Source
r/unpopularopinion•
DeliciousCombination

Wearing "blackface/brownface" is not automatically racist

Inspired by the story "breaking" about Justin Trudeau wearing "brownface" to dress up as Aladdin for a themed party in 2001. I don't think wearing makeup as part of a costume for something like that (party, Halloween, etc) is at all "racist". I understand the connotation of blackface referring to 1930s era carricatures, which were where the actual racism lies. I think that if blackface is worn for fun, and not to intentionally offend (as the 1930s version was) than there's nothing wrong with it besides the internet outrage culture machine looking for something else to complain about

Posted Sep 19, 2019, 3:59 AM UTC

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Vigoradigorish•

Well, the use of blackface originates in extremely racist minstrel shows which are surprisingly recent history, so I can't fault people for finding it distasteful

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DeliciousCombinationOP•

That's kinda my point though. There's a clear difference between that and what Justin Trudeau did, he was just dressing up for an Arabian Night theme party, versus making an overt and racist statement

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

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Vigoradigorish•

Yeah, but it's one of those things where the racist association is so well known that it's hard to believe an educated person like a world leader (or child of, at the time) would not be aware of it. So then it's like, why did he do it then? And a lot of people who were initially offended have already kicked into emotional tribal thinking, so they assign a malicious motive, or at least callous and injurious indifference

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notsoperfect8•

Yeah, but if he's wearing an Aladdin costume too, the association with a fictional cartoon character from a fictional country is a lot stronger than the association with a derogatory caricature of an African-American. It's hard to believe an educated person wouldn't be able to understand the nuances of this.

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Vigoradigorish•

It was a month ago turbonerd

1
NearbyFuture•

I’m a little torn on whether it’s racist or not (specifically in the case of Trudeau). At a minimum it’s in bad taste. He could of conveyed the same “theme” by just dressing up like Aladdin without the black/brown face.

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hitometootoo•

Couldn't he have done so without painting his skin a different color?

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BrainPunter•

Other than the application of the term "blackface" there's almost nothing in common between actual blackface and what Trudeau did.

And the practice of painting your face for a stage performance hardly originates with minstrel shows.

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LogicalHair•

Trudeau was dressing up as Aladdin, not as a caricature of a black person. I don't like him, but there's a world of difference between painting yourself brown to be Aladdin and painting yourself black in a minstrel show fashion.

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Vigoradigorish•

there's a world of difference between painting yourself brown to be Aladdin and painting yourself black in a minstrel show fashion.

Not really lol

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LogicalHair•

Yes, there is, just like there is a world of difference between painting yourself White to mock us White people or painting yourself White to look like KISS.

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Vigoradigorish•

Nah

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HibernatingHero•

Oh it’s definitely racist.

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DeliciousCombinationOP•

Any particular reasoning for that opinion?

1
HibernatingHero•

I mean it’s pretty obvious that the people who participate in blackface/brownface type events aren’t doing so out of respect. Even if it’s “just for fun” it’s still disrespectful. It may not be on purpose but there is such a thing as accidental racism.

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BrainPunter•

Given that most often when you hear a "blackface" story it's about some white kid who wanted to look like their black hero, how exactly is it pretty obvious that it's not being done out of respect?

5
DeliciousCombinationOP•

See, I'm a big proponent of if something was not intended to be disrespectful, being offended by that is the epitome of stupidity. Why take offense when none was meant?

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HibernatingHero•

I see what you’re saying. I’m a big fan of satire but it’s not all tasteful and some of the things that used to fly just don’t hold up to our current climate. I don’t think that everyone who participates is necessarily doing so out of malice but at this point everyone should be cognizant of the fact that certain jokes aren’t as harmless as they think. Those jokes weren’t as harmless as anyone thought in the first place. We’re at a place now where people of color can speak up about things that have always been an issue to us. It’s kind of like making fun of an overweight friend and them getting pissed. You can tell them it was just a joke, but you offended them regardless. It’s being offended because the person you offended spoke up.

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

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philmcruch•

so is the dutch saint nicholas parade racist?

1
procouchpotatohere•

I'm black and I always look at the context of why they are doing blackface. I don't think Trudeau did anything wrong, but people aren't going to fucking listen and just be mad at him for a few days and then move on to find something else someone did in the past to bitch about.

3
Peabody77 •

B O I

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JoeSchmoe777•

It really depends who you are. If you are on the left of the political spectrum then perhaps its silly and why are we looking to the past. If you are on the right we'll burn you at the stake.

2
meldejennifer7•

only if a liberal does it. Then we investigate

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BucketOKnowledge•

Brownface?

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DaegogThat's great! It starts with an earthquake....•

Old buddy of mine, name of Sardi, had no idea how to hit on women, he would literally say shit like.. NICE TITS or You are hot, we should fuck.

He was not trying to upset women at all, he was trying to talk to them and get to know them, but he just couldn't see how he was being offensive.

So if he wasn't TRYING to be offensive, it was not his intent, was he still be offensive?

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hitometootoo•

You not understanding you doing something wrong doesn't excuse you from still doing something wrong. Now offense is all about context though so it depends.

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DaegogThat's great! It starts with an earthquake....•

But who's perspective of the context are you going to rely on?

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hitometootoo•

Both. If I take offense to you doing X, regardless of you not thinking it's offensive, means it still was. Now if you did something offensive but I didn't think it was yet you did, it still is offensive based on those intentions. Now if no one is offended or doing something offensive, it isn't offensive... to them, others might be offended.

It's all semantics though but something racist is still racist even if the party doesn't think it is. That isn't really up to offense.

1
PandaCheese2016•

Glad I searched before saying exact same thing...

There's a difference between being racist and just having poor taste or having once done things that were socially acceptable but is no longer. Honestly being so focused on fringe things only gives more ammunition to racists, who can go: "We are not racist! Look how easy one can be labeled a racist from an innocent thing long ago!"

1
notsoperfect8•

I'm generally against people calling things like this (Trudeau) blackface because I believe it glosses over the true and extremely racist history of stage blackface and the derogatory stereotyping of African-Americans as well as their position as an oppressed minority. Dressing up like Aladdin, dressing up like an African-American as an homage, etc. might be in bad taste and might be offensive to some people, but it's not the same as blackface. Also, simply having a picture of an event which has no context and making assumptions about it is unfair. Take the case of the African- American actor/singer/dancer Ben Vereen. He used to do an act where he paid tribute to the African-American entertainer Bert Williams who sometimes used blackface. Vereen donned blackface for the first part, then removed it to reveal the true side of Williams. He was making a point about how awful it was that Williams had to do this to gain acceptance on the stage. He performed this act for Reagan's inauguration in 1980, but for time constraints only the first part was broadcast for TV. People criticized Vereen even though they had not seen the whole act and it ruined his career because people thought he was being racist.

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