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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To find this disturbing for a number of reasons....

529 replies

Tinlegs · 10/11/2013 14:28

Photograph, posted on Facebook (and, therefore, in my eyes, endorsed) by a teacher of a group of people dressed up for Halloween. One person, "blacked up" (face mask, brownish make up on neck etc) one person "whitened up" (face mask, White make up) and a third person, also made up but in a brown colour. "Black man" wearing track suit, trainers and lots and lots of jewellery. "White woman" in curlers, Primark hoodie, track suit bottoms, heels. "Brown person" (an adult) in a child's buggy with a bottle, dummy and carrying what looks like a lunch box.

AIBU to think that this is racist and stereotyping of the worst kind. That they are dressed as a mixed race "chav" (not a word I would use but...) low income family who bottle feeds their baby, dresses badly and pushes a very old child around, who are all overweight etc.

Now I know these people. The area we live in is NOT at all multi cultural so there is unlikely to have been anyone offended at the party. But I am offended.

FWIW at least one of these people works with children on a daily basis.

Mumsnet, over to you.

OP posts:
Heartbrokenmum73 · 13/11/2013 22:07

Hi Cjel!

taffleee · 13/11/2013 23:45

nooka in no way!! But arnt we more multicultural nowadays??? I'm in no way saying racism doesn't exist, of course it does, on all levels though??

Lovecat · 14/11/2013 11:40

Oh my goodness.

I don't want to derail this but as an amdrammer myself I have seen some godawful local productions. The controversy over Showboat being done by all-white (largely elderly) casts was at its height in the mid 90's, where it was agreed that it was extremely offensive to black people for whites to black up. If a largely white amdram company wants to do Showboat, then it needs to be more inclusive in its outreach for auditions or else, if the members want to sing the lovely songs in the show, do it in a concert format where no costumes are needed. I'm a member of a thriving and busy company in East London, we have several black members and I can just imagine their reaction if we were to rock up at dress rehearsal in blackface - I can assure you it would not be seen as a joke. We have done panto (Aladdin, Ali Baba etc) where it is set in the Middle East/China and no-one has darkened their skin or done 'slitty eyes' make up. There's no need (it's Panto for chrissake, suspension of disbelief is pretty much a given) and it's insulting to imply that skin colour and facial characteristics are part of a costume. If you were doing Merchant of Venice would you make Shylock wear a huge nose? No, (at least I hope to God you wouldn't) because it would be massively offensive to the Jewish community. I don't see why blacking up is considered innocent or (and I can't believe someone actually typed this without setting their brain in gear) a 'tribute' to black people.

Back to the matter in hand - I suggest all those saying that they don't "see" skin colour, and that all people are the same to them - whilst I can see the good-natured impulse behind that statement, it is generally white people making it from the position of their privilege.

I suggest that you watch this from 10.05 to 12.14 - it's from Jane Elliot's famous Blue Eye/Brown Eye experiment and it's an important message.

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