Extreme White Privilege: Mile High Edition.

Ya'll know I'm not a racism chaser. In fact, I darn near catch a beatdown here when I try to go against convention and refute that something is happening in spite of race. I have the cyber scars to prove it.

That said, perhaps more puzzling than people who see racism in a bowl of Cheerios[1] are people who refuse to acknowledge that White Privilege actually exists. I think that is a phrase that automatically puts a lot of white people on the defensive. Nobody wants to believe they benefitted from something they didn't work for. Which is understandable, but it often flies in the face of blatant evidence and common sense.

Take this story, for example, which combines two of America's most annoying cultural staples: viral video, and the 2013 Bastardization Reincarnation of The Harlem Shake.

"Harlem Shake" videos are all fun and games -- until the Feds get involved.

It seems a version of the popular dance video meme, filmed mid-February by enterprising Colorado College students aboard a Frontier Airlines flight headed for San Diego, has raised a few eyebrows over at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

ABC Denver affiliate KMGH confirmed the investigation with the FAA, which initially started the inquiry after viewing the video on YouTube.

Frontier Airlines spokeswoman Kate O'Malley added to KMGH that "[a]ll safety measures were followed and the seat belt sign was off" at the time the video was filmed.

“They are still looking into it, it’s still open,” FAA spokesman Tony Molinero said of the agency's probe, according to Colorado College student newspaper The Catalyst. “I don’t know where the [investigators] were told about it, but when they saw the video they just decided to look into it because it is better to be safe than sorry.”

For the uninitiated, the meme revolves around one person, typically wearing a helmet and dancing alone for approximately 15 seconds while "Harlem Shake," by New York-based DJ Baauer, plays in the background. When the bass drops, the solitary dancer is joined by a crowd of other dancing people. What's the point? There isn't one.

Here's the video.



Let's agree on a few of things here.

1) The "New Harlem Shake" is corny and jumped the shark about 2 months ago.

2) That sh*t is emphatically not the Real Harlem Shake anyway.

3) How, exactly does one get past security wearing a banana suit?

4) I'm absolutely astounded that seemingly everyone on this plane is in on the action? You'd think a few people would be annoyed.

5) Where's the Air Marshal? Wearing the Nixon mask? Do they evey have Air Marshals anymore?

6) There's no way non-white people would have been allowed to pull this sh*t off. No way in the world.

Seriously, could you imagine if a bunch of HBCU students from Valdosta State jumped up mid-flight and started doing the Stanky Leg (since we're talking about played out dances)? The plane would have been immediately grounded, and them Negroes would be somewhere in Federal detention right now.

Even worse, what if some Muslims got up and did the Benghazi Bounce?[2] I can reassure you the FAA wouldn't be "still looking into it". The NTSB would. You complete the punchline.

Seriously, white folks. I love ya'll and all. But you gotta admit, this is about a blatant an example of "sh*t only white people could get away with and still live to see the next episode of 'The Good Wife'".

Tell me I'm wrong.

Question: Is this an example of Extreme White Privilege, or am I just tossing out race cards today?!?

[1] "Why all the O's gotta be lightskinned?!?"

[2] Not a real thing (as far as I know), but the alliteration sounded funny, no?