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.

With regard to Pistol, her first (heavily sarcastic) post was interpreted by posters at the time as "oh, here come the uneducated white working class masses, we must educate them as they are too thick to 'get it' in quite the way that us educated lot do"

From that point she, and others were patronised and dismissed as racist, thick and stupid, whenever they questioned a viewpoint.

Go and bloody well read Mongoose's post. She does have the characteristics involved and she does not believe the OP's friend is racist.

As far as I am aware, Mongoose isn't the spokesperson for all non-white people in Britain is she?

Buffy

In the spirit of debate and general air of 'kindly pointing things out because it's good for you to know this' currently pervading this thread, may I add the following observation?

All white people have white privilege. Not all white people have easy, comfortable lives. Some have difficult lives and huge problems. But they won't experience systematic racism

Those of my family descended from white indentured servants (and there were tens of thousands of Irish and Scots slaves, frequently ignored by many whose agenda it compromises) would look at the abject poverty in which their ancestors lived, below even the black slaves as they were ultimately to be given barren land, thus there was no point in even the most rudimentary attempts to keep them alive) would read this and wonder what the hell you were talking about.

I have been enjoying your posts so far, but I am sorry to say that this sweeping generalisation, coupled with the rather offensive little 'sigh' with which you prefaced it, have rather turned me off.

I will step away from this thread now as I am starting to feel a little upset at being lectured to. I am very comfortable with the colour of my skin, and the great range of colours found across friends I have made growing up in many many different countries.

Perhaps it might be useful for all of us to start getting to know people and stop obsessing and generalising about who needs to feel what because of their colour.

You haven't walked in my shoes, you have no idea what I have experienced growing up. I refuse to be told I am privileged or underprivileged because of my race, gender or abilities.

I feel a swelling orchestra as I type this with indignation and am very afraid I will hear some schmaltzy Heather Small-type song any second now so I am leaving to make soup.

I wouldn't be offended if a black person painted there face white but I guess I'm the crazy person here.
I went out a couple of New Years ago dressed up as Pocahontas, I thought it was because she was my favourite Disney character but now I know...it's because I'm racist! as for my black male friend that went as Cinderella...I should probably cut him out of my life what an ass.

I wouldn't be offended if a black person painted there face white but I guess I'm the crazy person here.

That doesn't mean that it isn't offensive for a white person to wear blackface. Read some of the (many) links on this thread for an explanation as to why that is.

I'm okay thanks.
I can see my opinion is very differing.
My black nephew took great joy in doing my Pocahontas makeup for me but neither of us once thought it was racist. Maybe were both unknowingly racist. Maybe it's a total matter of opinion. Maybe I've set myself up for a flaming. Oh well.

Yes as rich and white you have far more freedoms than the majority but you still have less than men in the same position as you do .

Please name one freedom which a white , male , middle -class, middle aged partner in a blue -chip law firm enjoys which a white , female, middle-class , middle-aged partner in such a firm doesn't? Both are the acme of privilege.

Buffy no actually I don't think you are cleverer than others on here. Mrs Terry Pratchett and Scarlett and the posters Scarlett referred back to all presented excellent arguments. I don't think you have although I largely agree with what you said despite its hectoring and patronising tone.

Strangely - most of my close black and Asian friends grew up with considerately more privileged lives than me. Most of them are all middle/ upper middle classes, wealthy upbringings, servants, privately educated and better educated than me. Seems the only advantage I had was my white privilege (which gave me absolutely no advantage where I grew up as there was no one really to use it over).

Montego, you do not speak for all black people. I have said I am glad you have the experiences of life that you have had. Whilst I am of course glad to read of your opinion and the happiness and inclusiveness your family has found, I believe you to be in a minority in this country.

Pistols, you are raging against Buffy I assume as a way to deflect the continual and obvious evidence that, whether you agree or not with blacking up, Buffy can post in a reasoned why whilst you seem to be continually motivated by a dislike of anything non white.

I think me and you have different interpretations of sardonic in reference to your Christian bakery post. I would have called it offensive.

The Rotherham cases are being used to derail a thread which is informative around the racial issues of blacking up.

Buffy, I think it's all in your tone and your choice or words and how you chose to engage people - not particularly your message (much of what I understand and agree with to at least some extent.)

Though you are not alone, I can be a condescending pain in the arse as well (though you wouldn't believe it!)

Buffy, to be fair you just happen to be the person on thread at the moment who is attracting the flack.

I do think you have been a wee bit condescending on some points, but not a pantomime baddy by any stretch of the imagination!

My beef is with the OP actually - I think she's been a bit of a twat with the way she's kicked all this off (and I'm pretty sure she knew it would turn out like this, too).

Thank you so much, Pistol, for calling me stupid.

I disagree with your view about the Rotherham case and no, I don't feel the need to name call you or question your intelligence.

It is wrong to black up, it is wrong to appropriate the culture of others and it is wrong to highlight ethnic background of criminals, where one of the aims of doing so is to denigrate a race. I also despair when Crimewatch show a disproportionate amount of minorities in their rogues gallery each week.

To my mind, all these elements are part and parcel of racism. You may disagree and have your reasons for doing so and that is fine with me.

I, too have a tendency to come across as a condescending pain in the arse - irl as well as on here.

I'm not - I just know better than everyone else

Bambambini & Buffy, you are not alone!

I believe you to be in a minority in this country

And in my home country and in the dozen or so countries in which I grew up; racially, socially and economically I was certainly not the 'norm.'

I have never once claimed to speak for all black people. It would be impossible as well as extremely arrogant to speak for anyone with whom I have not spent time debating and listening to their thoughts.

The only opinions I have expressed are empirically evolved.

I am not an anthropologist so I do not attempt to classify groups of people and assign them certain characteristics and draw conclusions.

Maleficent, I have reported you for calling me racist.

Bambambini you are looking at it in a too insular way. It's not about you directly having one up on an individual person of colour.
It's society seeing certain groups as lesser. So when you were growing up who was in government? Who had power and influence over yours and everyone else's lives? White people.

I often stay away from racism threads on here, but I wanted to add on to what Buffy said.

Buffy Clearly some people would and do and think its simply harmless fun.

That's what it is all about, a racist sees racism as funny. Another way Buffy you will often find about racists is that they think racism is only skin deep. They will make you explain how if it is not black and white it is then racist. Racists often jump at any opportunity to prove that white people are subjected to racism. Most often anyone without any concept of how brutul racism is, will often want to claim that economic deprivation or sexism is worse than racism, but I can understand them, they see it as a form of "discrimination competition" bitter at what they see as racism hurdles dropped so that it can jump fewer than what "anybody" jumps