AIBU to think that "blacking up" is never acceptable?

[CoolRunnings2017]

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I appreciate that the people on the float probably didn't mean to offend, but surely common sense would tell you that this wasn't in good taste?

*real

Today 09:44 CockacidalManiac

PC gone mad

This is universal code for 'I'm not very bright'

Yes , I obviously purchased my PhD online. It was a bargain at only £19.99.

It's not racism.

It is stupidity however.

A bit like a black child being put into a blonde Elsa wig with an Elsa dress - you know she's Elsa. No need to go any further with face paints.

It's not racism to dress up as someone from another race. It is offensive and stupid to change your skin colour as part of your costume... unless your a smurf.

It isn't about whether you feel offended AisleAisle or if I (both parents born in China) have an opinion on the subject. It's up to people like CockacidalManiac to feel a bit better by being offended on our behalf. I think the term is virtue signalling.

BarbarianMum

Yes, dresses 'belong' to women.

Lol, I'm not offended. As a white person, it's really not my role to be offended by this; as such, my opinion doesn't really matter.
My opinion that people that go on about the false bogeyman of 'PC' are as thick as mince, is that refectory valid however.

Why an iPhone would autocorrect 'perfectly' to 'that refectory' is a mystery, though.

babyschmaby

And by using 'virtue signalling', you've completed my Richard Littlejohn bingo card for me.

God that song is really, really awful!
I did see the pictures and thought them being arrested for a hate crime was over the top.
You've changed my mind now if that's what they were playing. It's disgusting!

I think it's sometimes ok - League of Gentlemen for example.

Is white facing ok though - e.g. The film White Chicks

In this instance, its not ok

I see nothing wrong with it at all. I doubt there are many black people in remote Wales, so they had to dress up.... PC gone mad as usual.

Which women (not like they are a world wide uniform for female kind)? And which style of dress. Men in some parts of the world traditionally wear sarongs. Does that mean they get to wear skirts?

Do trousers likewise belong to men? I would argue not, lots of women wear them - but there was a time when a woman wearing slacks was looked upon as extremely out of the norm. Were they wrong to do so then? Are women in parts of the world who are only now starting to wear trousers wrong to do so now?

Tights were once male attire, now they are female. In the future - who knows maybe both sexes will abandon the bloody things.

I find it totally bizarre to equate something as man made and subject to change as clothing to skin colour.

Isn't it obvious? Why is it even necessary to ask? Of course it isn't acceptable.

So would all the people that think it's racist being equally offended if a black person wore white facepaint to portray a white character - one where there was no hint of derogatory tones in the character's background? Because I wouldn't. I just can't see how it would be offensive. It's different if there's a negative background attached to the character, but if a black person decided to white-up as Eddie the Eagle Edwards I'd not be offended. To me it's just dressing up. I think it's more racist to suggest that someone can't want to impersonate someone of a different colour - that's saying you're better than them & shouldn't lower yourself.

why is drag OK and blacking up not OK?

There are lots of us who don't think drag is ok. I find it quite offensive actually.

Cockacidal

If only you'd said "my opinion doesn't really matter" and left it there ...

The people who think this is ok, do you still think it's ok in light of the song Dolly linked to?

Because blacked up and playing that song is surely racist?

In light of the song... yes racist. Was that really in the movie?

I disagree. I don't think it is racist unless the purpose is to offend. Otherwise nobody could ever dress up or portray a character who is not the same race or religion. Lots of actors play people from different races or religions. Would people be as offended by a black person playing a white person in a film? What about a Christian playing a Jew or a Spanish catholic playing a Muslim or vice versa. I think everything is about intent. For example, if you are a white actor in a regional theatre group where there are no black actors, yet the character is black, then someone white will play that character and put on make-up to make them look black. There is no negative or offensive intent, just as there would be no offensive intent if a theatre group in Jamaica puts on a play where one of the actors plays the Merchant of Venice and therefore plays a white/Middle Eastern Jew.

So womanface is okay because make-up, dresses and high heels aren't natural?

Ok, what about pretending to have breasts, then? What about speaking in a squeaky high voice?

Based on the originally-linked article, it's insensitive but I feel it should be lawful. There is no threat, no abuse, and not necessarily any racist intent. There is a right, though not unlimited, to freedom of expression; there is no right to not be offended.

The later-linked song reportedly being played may change the considerations. Definitely I would consider playing that, in the context, to be socially unacceptable. Nonetheless,even that I don't feel should warrant legal response.

The people who think this is ok, do you still think it's ok in light of the song Dolly linked to?

I'd still consider the song the main problem, but yeah, it kinda taints the whole thing.
That song would have been just as offensive without them painting their faces, wouldn't it?

It's not the equivalent of someone dressing up as a Nazi. It would be the equivalent of a non-Jew dressing up as a Jew. I am sure plenty of the extras in Schindlers List who played Jews in the holocaust were actually not Jewish. I don't think anyone would be offended by that because they were playing a role in a film. If a group of neo-Nazis were to dress up in Nazi stereo-types of Jews with long noses etc, then that would be different as the intent would be to offend. Intent is everything.

The song wasn't in the film, it's a parody 'inspired' by the film apparently.

did Halloween just get cancelled ?

Gemini I'm pretty sure that demons, ghouls and witches are not protected minorities...