Blacking up

[invergowrie arab]

13 hours ago, Cerberus said:

Have any black people been offended by this?

Or is it the usual? A bunch of white people on Social Media being offended on behalf of black people to show how deep they are.

Ermmm yes

Social media has black people too and it's not all hard to find black people patiently explaining to the "what about white chicks/mobos/ black police association/ international men's day/gay pride" bores why black face isn't cool.

[Sergeant Wilson]

53 minutes ago, NewBornBairn said:

 

Really?

One is portraying a specific person who famously is unable to count. He has dressed like her, got a wig like her, put a red rosette on and blacked up - all to impersonate a specific person and to make a joke that Dianne Abbott would get the scores wrong at a darts game. 

 

The other has taken a racial stereotype that black people are lazy and made a comedy character out of it.

 

One is taking the piss out of a person, the other is taking the piss out of a race.

 

Mind you, one is an ordinary guy that goes to the darts and the other is a BBC luvvie that wins awards for blacking up.

I don't know what Lucas' character does, i haven't seen it. He could be portraying a fat, thick, lazy woman who happens to be black, based on someone he's observed.

Which would you be most suitable to reprise their act in front of the person impersonated? I did say people will be offended by Lucas' act and not just because of the colour issue.

I know which of the two in the photos I'd rather have on a jury.

[Newbornbairn]

16 minutes ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

I don't know what Lucas' character does, i haven't seen it.

[Sergeant Wilson]

6 minutes ago, NewBornBairn said:

You were asking for opinions.

[The Moonster]

52 minutes ago, cowden0 said:

 

I know. You couldn't make it up, but that's stereotyping for you.

What are you like!

 

Not my fault Cowdenbeath fans have form for being racist arseholes. One here (you) even admitting to blacking up "back in the day", I assume when this was probably a much more acceptable form of entertainment. Point the finger at me though if it makes you feel better about yourself.

[Honest_Man#1]

Threads like this always amaze, and sadden, me. People genuinely defending blackface and asking why it's not acceptable.

If you don't want to out yourself as either violently racist, or violently ignorant and stupid - don't black up. It's really fucking easy.

[King Kebab]

Surely it all depends on context!!!

Not racist!!!

Racist!!!

[BFTD]

I see it's been taken in by the Ferris State University these days, and has a new website, but the Jim Crow Museum used to be an excellent repository for educational materials with regard to racism. Lot of interesting stuff about the way black people used to be portrayed, and how it relates to modern stereotypes. Be prepared for your skin to crawl, whatever the colour.

[Newbornbairn]

 

Racist? Or have they coloured the puppet to make it resemble the person they're trying to mimic?

 

 

[welshbairn]

31 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

When people use the term "blackface" are they referring to any impersonation of a black person, or is it specific to golliwog type pisstaking makeup?

The latter.

[cowden0]

Not my fault Cowdenbeath fans have form for being racist arseholes. One here (you) even admitting to blacking up "back in the day", I assume when this was probably a much more acceptable form of entertainment. Point the finger at me though if it makes you feel better about yourself.

You know nothing of me. Thirty years ago when I took to the stage portraying a black slave, I really emphasised with my character and the ills of discrimination and persecution that were heaped on him. However if my portrayal made one person in the audience
realise the plight of black slaves in the southern states and maybe changed their thought process to their plight, then maybe it served a purpose.
Would this show take place thirty years on unless with black actors? No but thirty years ago every musical company had done this show in the same format as the production I was in. Things have moved on thankfully in a lot of ways in the intervening years.
The following year we put on Fiddler on the Roof. Where I portrayed a Jew persecuted by edicts handed out by a Russian government that despised the Jewish population. The people forced to leave there homes and flea for there lives. I wasn't antisemitic while playing that role in the same way I was not being racist whilst doing showboat.
If you can't tell the difference of theatre, raising awareness on these issues and real life then I'm at a loss.
I despise racism in all its forms. I have gave most my adult life fighting the good fight and indeed still am today. Which is really sad as racism is still far too prevalent today.

[The Moonster]

1 hour ago, NewBornBairn said:

 

Racist? Or have they coloured the puppet to make it resemble the person they're trying to mimic?

 

 

You cannot be serious?

1 hour ago, cowden0 said:

Would this show take place thirty years on unless with black actors? No 

 

 

Right there. This is why you're in the wrong.

[Honest_Man#1]

I think it's safe to assume NewBornBairn is a Daily Mail reader. 

"TV shows have black puppets so why can't we all black up on the weekends like we used to? PC gone mad".

[ayrmad]

I can see a time when self deprecation will be the only acceptable form of comedy.

[The Moonster]

4 minutes ago, ayrmad said:

I can see a time when self deprecation will be the only acceptable form of comedy.

Is painting yourself black funny?

[ayrmad]

1 minute ago, The Moonster said:

Is painting yourself black funny?

Wouldn't know, haven't done fancy dress in 40 years.

[The Moonster]

8 minutes ago, ayrmad said:

Wouldn't know, haven't done fancy dress in 40 years.

You're a bizarre man.

[milton75]

I would say that it's pretty much unacceptable, however I include the caveat that I am uncomfortable with saying it is always unacceptable, as that seems a rather lazy argument. Looking at context and intent isn't easy, but perhaps if one wants to understand any given situation then we shouldn't be looking for easy answers.

I remember dressing as Mr T when I was a kid; he was my favourite person on TV and I wanted to be him. I don't therefore think it was a racist act to dress as him, although as an adult, and contextualising the history of blacking up, I cringe inwardly a little thinking of it. So even though on a conscious level I am satisfied that I was seeking to emulate a hero, on another level the wider implications of dressing that way worry me.

On the other hand, and playing devil's advocate here, saying that people should only dress up as others of their own ethnic background in itself making a concerning statement about race. It might even be racist to suggest that should be the case, as it reinforces a false paradigm that there is something different about us all. The point was made earlier about gender politics too, and that carries some weight here.

In short, everyone is in the wrong except me.

[ayrmad]

Just now, The Moonster said:

You're a bizarre man.

What would you like me to say?

I don't need to clap like a seal to keep my confidence up.

I couldn't give a f**k what someone chooses to dress up like unless they were deliberately trying to be a p***k or were affecting me or my family, I prefer to look after my own life and let others worry about theirs.

[The Moonster]

1 minute ago, ayrmad said:

What would you like me to say?

I don't need to clap like a seal to keep my confidence up.

I couldn't give a f**k what someone chooses to dress up like unless they were deliberately trying to be a p***k or were affecting me or my family, I prefer to look after my own life and let others worry about theirs.

You just never answer a question directly, always dance around it in some way or another after making a fairly vague or bullshit original point. I don't want you to say anything - you said something and I asked you about it. You came on the thread saying "can't make jokes about anything these days!!" (I'm paraphrasing before you say you never said that) and I asked if you found people blacking up funny. Again you avoided answering it and now you're lashing out saying "I don't even care".

You are bizarre.