably precipitated a cardiac arrhythmia, and the subject, incapacitated in the water, was unable to save himself.”[90]
Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy at King’s funeral. King is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles County, California.[91][92][93]
* And how was it that a worthless bum like Rodney was able to afford a swimming pool? The answer is on his Wikipedia page:
Later life
King with fiancée Cynthia Kelley a few months before his death. Kelley was one of the jurors in King’s civil suit against the city of Los Angeles when he was awarded $3.8 million.
Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley offered King $200,000 and a four-year college education funded by the city of Los Angeles.[61] King refused and sued the city, and was subsequently awarded $3.8 million.
This was supposed to be in reply to Phil Beck’s post about Saint Rodney King.
Should have spent some of that scratch on a water sports safety vest.
Thanks for the history lesson Calvin Hobbes.
I am in complete agreement with your take on the matter.
What matters is the content of my wallet, not the color of my skin.
Having said that, my wallet remains closed to most, if not all, progressive companies. NBA,MLB,NFL, Dicks, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, the Alphabet networks, Starbucks, GM, Ford, Chrysler, GE, and all of the big newspapers and magazines, are just a few business entities that I no longer do business with. Sadly, the list grows every day.
Why are the Democrats so disrespectful to Candace Owens, an educated & intelligent Black woman.?
Excellent question!
She’s not intelligent at all
Mostly self-educated, but sharp as a tack and whip smart. Great video of her mopping the floor with Ted Lieu, Jerrold the Hutt’s personal “Salacious Crumb” in a congressional hearing. She also took down two self-absorbed edumedicated white prog women professing to know better than she what life is like for black women in America.
Well, Glenn…. I’m hoping for an avalanche on the ceo (small letters).
It is beyond me why the liberals continue to perpetuate racism and use others to carry out their racist agendas..all for profit of course.
Good to hear from you, Glenn.
The Aspen CEO is ridiculous and also a racist. His letter to staff is enough for me NEVER to go to Aspen.
Why does snow have to be white?
Sadly the ski/mountain resort industry is infected with plethora of wokesters. Be it the Squaw Valley folks renaming their mountain (I will not mention that terrible name), Robert Katz and the gang at Vail resorts with insane vax and mask mandates, or Mountain Mike.
In his defense, perhaps Mr. Kaplan was simply being realistic in today’s ultra-sensitive world. Aren’t “micro-aggressions” still a thing? Merely surviving in contemporary society requires a heightened sensitivity toward those sporting certain epidermal characteristics. Or perhaps he had just finished reading Colin Flaherty’s, “Don’t Make the Black Kids Angry,” a survival manual for our times, or its companion tome, “White Girl Bleed a Lot.” Either way, this reminded me of a conversation I had with a (((lawyer))) from Philadelphia over lunch after resolving a court case. Inasmuch as we had become somewhat inebriated, candor ruled. The topic of Negro reparations came up, and (of course) he was all in favor of it. When I demurred and asked his reasons, he said it was like paying your fire insurance premium. Better to pay a little now than have your house burn down with no recourse. To his credit, he acknowledged this was a blanket criticism of an entire ethnic group, but felt it was defensible under his circumstances, since it was a totally accurate portrayal of realities on the ground where he lived. I thought, but did not say this was a lot like feeding your neighbors to the alligators in hopes they eat you last. When you inhabit a world in which every glance at another person is met with a retort like, “Whadda you lookin at?” some anticipatory groveling and eye-lowering seems a reasonable, albeit totally dishonorable and pusillanimous response. By issuing this dictat, Mr. Kaplan has made sure that his employees keep their eyes lowered when dealing with their NBS customers. (I note a certain irony in the fact that he also provided a Spanish language translation, so his underpaid non-native, immigrant cleaning staff maintain appropriate deferral to their esteemed and darker-hued guests.)
Steve, I agree with you. And, liberals have done everything possible to encourage hyper-sensitivity by Blacks, (and have thus widened the divide between races). I know, especially young Blacks, who see racism in their every encounter with non-Blacks. They will interpret an entirely neutral remark, one that I (as a white person) wouldn’t even notice, as racist and designed to deliberately insult and or hurt them. What an (unnecessarily) painful way to live. Another case of many lives damaged by liberal ideology.
Don’t worry. I’m sure Mr. Kaplan has provided safe spaces for those who might be severely micro-aggressed during their visit.
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Through good intentions we’ve accomplished this “What have white, Asian, Hispanic, Native American and other customers of other colors done to deserve worse treatment than black customers?”
We’ve allowed Tribalization over integration, as Black separation theology got instituted in the 60s, everybody else followed suit and became an oppressed minority. They’ve built on this switch from Class Warfare to Race Warfare and at this point in time they’ve about got it locked up. Most have been gradually integrated to this thinking through Education, gee thanks! That’s the foundation they build on. We got lots to do.
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Give him a break. He is just trying to avoid a BLM riot, Southern Poverty Law Center lawsuit , or MSM attack !
The Left has everyone angry, and most people scared which is exactly as they want. Racism, masks, vax, riots etc are tools of division and control. They are miserable bullies, unhappy with their own sad lives. My experience with bullies is confronting them and that makes it stop. Caplan is a bully and lives in fear all the time “pitch forks are coming”. Can’t believe they/he didn’t know what Derek Johnson was doing. This memo to the ski troops is a perfect example on how to be white when around blacks. Thanks for posting more proof, don’t surrender General McAullife’s reply is perfect. “nuts”