Is it acceptable to black up your child for a fancy dress parade as Tiger Woods?

[nevergoogle]

Town parade today. One group of children (about 6-8 years old) called the tigers, all dressed as little furry tigers and one dressed as a blacked up golfer. Actual black face paint not brown.

Discuss...

(also, do i need to move?)

men used to dress up as women because we are such hilarious figures of fun

Is it offensive if a man dresses up as Florence Nightingale? Is it not allowed? Should we all Know Our Place? is Tiger Woods more Black than he is a sports icon?

The kid wanted to be Tiger Woods. Not a generic black man. He was copying a skin colour, not a caricature.There's a huge difference.

And if a child wanted to dress up as david beckham, but had much darker skin than david beckham, then why not put something pale all over your face?

Kids don't know who the B&W minstrel show were. TBH, I don't think anyone under 35 does. This is going to cease to be an issue in 20 years time because nobody will have any idea what people are getting so offended about.

When we went on holiday, my dh was in the local paper as they thought Tiger Woods was in town.

He was wearing a hat.

I have seen those ahstrays (with cartoon Jamaicans smoking spliffs) on sale in Jamaica. I don't think they are necessarily offensive, nor are they meant to be. Are caricatures and models of white people with fat arses eating ice creams (another common seaside souvenir) 'racially offensive' or are they just seen as jokes.

carrot, you've contradicted yourself with your swastika argument. In its "original form", blacking up was about taking the piss out of black people for being black. Therefore it's always been offensive, both then and now.

colditz - are you serious? Think about what you've just said about blacking up and whiting up. Just think about it. What is the history behind blacking up? And the history behind whiting up? Do I need to explain any further?

Let's go back to the Nazi example, colditz. Would you say about the idea of people walking around in Nazi uniforms as a laugh "This is going to cease to be an issue in 20 years time because nobody will have any idea what people are getting so offended about"? In one small sentence you have belittled so much pain suffered by others.

In answer to your earlier question, I am black.

I really think we need to discount the notion that the child was a tiger woods fan. It was clearly a pisstake.
At this point i will mention that there was an adult doing the same thing, dressed as a golfer, blacked up with black face paint and with a mannequin in his golf bag. I'm not sure whether he was part of the same group or not as he was a bit further behind.

Are white people not allowed to be offended by racism? Should i not feel that sinking feeling of shame or regret that there are a section of the white population who haven't changed or learned and have any concept of our historical reputation?

Oh, did they now, google? And they decided to teach their kid that sort of behaviour as well?

Cretins.

Nevergoogle: There are nasty bigoted morons in every culture and ethnic group, though. If you're not a nasty bigoted moron, you don't have anythign to feel ashamed of.

Also important to accept that there is not a universal consensus on what constitutes racism.

If Tiger Woods had very dark skin, perhaps the suggestion that using black facepaint was a way of imitating an idol could be a possibility but he doesn't...

I would be shocked to see that, but I don't think it should be assumed that everyone knows about the b&w minstrels, I vauguely know they were racist, but not a lot more, I was born after they went off air (80s baby) and I'm old enough to be a mum of a (small!)child in a dressing up parade...