Is it racist for a white person to go to a fancy dress party as a black celebrity?

[Wimbledonwomble]

For example - Michael Jackson, Prince, Tina Turner, Scary Spice? Fab costumes for most of these are widely available on line so clearly popular. I have to admit it didn't even cross my mind when discussing possible costumes with a friend, I just thought they were good costumes, but she thinks it could be seen as racist and inappropriate. I'm really not sure tbh!

I guess if you are asking the question then you are slightly concerned about it so others might be too - best to be safe rather than sorry and avoid it.

Aside from the fact he doesn't speak for all people of colour as PPs have said, when someone asks me something like that about aspects of me where I would count as an oppressed class, or (more commonly) where they use a slur and tell someone else I'm cool with it ('Longines doesn't mind..do you?'), for years, I found it too awkward to say that yes, I found it offensive and would just pretend I was fine with it, because I'm the freak who's gay or whatever and the people having a laugh about it are 'normal'.

It's far easier in that situation to pretend to be fine because people in oppressed classes have enough shit to deal with without being thought of as uptight and easily offended too.

Yes, it reminds me of those threads about disability spaces where able-bodied people claim to have spoken to wheelchair users who agree that a "harassed mum" needs that space in the car park (or on the bus) far more than they do. They don't seem to understand that members of an oppressed group often feel like they have to agree with the majority or they'll be accused of being over-sensitive or selfish.

Disney has a lot to answer for Valanice

What Elspeth said. Blacking up is offensive as it has racist overtone, end of. Just wear the costume.

My daughter went as Michael Jackson (in the Thriller video)to a Halloween Party. She wore the right clothes and did the moonwalk - no pretending to be black. My workmate went to a party as Theresa May dancing (dreadful trouser suit, awful wig, terrible dance moves) and she is originally from St Lucia but made an awesome Mrs May. Dressing up as any celebrity can be done with humour but the minute anyone starts altering their skin tone, that's when it all goes pear-shaped.

it's the history attached that makes blacking up so vile.
Plus the fact that skin can't be taken on and off. Clothes can.

Personally I don't think it's racist. However I would never do it because some people seem to get massively over the top about this type of stuff.

Eddie Murphy, or anybody else for that matter, had no problem with this;

I just want to interject that Terry Crews was fucking hilarious in White Chicks. The two actual Wayans were shite though.

Carry on!

The definition of being Racist, is to discriminate against someone (or an entire race) based on that race or aspects of it; such as skin colour, eye shape etc.

Dressing up as someone who happens to have a different skin colour, is NOT discriminating against that person based on their race.

Therefore it is not racist

these threads simply magnify to total lack of understanding of racial issues. ignorance is bliss, so they say, especially when 90 % of people commenting are completely unaware of that ignorance.

to put it very simply - if you need to change skin colour or hair (unless the hair is an integral recognised characteristic of the person/thing you're dressing up as eg Tina Turner, David Bowies red locks, Cleopatra's dark bob etc) for people to know what costumer you're wearing - then it's a crap costume! It's that simple

also what AllPizzas and NoThisIsPatrick said

OftenHangry totally misunderstanding others' posts and missing the point being made. that is not what was said. The fact, however, that you ask those questions and 'read' what you have into those comments means that you, like quite a few others on this thread, should probably steer well clear of other race/cultural et al costumes. And before you ask - no, not because you are white but because you think they way you do.

Dressing up as someone who happens to have a different skin colour, is NOT discriminating against that person based on their race.

Therefore it is not racist

Blacking up was common when racism was socially acceptable and when there was no regard for the feelings of black people having to pretend they were fine with white people in blackface.

So it's tantamount to dressing up as a racist at the very least. Like dressing as a nazi or similar.

people seem to get massively over the top about this type of stuff.

FFS. This is too ignorant to even argue with.

I’ve gone as scary spice before!!! Wore a leopard print top, leather skirt and curled my hair - definitely didn’t get called out for being racist! How ridiculous.

Someone somewhere will think it’s racist and object strongly.
Remember the fuss about white kids dressing as Moana? Sheesh 🙄

I’ve gone as scary spice before!!! Wore a leopard print top, leather skirt and curled my hair - definitely didn’t get called out for being racist! How ridiculous.

Did you black up? Or have you just not read the thread?

GhanaGirl - we are good friends and we were discussing it as I’d heard a phone in that morning on the radio so asked what he thought as a black person. I don’t think that’s racist at all to ask his opinion, but I was quite surprised he wouldn’t be offended. We discuss many things.

Blacking up is awful - ignorant at best, racist at worst. As for people dressing up as characters such as Nscho-tschi - if it is a character you admire and you can talk about them, then that is cool, but if you are generally dressing up as a random native American (or Canadian) woman then it is not cool. Native American women have been campaigning hard not to have their traditional dress used as a costume.

I don't think theres anything wrong with dressing up as a particular black person, why would there be? But you don't need to black up to do that.

That's dressing up as a person and there s nothing wrong with that but blacking up is straight out racist. It's completely irrelevant really if some black people don't find it offensive. We've been told so much that it's offensive, theres so much history behind black face and for me someone who choses to do it is specifically ignoring that. To me that's someone who see black peoples opinions as not worth listening to. It's really not difficult to avoid painting yourself black so why the hell would you do it? I have no desire to offend anyone so I don't do things that might offend. It's really that simple

What a beautiful chocolate man

Sorry got distracted by the white chicks references.

If it’s not mocking, no I don’t think so. But just stay your own skin colour and wear the clothes

Of course it's not racist. Should we assume all other races cannot ever go as a Caucasian celebrity to fancy dress!?

So what if a white person wants to dress as Worf (Star Trek Next Generation)? They'd look pretty stupid with the Klingon head in dark skin tones if they didn't try to darken their own skin to match? Or is that okay because Worf is a character whereas dressing as Michael Dorn (actor who played him) would be wrong? Or are both wrong?

A star trek character is neither real, nor in this case, a victim of oppression.

The thing is OP didn't ask about "blacking out" but simply about dressing as a character of a different race. Blacking out/whiting out is not ok and that's what we all agree on. What I was talking and I OP was talking is a simple costume-clothes
@MadMadaMim I don't HAVE to ask that question. It was a question aimed at other poster and it was rather rhetorical.

If you admire someone, dress up like them!
Keeping characters and famous people to only that certain race is imho segregation and that's not ok. Any person of any colour can admire/adore/like a person/character of any colour. I can dress up as Nscho-tschi and native american can dress up as Professor Minerva McGonagall if they fancy.

And yeah. Terry Crews rooooocks! An if I had a body for it, I would love to dress up as him 😂

If you have to ask is this costume racist, people at the party are going to ask themselves the same question.

See this is the thing I worry about. I don't think I would ever dress up as a non-white person just to be on the safe side. But then I wonder what happens when my very white DS asks to dress up as Marvel's Black Panther or Falcon, or Finn from Star Wars. I don't want to be insensitive or have DS be insensitive (or be seen to be insensitive) but if I don't let him dress up as these action heroes if he wants to, then I'm telling him that these heroes are somehow not for him. Which is not something I want to do.