To report friend to FB for photo of her blacked up?

[Greyhound]

I'm really shocked - cousin of mine has pic of herself on Facebook blacked up. She is white. The picture is of her at a fancy dress party - she has covered her face in dark brown stage make up and is wearing an "Afro" wig and Rastafarian style striped hat.

Her husband is also blacked up.

No, Buffy it was obviously for Ms. Pankhurst

Wombles - if you read the thread, you will see that I didn't report the pic but contacted the poster of the pic.

One more the bingo card...Morris Dancers, some groups black up their faces. Is that racist aswell?

Morris Dance

pictures of Morris dancers

Isn't the Morris dancer thing a reference to mining not race? Or is it?

There is actually an interesting conversation to be had about things that are nothing to do with race, that sound or look racist and whether they should be considered an issue. The word 'niggardly' for example.

I understand the issues fully, I just don't share your feminist fury at a man dressing up as a woman for the purposes of fancy dress. And if you're going to get all hissy about it, why not admonish the trans community for dressing like parodies of Dolly Parton?

The point of all this is that prejudice is based in ignorance and there is a fine line between dressing up/make believe/fancy dress and parodying/mocking a culture.

My cousin did not mean to offend. People who act in their local amateur production of The Mikado or wear a feathered headdress to a festival don't mean to offend - but they do.

I have a large collection of earrings, necklaces etc from different countries. My dad worked in Nepal and India and brought back clothes from those countries for me to wear. It is very possible that some of those clothes, pieces of jewellery were part of a culture that should not be stolen from - I was ignorant.

I still think blacking/whiting/yellowing up is wrong.

Greyhound on which page did you talk about this?

I don't think assigning the cultural values associated with 'blackface' to someone dressing up as a rasta at a party or as MrT etc is very helpful, in fact I think it perpetuates racism. In a way it keeps it alive and well when I think we could now move on.

What bothers me about all this PC focus on racism, sexism, genderism, disability discrimination etc is that it fragments the response to privilege. It's kind of a case of divide and conquer.

While we're all squabbling about the OPs case - and the same thing is going on in society at large - the issue that does affect us all, our children, our parents, particularly the disadvantaged, is ignored. Namely that the privileged elite have grabbed the majority of wealth and power and use it quite ruthlessly to protect their position. But no one seems interested in confronting that, let alone getting organised to change it.

Historical institutions that were created to challenge the elite have been appropriated by them - witness the Eton toffs now in charge of the Labour Party.

Isn't the Morris dancer thing a reference to mining not race? Or is it?

It could be anything from
Mining appeasing the spirits of the underword?
Fertility tribal dancing lead by a "wise person"?
A boys' night out with drunken dancing an initiation ritual into a craft/guild?

Who really knows?

MrsWhiskerton I don't believe you that you are Irish. You said people the world over dress as 'Irish people' on st. Patricks day. They don't dress up as 'Irish people' on at. Patricks day. They dress up as leprechauns.
How you can bring that into a discussion on racism and the use of blackface really just shows how ignorant you are.

OP what happened when you spoke to the offending party?

strange how so many are desperate to do as they wish because they find it funny no matter how it is perceived by many as being offensive and now having been educated with the knowledge of why it offensive and its history they still want to do as they please

I am absolutely sure if I blacked my face and walked around in public I wold not get people coming up to me saying hey you are hilarious

bunchoffives privileged elite have grabbed the majority of wealth and power and use it quite ruthlessly to protect their position. But no one seems interested in confronting that

It is discussed on MN if you want to discuss if further, in depth. Create a new thread.

A lot of threads are specific in nature. This one has to do with blackface/blacking up.

Yes. You should report it, because it is extremely offensive. Blackface is NEVER acceptable. I cannot believe that we still have to keep reminding people of this.

I am mixed race and have not heard the term 'blackface' to mean dressing pejoratively as a black person before.

My family, in the West Indies, throw lots of parties and we all dress up. In the past, I have dressed up as a Dutch policeman in a blonde wig (my DH is from Holland and he dressed as Bob Marley.) We both wore wigs and lighter/darker foundation.

At the party, there were relatives with African blood, Irish and Scots ancestry and all the permutations in between.

I remember a ridiculous amount of laughter. If anyone had started lecturing us about white opression and how offended we should feel, they'd have been asked to leave or have a large drink and chill out.

One if the many things I love about my family is that they taught us to look forward, ignore the skin colour and never presume to tell another person how they should feel.

Hand wringing and lecturing, hectoring and determination to see racism where none was intended can, however well-intentioned, come across as patronising and condescending.

Please don't presume to tell me what's in my heart. I refuse to treat people differently because of their skin colour and that's how we are bringing up our kids with all their cousins of all colours.

Telling me that I am racist because I am not offended by fancy dress is ignorant and patronising.

You're entirely free to be furious about it. Just don't speak for me or spoil my party with your presumptions.

Montegomongoose
That's wonderful. I wish I could have expressed it as well as you.

Excellent post Montegomongoose!

Montegomongoose
One if the many things I love about my family is that they taught us to look forward, ignore the skin colour

Must be nice for you but other people don't have that luxury.

Telling me that I am racist because I am not offended by fancy dress is ignorant and patronising.

I didn't see anyone say you were racist because you weren't offended. Just because you're not, doesn't mean masses of others aren't, and doesn't make it ok.

Well said username

Have you not heard about minstrels montego? Have you never witnessed racism though mockery?

I'm surprised because I have. I'm glad for you if it the case that you haven't.

"...When you have gone through the links and articles previously posted, when you have considered the history behind blackface, when you have thought about the level of prejudice black people (or more accurately non whites) face on a day to day basis in all areas of society, then you are able to consider whether or not such an instance is racist…"

This, like a number of other posts on this thread, is a characterisation that I don't recognise.

Sounds to me like projected liberal anxiety.

I think most people, of all colours, in the UK are rubbing along just fine (some of us more intimately than others).

And it's only the angst-ridden left who are bothered about cross-racial fancy-dressing.