I'm Still Not Understanding Why It's Horrible To Go In Costume As Someone Of A Different Skin Color
If you went as me, you'd probably wear a bunch of white stuff on your face because I am white like a bottle of fresh Wite-Out. No, there's no history of white minstrel shows (more about those below), but you wouldn't be going as a negative representation of white people but as me.
The same goes for people who've recently gotten in trouble for darkening their skin to go as black characters from sports and TV.
Juliana Hough went as a character (who happens to be black) from "Orange Is The New Black," and wore makeup to make her skin look more like the actress. And was pilloried for it.
Now, California high school coaches and a volunteer teacher who dressed up as the Jamaican bobsled team -- complete with black faces -- have been suspended. Law professor Jonathan Turley blogs:
They were not doing a minstrel show but were going as the Jamaican bobsled team featured in "Cool Runnings." The party was at the San Diego State University....I certainly understand why many find black face to be offensive and I am surprised that people continue to use it in costumes. However, free speech and association protects different values and expressions. Citizens are not required to satisfy majoritarian views on proper humor or, as the English call it, "fancy dress."
About the minstrel show:
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface.Minstrel shows lampooned black people as dim-witted, lazy, buffoonish, superstitious, happy-go-lucky, and musical.
Blackface minstrelsy was the first distinctly American theatrical form. In the 1830s and 1840s, it was at the core of the rise of an American music industry, and for several decades it provided the lens through which white America saw black America. On the one hand, it had strong racist aspects; on the other, it afforded white Americans a singular and broad awareness of what some whites considered significant aspects of black-American culture to be.
About the blackface issue, Hough wrote about her costume:
"I am a huge fan of the show Orange is the New black, actress Uzo Aduba, and the character she has created. It certainly was never my intention to be disrespectful or demeaning to anyone in any way. I realize my costume hurt and offended people and I truly apologize."
If you're a commenter here who happens to be black, do you find any sort of coloring of a person's skin in costume (to go as someone who is black) unacceptable?
I'm usually right there trying to get people to grasp that not everything is racist. There are absolutely people so desperate to find offense that they'll claim any archaic reference they can find is intended to insult. Protesting a performance of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" (AKA Ten Little Indians) because...well, they didn't used to be Indians, is a good example.
But in honesty, this is one of the few examples where even I am willing to admit that there is no virtually context where blackface can be justified. Not that it's intended to be racist, but the assumption is SO easy to make that it's just not worth even going for the gag. See also cartoons comparing the President to a monkey. Doesn't matter how many times people compared Bush to a chimp, doesn't matter whether or not there's a legitimate resemblance, there's such a connection between references to simians and attempts to degrade black people, there's no way on God's green earth you can expect to be surprised when someone says it, and it's just not worth the time.
The minstrel shows, as entertaining as they may have been, have been sufficiently accepted as so embarrassingly racist that any even oblique allusion to them, especially blackface, are almost impossible to see as at the very least outrageously insensitive.
The Confederate flag is another one of those things that damn near impossible to use without at least being misconstrued as a racist statement (tho one could theorize there may be a bit more deliberate intent there)
There's still the possibility to use it on TV or in film (Bamboozled is the most recent example I can think of) but even then, you're walking on eggshells. I recall an Australian talent show where a team of Doctors re-performed an act they'd done years before when the were interns. They lip-synced the Jackson 5ive. And yes, they "blacked up". The Australian crowd was having a grand old time, but guest judge Harry Connick Jr. looked like he was about to take a flamethrower to the place. Classic example of Offensive in one place, harmless fun elsewhere.
Vinnie Bartilucci at November 4, 2013 6:56 AM
I believe this woman when she says she didn't mean anything racist by it and that she didn't mean to cause offense, but how naive and insensitive can you be? It's just a stupid thing to do. Racist? Not in this case. Thoughtless and dumb? Heck yes.
whistleDick at November 4, 2013 7:22 AM
Here is the thing that annoys the fuck outta me about Julianna Hough.
She dons the blackface to really capture the character right? Paints her whole fucking face and hands. Her excuse is she wants to capture the authenticity.
BUT SHE LEAVES HER BLEACHED BLONDE HAIR on her fucking head without covering that shit up.
And people wonder why those who don black face are annoying fucks.
Ppen at November 4, 2013 7:48 AM
Oh and Robert Downey Jr did the blackface magnificently in Tropic Thunder. That's how you do it.
(And as a brown person black face annoys me, not cuz it's racist but because its douchey).
Ppen at November 4, 2013 7:50 AM
Free speech means you are legally allowed to do it, not that you can do it and avoid having people call you an asshole. She used her free speech to don blackface. The rest of the planet used their free speech to call her an asshat.
Not seeing the problem.
NicoleK at November 4, 2013 8:10 AM
One last thing, I've been to black people Halloween parties and the only time they wear white face is to be Michael Jackson. They don't even do it for Barbie when that bitch was super popular among blacks.
There was a rich highschool here who would have "Hispanic day" by dressing as cholos, pregnant teens with bandanas, or painting their faces brown and wearing sombreros.
The only reason it stopped was because they had 1 Mexican kid who said it made him uncomfortable and went to the district.
I know white people have a hard time understanding this but brown/black skin colors still have a negative connotation (especially within our own communities). White/light skin colors just don't.
Ppen at November 4, 2013 8:13 AM
What do you mean by "douchey" PPen?
NicoleK at November 4, 2013 8:35 AM
even I am willing to admit that there is no virtually context where blackface can be justified.
Robert Downey Jr in Tropic Thunder?
See also cartoons comparing the President to a monkey. Doesn't matter how many times people compared Bush to a chimp
Why not? We are primates after all
The Confederate flag is another one of those things that damn near impossible to use without at least being misconstrued as a racist statement (tho one could theorize there may be a bit more deliberate intent there)
Only because americans are historically illiterate.
The south didnt secede over slavery, the north didnt go to war over slavery. Fact of the matter was Lincoln offered any state which returned to the Union could keep their slaves, which is how West Virginia came into existence.
He opposed the admission of Kansas as a salve owning state, not because he was opposed to slavery, but because he didn't want white and black people living near each other and eventually becoming familiar enough to fuck each other.
The Emancipation Proclamation only applied to states in rebellion. It did not grant the rights of citizenship to freed slave, nor did it free the slaves in the states not in rebellion. Alos Lincoln's post war reconstruction program called for the forcible expulsion of black people from america.
Any of you black? Have a black post Civil War ancestor? Black friends or lovers? Like interracial porn? Thank your lucky stars Lincoln was murdered.
lujlp at November 4, 2013 8:49 AM
So then... it IS racist.
It's ok to say it's racist. I know there's this tendency on this board to think that nothing should be labeled racist or sexist, but you know, sometimes things are.
NicoleK at November 4, 2013 8:49 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2013/11/04/im_still_not_un.html#comment-4030566">comment from NicoleKI wrote about this from the context of not understanding why it would be considered racist and hoping to get insights from people who comment here, which we're getting and which I appreciate. There are no rules here. I just prefer people to be thinking and rational as opposed to the contrary.
Amy Alkon at November 4, 2013 9:22 AM
I don't think it is racist. Blackface is a specific type of makeup, just like mime or geisha. What she was wearing was NOT blackface. What she did was darken her skin so that she more closely resembled the actress she wished to portray. Darkening (or lightening or otherwise coloring) your skin to more closely resemble the actor or character is not racist.
KLC at November 4, 2013 10:14 AM
PPen has already said it well, and my thoughts pretty much match hers.
By coloring your skin to match racial features, you are saying that the most defining characteristic of the person you are dressing up as is their race. If the first thing someone thinks of is the color of someone's skin, well...racist much? Yes, putting on bronzer is aesthetically different from the traditional black face, but there's a big long ugly history of white people darkening their skin to mock other races.
Amy, if I were dressing as you, I would not color my skin. I'd wear an evening gown and gloves, curl my hair and maybe hold a flyswatter.
Now, is someone who just doesn't know that it's inappropriate to darken their skin on Halloween really racist? I'll give them the benefit of the doubt if their reaction is "I'm so sorry. I had no idea. I'll never do it again." But not if it's "I had to do it to capture the character, DUH!"
sofar at November 4, 2013 10:20 AM
Also, wanted to add: I attend a lot of comic book/anime conventions. Lots of my friends cosplay, and I do it myself sometimes. It is generally considered the height of LAZINESS to color your skin to match a character's ethnicity (unless that character has a skin color that doesn't occur in nature, in which case slather on the body point). There is a distinct line between the skin color being part of the costume (if you're going as Mystique, for example) and just part of a person (if you're going as Uhura, for example). Mystique's blue scaliness is inherent to her special power, while Uhura's skin color is not.
My boyfriend is Indian, and he goes as white characters all the time. He's never once colored his skin and "captures" the character via clothing details and weaponry.
sofar at November 4, 2013 10:29 AM
On the other hand, if I were going as Pippi Longstocking or Anne of Green Gables I'd give myself freckles.
My thought on the difference between whiteface and blackface is that the reality is, more power is held by whites in western society than blacks. IN GENERAL (obviously there are major exceptions like, say, Obama or Condeleeza Rice) blacks are lower on the social hierarchy. Making fun of the boss is cheeky. Making fun of the poor is cruel.
And even though Obama himself is the top guy on the planet, dressing up in blackface to be him would still be sending the message to other black people, "Ha ha, we're making fun of you".
I agree it'd be great if these dynamics didn't exist, but they do.
I really hate white trailer trash parties and ghetto parties and pimps and whores parties for the same reasons. There's something really unseemly about rich kids mocking the poor.
NicoleK at November 4, 2013 10:31 AM
What she did was darken her skin so that she more closely resembled the actress she wished to portray.
The character she was portraying had both a unique outfit AND a unique hairstyle. So why would she need to darken her skin? Saying that someone's skin color is essential to their character is the height of racism.
Also, a friend pointed out to me something I hadn't considered: When white people do blackface, they usually smear paint/polish/bronzer in haphazard way on their face. You're basically making someone's skin color look unattractive and clownish.
sofar at November 4, 2013 11:31 AM
I'm a little on the fence on this one as well.
There is no question that "Blackface" is associated with racism.
But...
Several years back I put together a 'Gandhi' costume for Halloween, and I considered using "can tan" to colour my pasty white skin. I did not, due to a friend claiming that would be offensive, but would it?
It's certainly not the same as 'Blackface'... was it offensive when Ben Kingsley did so for the film?
I totally missed the public outcry over that one when the film was released.
Baldwin bravo at November 4, 2013 11:45 AM
Minor correction: Her first name is Julianne.
One thing I want to point out, somewhat in her defense: Julianne comes from the world of ballroom dancing, where fake tan is a huge thing. I don't have access to the photo from work, but if she just smeared on the fake tan, then, well, that's what she's always done for a performance. So yes, she may not have been sensitized to the particular contextual difference.
As for me, after all the crap that's flying now, I don't think I'm ever going to a costume party again.
Cousin Dave at November 4, 2013 12:00 PM
Let me see... I'm supposed to be mad because Julianne Hough is imitating someone?
Have you seen that woman move?
The only way she could imitate me is under epidural anesthetic!
But I forgot: I'm supposed to be part of America - The Land Of The Offended.
Radwaste at November 4, 2013 12:10 PM
IF you are dressing up to LOOK like someone else, then yes, their appearance is pretty defining. SKin color is a big part of appearance, and the first thing people notice. So I can't see the difference between darkening he skin and drawing on freckles (the irish were hated too you know).
I wouldn't do it because of exactly what is happening to this actress, but I've no problem whatsoever with it being done. I'm pretty pale white, DH is very dark chocolate brown, FWIW.
momof4 at November 4, 2013 12:12 PM
Which Confederate flag?
The Bonnie Blue Flag ("with a single star") was used throughout the Confederacy as a symbol of succession, but never took on any official status.
The Stars and Bars was first proposed as the national flag of the Confederacy (it was designed by an Austrian), but was never approved by the Confederate Congress, so its use was never official.
Since it closely resembled the Stars and Stripes, its use on battlefields (especially when obscured by gunpowder smoke) caused confusion and more than one friendly fire incident.
As a result, Pierre Gustav Toutant Beauregard (whose hobby seemed to be flag design) outfitted his Army of Northern Virginia with a square red flag with a blue saltire of crisscrossed stars. Other Confederate armies followed suit, outfitting themselves with army-specific battle flags. The Army of Tennessee adopted Beauregard's design, but used a rectangular pennant.
The Confederate Congress finally got around to adopting a national flag, a white banner with the Army of Northern Virginia's square battle flag in the upper left corner. Its close resemblance to a surrender flag when not flapping strongly in the breeze caused a red bar to be added to the end.
After the war, some Confederate veterans in Memphis got together and formed a quasi-political terrorist group to protest the Reconstruction. They adopted as their banner the Army of Tennessee battle flag under which they'd fought.
When the former Confederates regained control of the Southern states, several state legislatures adopted variants of different Confederate flags for the state flags. Arkansas reversed the Army of Tennessee saltire to form a diamond pattern. Georgia put the "bars" from the Stars and Bars on its state flag (replaced in 1956 with the Army of Northern Virginia battle flag and in 2003 supplanted wholly with a modified Stars and Bars). Mississippi's state flag still incorporates the Army of Northern Virginia battle flag. The state flags of Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas have all been accused of having Confederate symbolism (sometimes erroneously).
Conan the Grammarian at November 4, 2013 12:45 PM
Re: freckles
Freckles occur naturally in a variety of races and skin tones. Dotting on freckles is not racist, nor is it tied to a single race.
the irish were hated too you know
Yes. Were. You'd be hard-pressed to find regular, systematic hatred against the Irish in this day and age in the US, though. Discrimination against them (recognition of them, in fact) as an ethnic/cultural group in the US has faded to practically nil. And there's really no tacky equivalent of black face used to depict the physical appearance of an Irish person.
That said, if some non-Irish person had shown up at my Halloween party, wearing green, pretending to be an alcoholic and speaking with a fake Irish accent, I'd probably tell them to knock it the heck off.
sofar at November 4, 2013 2:00 PM
Sofar said: The character she was portraying had both a unique outfit AND a unique hairstyle. So why would she need to darken her skin? Saying that someone's skin color is essential to their character is the height of racism.
... Remember that here, "character" is not the sort that Rev. King so memorably and truthfully referred to in his Dream speech.
"Character" here refers to a fictional character in the visual arts - and in that context, YES, skin color is essential to the "character".
Just like Yoda isn't Yoda unless he's green.
"Identifying a [so-called] racial characteristic" is not "racist" - racism is racial bigotry.
Race is a bad idea, so to speak - but admitting that some people have different physical characteristics, and that to pretend to be some other individual, those characteristics might be aped to make the resemblance clear?
Is just not racism.
Sigivald at November 4, 2013 3:20 PM
'martyred sigh' If you're going to go as an actor or actress of another ethnicity, and you are going to try to look like them for the purposes of your costume, it is not racist to try to adjust yourself to look like them.
Nor is anyone harmed by it that isn't just aching to have something to cry about.
Morons make my head hurt.
Robert at November 4, 2013 4:11 PM
It's only offensive when the "privileged race" impersonates someone of another race. However, when a non-white impersonates the white race, no matter unflatteringly portrayed, it's perfectly fine.
Remember the Wayans brothers in the movie "White Chicks" in 2004? Yes, there was some outcry that the film was racist, but can you imagine someone even daring to consider making a film starring the Olsen twins called "Black Dudes"?
Patrick at November 4, 2013 4:11 PM
In this particular case, she was representing herself as a character...not as the entire race.
Just like my mother was when she dressed me up as Aunt Jemima for Halloween when I was ten years old. There was no clownish black face but all over black/brown body paint, strategically placed to look realistic. And it worked too, 'cause ninety percent of the children my age in that tiny town had never actually seen a black person and thought it was the neatest thing ever. My mother was not disparaging the black race, but instead dressing me to look like Aunt Jemima.
Things can be offensive to an entire race, and still not be racist.
Cat at November 4, 2013 4:17 PM
Best time to dress up like a Klansman?
When you're seven and it's Halloween.
Caveat: the Klan gives to St. Jude's, so it's a wash.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at November 4, 2013 6:01 PM
"Yes, there was some outcry that the film was racist, but can you imagine someone even daring to consider making a film starring the Olsen twins called "Black Dudes"?"
So long as it's a porn film, this seems to be A-OK. I've seen the titles, though not the films. The professional victim's industry needs to avoid that sort of association to keep selling their point.
Radwaste at November 4, 2013 6:08 PM
The Alabama state flag is a depiction of the Cross of St. Andrew. When Andrew was sentenced to death by crucifixion, he deemed himself unworthy of being crucified on the same kind of cross as Jesus had been, and demanded that his executionists bring a different cross. They brought an X-shaped cross and crucified him on that. The same shape has been used in several national flags, including the flag of Scotland.
"You'd be hard-pressed to find regular, systematic hatred against the Irish in this day and age in the US, though. "
And why is that? Could it perhaps have something to do with the fact that Irish-American culture doesn't encourage their people to carry around centuries-old grudges?
Cousin Dave at November 5, 2013 6:26 AM
What about some Kiwi blacks wearing some black face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT1SAukgH6I
John Paulson at November 5, 2013 6:40 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2013/11/04/im_still_not_un.html#comment-4033335">comment from Cousin DaveWhen Andrew was sentenced to death by crucifixion, he deemed himself unworthy of being crucified on the same kind of cross as Jesus had been, and demanded that his executionists bring a different cross. They brought an X-shaped cross and crucified him on that.
You've got to admire a guy (perhaps fictional) who is about to die horribly and calls, "Decorator! Decorator!"
Amy Alkon at November 5, 2013 7:01 AM
And why is that? Could it perhaps have something to do with the fact that Irish-American culture doesn't encourage their people to carry around centuries-old grudges?
Posted by: Cousin Dave at November 5, 2013 6:26 AM
Well you see, that carrying around of century old grudges just wasn't getting them anywhere,
After all the Germans have red hair and freckles, and tend to drink a lot too, so when the Irish lost their brogue and could not be distinguished visually from the other oppressor Europeans, they didn't make a very good class of victims.
Isab at November 5, 2013 11:30 AM
I will not ever try to forgive the sins of the various government or public discrimination groups that existed in the aftermath of the Civil War. The Plessy v. Ferguson was wrong.
But as noted before, Ole Honest Abe's idea was to load the blacks on ships and send them back to Africa. And other northern whites agreed with the idea.
So no one then was exempt from prejudice. The best way to look at the modern version is from the gunnery sergeant view.
That is my view.
Jim P. at November 5, 2013 9:47 PM
Leave a comment