Brooklyn Midwife’s Dice Game Club Sparks Concerns About Safety For “Non-White” Women

A seemingly harmless dice game landed a Brooklyn midwife in hot water following her attempt to organize a game night.

Ellen Christy shared a post on her social media about organizing a monthly “Bunco Club” activity in her neighborhood, which quickly led to a storm of backlash online.

Netizens accused the 30-year-old of disrespecting the Black community and appropriating Black culture.

“The colonizers be colonizing,” commented one social media user. 

Ellen Christy’s attempt to organize a dice game night backfired as she was labeled a “colonizer”

Young woman with blonde hair outdoors, representing Brooklyn midwife’s dice game club and safety concerns for non-white women.

Image credits: Ellen Christy / Facebook

The 30-year-old shared a Facebook post in the Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn Community Facebook group.

In the post, she expressed that she was looking for women in the community “to join a Bunco Club,” organized by her every month at her apartment.

Ellen also shared a selfie with a group of five other women sitting on the floor, seemingly from one of those dice game nights.

Notably, every woman in the picture appeared to be white, with no person of color present.

“Hi all – seeking women living in Bedford-Stuyvesant to join a Bunco Club!” Christy, who is white, wrote in the post. “Bunco is a game of rolling dice (think Yahtzee!), no skills required.”

The 30-year-old Jamaica Hospital midwife created the “Bunco Club” to “connect” with women in her community

Young woman holding a yellow towel, with Brooklyn midwife’s dice game club safety concerns for non-white women topic.

Image credits: Ellen Christy / Facebook

Screenshot of a Brooklyn midwife’s dice game club post inviting women to join, raising safety concerns for non-white women.

Image credits: Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn Community / Facebook

“I started this group to connect other women living in Bedstuy.”

She concluded her message by revealing the exact details, including the date and time of the monthly activity.

“We meet monthly to hang out and play. This month’s meeting is Saturday, September 27th at 7PM.”

Bed-Stuy, the community where the hospital worker organized her game night, is predominantly Black and is home to the largest number of Black residents in New York City.

A group of women sitting on the floor in a Brooklyn midwife’s dice game club raising safety concerns for non-white women.

Image credits: Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn Community / Facebook

Given the lack of diversity in her picture, people called the post offensive and accused her of gentrification.

As a result of the mounting backlash, Ellen deleted the post from the group.

“Yikes. Gentrifiers and their defenders coming out of the woodworks…” expressed one user in disapproval of Christy’s post. 

Ellen was accused of disrespecting the Black community and appropriating Black culture

Brooklyn midwife’s Bunco dice game club invites Bedstuy women, raising concerns about safety for non-white women.

Image credits: Google Docs

Social media post discussing concerns related to Brooklyn midwife’s dice game club and safety for non-white women.

Image credits: Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn Community / Facebook

Historically, dice games have been around since at least 3,000 BCE, with credible evidence found in places like Greece, Rome, Egypt, and China.

Christy’s Bunco dice game traces its roots to 19th-century England, where it was known as the “eight-dice game.” 

It was originally started as a gambling and swindling game and was first imported to San Francisco in 1855. After the Civil War, the game evolved into a popular recreational activity.

Referring to a dice game called Cee-Lo, which is more historically associated with Black neighborhoods like Bed-Stuy, many social media users criticized Ellen for colonial behavior.

“Y’all playing gentrified cee lo?!”

Cee-Lo, a popular Chinese variation of Bunco, was brought to America by Chinese-American laborers and flourished most in Harlem, another Black neighborhood in New York, during the 1970s and 1980s.

Due to mounting backlash and criticism, Christy deleted her original post about the Bed-Stuy game night

Screenshot of social media comments discussing concerns about Brooklyn midwife's dice game club safety for non-white women.

Image credits: Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn Community / Facebook

Social media comments discussing Brooklyn midwife’s dice game club and safety concerns for non-white women.

Image credits: Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn Community / Facebook

While the post was quickly removed following online criticism, one member of the group shared a screenshot on September 20.

Calling out Christy’s decision to delete the post, the user Janessa Wilson wrote, “deleting your post, and all of the labor that we did to educate, is colonial violence. so that tracks.”

Netizens were not happy, with many expressing their displeasure over the lack of diversity in the original post.

One user commented, “What non-white person in their right mind would feel safe joining that?!”

Another wrote, “No black or brown members and there is a solicitation for ‘members’ in this Bed Stuy Community Group?”

“Colonizer Cee-Lo Club,” a third expressed.

Smiling woman outdoors in a casual jacket representing Brooklyn midwife’s dice game club safety concerns for non-white women.

Image credits: Ellen Christy / Facebook

However, some users defended Ellen, questioning how a simple dice game could be equated with colonial behavior.

“Only in Brooklyn could a dice game become a geopolitical crisis,” wrote one dissenting user.

“The racists in Bed Stuy don’t want white people around them, and they feel comfortable saying it out loud.”

Bunco was originally created as a gambling dice game in England before transforming into a popular recreational activity 

Box of Bunco dice game set with colorful dice, cups, bell, and score sheet linked to Brooklyn midwife safety concerns.

Image credits: Amazon

One social media user even drew a parallel to the infamous homicide of a 40-year-old woman named Tamla Horsford, who was mysteriously found deceased after attending a slumber party in Georgia.

Tamla was a Black woman, and the party was organized in 2018 by a white family, leaving her as the only person of color there.

Despite autopsy results revealing abrasions on her body and suspicions of foul play, in 2019, Major Joe Perkins of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office closed the case due to a lack of evidence.

Dice of various colors on a wooden surface illustrating Brooklyn midwife’s dice game club and safety concerns for non-white women.

Image credits: Lea Böhm / Unsplash

Group of people on a couch in a home, related to Brooklyn midwife’s dice game club safety concerns for non-white women.

Image credits: 11alive / Instagram

The user Senora Hassan wrote, “My mind IMMEDIATELY went to the story of the African American woman who mysteriously d**d while attending a slumber party with her all white friend group… Sometimes you have to read the room…”

Christy has not posted anything in the group since the controversy, nor has she addressed it on her other social media accounts.

“It went from Bed-Stuy do or die to concern over a woman’s Bunco club,” wrote one social media user 

Screenshot of a social media comment discussing concerns linked to Brooklyn midwife’s dice game club safety.

Comment from a Brooklyn community member raising concerns about safety for non-white women in a local group.

Comment by Kimberly Brigitte expressing surprise about a deleted post related to Brooklyn midwife’s dice game club.

Screenshot of a social media comment discussing Brooklyn midwife’s dice game club and concerns about safety for non-white women.

Screenshot of a social media comment discussing concerns related to Brooklyn midwife’s dice game club and safety for non-white women.

Screenshot of a social media comment saying "Join and infiltrate" related to Brooklyn midwife’s dice game club safety concerns.

Comment mentioning Cee-Lo Club with eye-rolling emojis related to Brooklyn midwife’s dice game safety concerns.

Screenshot of a social media comment discussing historical immigration in Bedstuy amid Brooklyn midwife’s dice game safety concerns.

Comment by Kate Wamack Black questioning if Bunco refers to something beyond a housewife’s drinking game.

Screenshot of a social media comment discussing Brooklyn midwife’s dice game club and safety concerns for non-white women.

Comment from Kristina Williams expressing interest to join Brooklyn midwife’s dice game club raising safety concerns for non-white women.

Screenshot of a social media comment discussing concerns related to Brooklyn midwife’s dice game club safety for non-white women.

Comment from Jaime Fuest discussing interest in joining Brooklyn midwife’s dice game club to meet friends and learn.

Poll Question

Total votes ·

Thanks! Check out the results:

Total votes ·

Newsletter

Subscribe to Access
Exclusive Polls

Subscribe

By entering your email and clicking Subscribe, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Privacy Policy.

Thank you! You've successfully subscribed to newsletters!

Anyone can write on Bored Panda. Start writing!

Follow Bored Panda on Google News!

Follow us on Flipboard.com/@boredpanda!