Bot-adjacent, yes, but Rob is not an actual bot.
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I’m not convinced he isn’t one yet…
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Blackface is the dressing up as a generic version of a black person and portraying them in a racially stereotyped way for comedic effect that went out of fashion 70 or 80 years ago. It is unequivocally racist. Creating a costume where you inhabit the character of a pop culture star and as one part of the costume tastefully emulate their skin tone is not racist. In this case I would judge her costume not to be blackface. Her date’s costume on the other hand is because it uses skin tone as the major signifier and echoes the specific tropes of the blackface performance such as overly darkened face with an accentuated lighter area around the lips.
All uses of dark makeup are not remotely the same. Recognizing someone as a fellow human being and treating them as an individual is very different than dehumanizing and demeaning a culture. In this day and age we should do everything we can to support more people connecting with others of different races and the oft times misplaced blackface outrage doesn’t help that.
That being said when I dressed up a couple years ago as Mr T, although I shaved my head to have the iconic hairstyle I did not use any makeup. I did not need to because there were so many other easily created props such as the gold chains and his sleeveless shirts that made the use of skin tone unnecessary. If I had been dealing with a person who had fewer of such things I might have gone through the effort of using skin tone as one of the signals to identify the specific individual I was portraying.
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Might want to check your at-will employment or specific contract guidelines.
Because you absolutely can be fired for this shit
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Funny thing is. They don’t get how they could just dress like Beyoncé and Jay z SANS BLACK FACE and it would be perfectly fine. Everyone would look and say “oh you’re jay z and Beyoncé. Cool costumes”.
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Honest questions about what would trigger understandable sensitivities in the US culture:
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Is it currently possible for someone without black skin to respectfully honor someone famous and notable who had black skin while wearing a costume, in any way?
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What checklist of do’s and don’ts would you give to a child? (Assuming there is any such list other than: “Do not under any circumstances”)
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How much of the problem remains if facial makeup is avoided in favor of a plastic/rubber mask that went for realism over caricature? [i.e. what %age of concern is tied to avoiding any accidental relation to the minstrel show makeup scheme, versus dressing as someone with a different skin color in general?]
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Does it work as a costume, to honor a black scientist, politician, athlete, etc. by adding every prop or accessory to indicate that historical figure when such can make it obvious who is intended, but leaving the face unadorned? [Both in terms of being respectful, and in terms of: have you seen this pulled off in a way that wasn’t weird or needing to be explained repeatedly or misconstrued as a weird flavor of whitewashing?]
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Easily, most famous people have easily identifiable outfits where donning their skintone is unnecessary. When in doubt, just don’t do it even if you think you’re doing it “respectfully”. Just don’t.
If the whole outfit doesn’t quite convey who its supposed to be then it’s just not that strong of a costume. It happens, some costume ideas are just lousy. Putting on blackface isn’t exactly going to make the costume better.
What checklist of do’s and don’ts would you give to a child?
None. A kid is just going to be a kid, if they dress up like Black Panther, Michael Jordan, Mr T, etc do you think they’re going to do something offensive? You’re putting a lot of baggage on a kid that they just wouldn’t have unless they are being exposed to some problematic content and ideas at home to begin with. In which case the fault is not the kids but the parents, which they should know better.
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I think @BenFranks got it right.
They know how to dress up as a black person but not how to dress up as a specific black person. They made blackness and the stereotypes that follow that be the defining characteristics instead of who the people are.
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Funny thing…you don’t have to give a child any checklist, they naturally have a gene that prevents them from being a fucking racist asshole.
Need a real life example? My 10 year old who is black wanted to be Soldier 76 from Overwatch for Halloween. He asked “Dad, can we get some hair spray paint so I can have white hair like Soldier does?” He did not even think nor did he ask “Dad, Soldier 76 is white…can we do white face?”
Amazing how children just seem to know right and wrong so naturally.
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I fail to get how people don’t naturally understand this concept.
If I a white male, decide to dress up as Cher for Halloween or a costume party…I don’t go get a fucking sex change!!!
I can;t even with how this is even up for discussion at this point!
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If someone had the guts to do a Cher costume i would be impressed.
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Dude. 7th grade CYO halloween party at the church rectory.
I went as a prostitute. Fishnet stockings. Smeared lipstick. The whole nine yards.
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Wait, what?
first - right and wrong are often pretty cultural. Kids may read cues from their environment well, but in the grand scheme of nature vs nurture, “knowing blackface is offensive” is clearly in the latter category
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I think it’s more that little kids don’t see race the same way grownups do. They know there’s a difference but it’s generally not as big a deal to them. The idea that race can define someone is the learned culture.
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Band name!
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Yes? I mean, that’s true, but seems like it supports the notion that little kids won’t necessarily know what will be read as offensive / racist by observers, without some instruction
Perfection
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DING DING DING.
But ya know…that’s too hard a concept for people to understand.
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