Black character for World Book Day?

[WorldBookDayChoice]

My almost four year old is white with wavy/curly hair. She has a story book whose main character is black with curly hair, and DD has always said this character looks like her. She now wants to dress as this girl for WBD. In practice this will just mean wearing specific coloured clothes and holding the book up, but she's also mentioned making her hair even curlier to match the character's hair.

Basically is this okay? Or disrespectful?

YANBU it's okay
YABU it's not okay

Why, surely it works both ways?

Because it’s a straw man argument. Literally nobody on the thread (except maybe one whose post is bizarre) has said that children can’t dress as any character they like, regardless of race.

And certainly nobody has made any suggestion about casting actors for any role.

What people have said is that, if your child is going to dress as a character, that’s all it should be - “dress” as them, not mimic characteristics that are related to their race and have complex histories of discrimination- I.e. no mimicking skin colour and being sensitive about hairstyles, cultural dress etc.

Why would it? White people have no history of being subjugated, caricatured and despised by black people?

But going forward, should everyone not be treated equally. ie best actor for the part gets the job regardless of skin colour?

That’s a completely different issue.

And would you recommend a white actor play Othello?

How on earth does that relate to the OP’s decision on how to do her kid’s hair for WBD?!

FourLeggedBuckers · Yesterday 16:39

MrsSkylerWhite · Yesterday 14:18

But going forward, should everyone not be treated equally. ie best actor for the part gets the job regardless of skin colour?

How on earth does that relate to the OP’s decision on how to do her kid’s hair for WBD”

Sorry, it was in relation to a comment I previously made which another poster replied to.

Evidently, but it’s the relevance of this whole strand of comments which I’m questioning. Casting actors according to race or talent isn’t relevant to the OP’s problem, and it reads like you’re trying to make a point about perceived racism in order to dismiss the concerns of PPs regarding the original topic, on spurious or irrelevant grounds.

I mean, it’s fair enough if you’re interested in the ethics of fair casting, but it’s important that we’re clear that it’s not a topic that relates to the original question of the OP, or the concerns of PPs about that issue.

I am half black, and I have no problem with either the costume or the hair. Blackface would be one thing, but this definitely isn't it, so I think you're fine. That said, I don't really agree with saying that people who would object to this are the exact same as people who would object to a black or mixed child playing a white character, as there is no historical context of white people being belittled or oppressed just for being white.

No, it really, really doesn't.