Halloween Has Always Had a Blackface Problem

October 31, 2019
blacklikevanilla
Black History

It seems like every year, more and more notices need to go out, reminding people who are not Black to not dress up in blackface for Halloween. For those who do not know (I can’t believe those still exist in 2019…along with blackface), blackface is when a non-black person uses make-up to dress up as a caricature of a black person. ‘Caricature’ being the key word because if you have ever seen someone in blackface, you would realize how much they don’t look like Black people. Legit, white people were bored as fuck and decided to start putting shoe polish on their faces to entertain themselves. I digress….

These ‘caricatures’ were considered “art” and these representations of Black people were presented as reality. Blackface was so prevalent that many black performers performed in it to have successful careers in entertainment.  These black minstrel shows used their blackface characters in an attempt to lessen the stereotypes that were derived from the white minstrel shows. It was an attempt to take back ownership of our likeness that we had no say in creating. They knew their audience. They knew how to get their attention. Seeing an actual black person perform wasn’t enough. No, they needed to see black people in black face because that is the how they know black people. This is how they saw us. And this is how they still see us, even in 2019.

Bert Williams (left) & George Walker, on the 1903 cover to the sheet music for “I’m a Jonah Man” (from the musical In Dahomey)

So while the media would like to pretend like it  is helping push the needle on combating this Blackface plague, it needs to be reminded that this country has been infected with this virus since blackface first existed. The problem being addressed is not a new one.

In 2019, Pew Research Center released a poll noting that 34% of all US adults (that were polled, I am sure the real number is higher) stated it was always or sometimes acceptable to wear blackface as part of a Halloween costume. Of those, 39% were white and 19% were black (point em out. I’m tryna see something).


These numbers exist, in 2019, at these levels because the following existed:

These were the normalized images of Black people that these current blackface offenders grew up with…or their parents did…or their parents’ parents did. In fact, I would bet money that these current offenders’ family history includes family members who have dressed in blackface.  They just do not like talking about it.

So you see, it is futile to attempt to educate a group of people on how blackface is inappropriate until they have a look within in how they were raised to think of black people.

I recently had a convo with friends regarding if there was ever an acceptable use of blackface. The consensus: no*. If you are dressing up as the color black, does your face need to be black? No. If you are dressing up as space, does your face need to be black? No. And hell, if you feel the need to dress up as a black person, does your face need to be black to “sell” the costume? Hell no.

So please, stop wasting your breath trying to remind folks of the offensive nature of blackface. If you have the balls to wear blackface in 2019 then by all means do it. I beg of you! Take a picture and post it with your name and tag your job. I am tryna see something real quick.

 

 

 

*I am not mad about THIS because there was a level of self-awareness within the movie that made its use make sense. Please note, just because this didn’t make me mad doesn’t negate it from being offensive to you. What was insulting was him being nominated for an Academy Award for it.