Planking! yet Another Act Performed by Ignorant Black People

There is a new fad out right now, which involves people lying face down with their arms to the side, while in a very stiff position. At random and obscure places, photos are then taken and posted to the internet for all to see. This very non-productive and demeaning act is called Planking.

Youtube has an abundance of planking videos of people prostrating in the most obscene places one can think of, including on top of cars, buildings, signs and even places that are potentially life threatening. Anywhere and everywhere one can think of, there is a video out on the internet right now of a person planking on it. Youtube has a video report of the first reported planking death of an Australian man that fell seven stories off of a balcony after attempting the dangerous stunt. Other Youtube videos also report a man being charged after planking on the hood of a police vehicle. Among these reports are hundreds of other videos of plankers showing off some of their best planking work across the nation. The question is just how has this internet craze come about? More importantly, what is the history behind planking?

No one is sure of any documented reports of the origination of the planking game. Yet some sources suggests that as early as 1997, has this game been around and simply may have been formally known as the "lying-down game". Other sources suggest that origination could perhaps have stemmed from Europe or even Japan, according to reports from Huffpost World.com. Where ever origination, it is clear that the game is a non-productive and potentially dangerous game depending on level of play.

What may be even more of a disappointment is that many African-Americans are engaging in the demeaning act, without previous knowledge as to what it is they are actually engaging in. Sure, there is fault with other races, which extends the racial idioms already in place amongst people within our society, but with African-Americans in particular, planking hits home on a much more personal level.

Planking was an act performed by those slave masters during the Trans-Atlantic-Slave Trade. It involved boarding as many Africans as possible onto the vessels setting sail for the "New World". In the process of transportation, many African slaves were subjected to lying face down with their arms to the side, with stiffed bodies and barely any room to breathe. They were stacked as high as possible one atop of another and covered every portion of the base of these sailing vessels, while on their voyage to the new land in order to be used as slave workers. By the thousands and hundreds of thousands were these many Africans stuffed into the base of these vessels in this planking position. Many, of course did not make it alive to the new world due to suffocation, dehydration, famine and disease. They were considered property and not human beings, which serves the reasoning for such cruel acts. These repeated trips and consequential deaths led to millions of unreported deaths of Africans during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Unfortunately, many school textbooks of yore do not and have not exploited such terrors, which perhaps cater to the ignorance of the performers of such acts today.

Understanding the history behind planking would upset and disappoint any living soul with a heart, yet the demoralizing act isn't acknowledged by many and therefore holds no precedence to the foolish acts taking place currently. With such knowledge, perhaps people would be more mindful and cease such a frolic sport. However, for this to happen, we would have to perhaps live in a utopian society.

Elizabeth Flock, Planking: Why People Do It, The Washington Post National.com

Dean Praetorious, Planking Craze Hits Australia: At Least One Dead (VIDEO), Huff Post World.com

daredevildudes, Man Gets Arrested For Planking On Police Car, Youtube.com