Tube passenger seen wearing blackface

[Plaintree]

I mean who the AF still does this? FGS.

metro.co.uk/2018/10/28/racist-passenger-wore-blackface-halloween-costume-on-london-underground-8081967/

I understand that this is offensive, but I don't feel a baying social media mob will do anyone any good. (MN here is being reasonable but I doubt the same will go for Twitter).

If he was just sporting a random blackface then yes, I could imagine that would be offensive .. but, he was with a group of people all dressed as characters from a film. Was he not just playing his part? same as if me and my friends were going as Simply Red, I may wear a ginger wig (flippant I knew but my ginger DS gets more abuse for is ginger hair than his dual heritage BFF)

But, I'm not black so whether I'm offended or not is irrelevant.

Maybe because being 'racist' to me is thinking of, or treating someone differently because of their colour, and I genuinely don't, that's obviously too simplistic a view though.

You have no idea why, they could have been at / going to an educational event or some other reason demonstrating how wrong it is but no facilities to change!

Maybe because being 'racist' to me is thinking of, or treating someone differently because of their colour
That's exactly what blackface does. Treats black people as if their skin is a costume.

That's exactly what blackface does. Treats black people as if their skin is a costume.

But then you could say that wearing a 'bald' wig is treating hair loss flippantly (maybe it is!)

I'm not black therefore if black people find it offensive then fair enough - I'll treat this as a learning curve.

Why is it not considered equally offensive when drag artistes or pantomime dames don women’s costume in order to mock women?
Ditto Sir Laurence Olivier wearing blackface to play Othello?
Who decides when dressing up and costume play is ok and when it’s abusive?

Men dressed as women in Shakespeares time because women weren't allowed to be actors in the main. It doesn't bother me if I see a bloke dressed in an obvious woman costume for a fancy dress party.

Interesting this is so immediately recognised as problematic whereas Pips Bunce gets a women in business award from the FT.

Lawrence Olivier blacking up to play Othello, (and that accent) is now seen as deeply dodgy and would never happen today in the U.K.

Does anybody have an opinion on the TV programme I mentioned up thread?

Interesting this is so immediately recognised as problematic whereas Pips Bunce gets a women in business award from the FT

Yes and dresses in a stereotypical way to do it

Dressing in women's clothing is not the issue with Pips Bunce. If he just wore them to the office and said "I'm aware this is unusual but I'm exploring my frilly side" that would have been fine.

I kind of agree except that the taking of someone’s stereotypical dress and look is not ok for race but is ok for sex. Bunce doesnt just add a slightly feminine cut or wear makeup. He takes on the entirety of a ‘sexily dressed’ woman. I’m curious why sexy woman is ok but Samuel L Jackson is not. In other words it’s not just the FT award that makes Bunce a problem.

Thanks drspouse for summing it up perfectly in one sentence.
It is treating back skin as a costume.

Since black people have been oppressed for centuries because of their skin colour it is wrong to be so flippant about it. I also get pissed off with drag artists fwiw.

Ultimately I am white so I don’t get to tell a black persons whether something is racist or not.

By the way, if you DO want to dress up as a Black hero then this is how to do it:

urbanintellectuals.com/2015/11/04/kid-came-to-halloween-party-at-school-dressed-as-his-hero-malcolm-x-no-black-face-needed/

fabulously people have not been enslaved or spent centuries being oppressed because they are bald.

He looks more like a Beatle.

Does that really matter? Most children's dressing up doesn't look exactly like a witch/Elsa/a viking.