Blackface: WTF?

[The AD]

So now not just one, but two of the top elected officials in Virginia are in hot water for wearing blackface back in the '80s. Was this sort of a thing in the south at that time? I can honestly say I saw--and probably participated in--some stupid shit in my teens and early 20s but can say I don't recall ever seeing anyone in blackface. Just curious what everyone else's experience is. Just seems like a foreign concept to me (the movie "Soul Man" notwithstanding).

edit: and I'd rather this not devolve into a PolyAss thread. Please stay on topic.

[Danno]

Never once in my life have I seen someone in blackface.

[Flyoverland Captive]

I had a fat friend in college who went as Aunt Jemima for Halloween one year. The locals in a small MN all-white town loved it.

[kathleenturneroverdrive]

A few years ago my son’s preschool did a Halloween event where all the kids dressed up a historical figures. They did a “parade” where the kids walked down the aisle in the middle of the gym and parents on the sides took photos, high fived their kids and generally talked about how cute it all was. Until the white kid who dressed up as Jackie Robison showed up in full on blackface. The gasps were audible from the parents and the whole room went silent. It was so awkward I couldn’t stop laughing. Poor kid has no idea it was wrong - clearly his parents didn’t either.

[The AD]

Wow. That is cringeworthy.

[::: :::]

just lingering ignorance in a place that was steeped in racism historically
it's not right, but it's not that earth shattering that we still see it percolating out
the university of virginia didn't admit women until 1970, and even then it was a 2 yr roll out

[PNWbrit]

The Black and White Minstrel Show was a British light entertainment show that ran for twenty years on BBC prime-time television. Beginning in 1958, it was a weekly light entertainment and variety show which presented traditional American minstrel and country songs, as well as show tunes and music hall numbers, and with lavish costumes. It was also a popular stage show.

The show was accused of racism and ethnic stereotyping by black civil rights groups in the UK, such as the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination, due to its use of blackface. This racial controversy led to the programme's eventual cancellation from television in 1978,

[mcski]

Ted Danson says what?



I once did The thing w two heads as a Halloween costume, not sure where that stands.

Definitely saw a lot of OJs back in the 90s

[schindlerpiste]

I think when I was 10 many white kids dressed up as O.J. Simpson for Halloween. No problem, but I grew up in a very white community

[Ted Striker]

..........

[The AD]

I remember the Ted Danson thing and couldn't understand why it was a big deal at the time, but never saw anyone dress in blackface in person.

[toast2266]

Smart people doing stupid things. Not too surprising. If you reach that level in your career, someone is going to root around and find something unsavory in your past.

Not to diminish the stupidity and poor taste of the act, but viewing 35 year old events through the prism of 2019 values is a dangerous road to go down. If examined closely, I have a hard time believing that many people would come out unscathed.

[Ted Striker]

I think when I was 10 many white kids dressed up as O.J. Simpson for Halloween. No problem, but I grew up in a very white community

Running back OJ, Naked Gun OJ, or stabby OJ?

[riser4]

Running back OJ, Naked Gun OJ, or stabby OJ?

Yes?

[Danno]

Not to diminish the stupidity and poor taste of the act, but viewing 35 year old events through the prism of 2019 values is a dangerous road to go down. If examined closely, I have a hard time believing that many people would come out unscathed.

And that blanket dismissal is equally as dangerous. Viewing through a 35 year old lens, Northam's act was absurdly dumb. It would be a mistake to think it was all just fine back then; it wasn't. I'm not saying he's racist, but it's not like he just went to a party in blackface (or as a KKK member, not clear which he was). He then posed for an incredibly offensive picture, THEN chose to have that picture published in a yearbook. As a med student, not a high school kid. That shit wasn't ok 35 years ago.

I agree that context matters, and we can't view everything as if it happened in today's world. But we also can't give a blanket pass to things people did a long time ago just because it happened in a different era.

[The AD]

but it's not like he just went to a party in blackface (or as a KKK member, not clear which he was). He then posed for an incredibly offensive picture, THEN chose to have that picture published in a yearbook. As a med student, not a high school kid. That shit wasn't ok 35 years ago.

Good point.

[jgb@etree]

Now a pic of NC Governor Roy Cooper (D) in blackface has also surfaced:

[toast2266]

And that blanket dismissal is equally as dangerous. Viewing through a 35 year old lens, Northam's act was absurdly dumb. It would be a mistake to think it was all just fine back then; it wasn't. I'm not saying he's racist, but it's not like he just went to a party in blackface (or as a KKK member, not clear which he was). He then posed for an incredibly offensive picture, THEN chose to have that picture published in a yearbook. As a med student, not a high school kid. That shit wasn't ok 35 years ago.

I agree that context matters, and we can't view everything as if it happened in today's world. But we also can't give a blanket pass to things people did a long time ago just because it happened in a different era.

Agreed on all fronts. Not arguing he should get a pass, but if a decidedly dumb act 35 years ago is defacto disqualifying (despite what appears to be a pretty good track record on minority related issues since then), then we're going to have a pretty small pool of leaders to pick from.

[AdironRider]

Are you fucking kidding me? There are literally hundreds of political leaders from both sides of the aisle that don't have any of that shit in their past.

[wooley12]

Wait until the video of Captain Kangaroo reading "Little Black Sambo" to the kids surfaces. Still love my pancakes.

[Ted Striker]

move to poliass in 3,2,1...

[El Kanone]

And yet no one bats an eye.



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[Danno]

Agreed on all fronts. Not arguing he should get a pass, but if a decidedly dumb act 35 years ago is defacto disqualifying (despite what appears to be a pretty good track record on minority related issues since then), then we're going to have a pretty small pool of leaders to pick from.

Maybe, but it's particularly disappointing that the skeletons only come out when someone else reveals them.

Are you fucking kidding me? There are literally hundreds of political leaders from both sides of the aisle that don't have any of that shit in their past.

Yep. I mean, we all have dumb shit in our past, but I hate that as a get out of jail free card. My dumb shit involves doing dangerous things that I knew was wrong, it doesn't involve racist shit.

[PNWbrit]

And yet no one bats an eye.

Nope...

[Game Over]

Nope...

A dirty faced chiming sweeper ≠ black face.