Halloween should not include blackface

Last week, actress Julianne Hough caused a media firestorm when she attended a Halloween party dressed as the character Crazy Eyes from the Netflix show Orange is the New Black.  The only problem? She was in blackface.

Unfortunately, Hough’s costume was just one small instance in a recent explosion of some frustrating conversations surrounding the merits of blackface. Besides Hough, photos of Caucasians as Trayvon Martin and white football coaches as the cast of Cool Runnings, all in blackface, have made the rounds.

And though writers, scholars, activists and everyone in between have tried, an important message seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle: Blackface is always racist.

“Why?” Well, there are copious reasons. Let’s try to briefly explain them:

“Racism doesn’t exist anymore!”

Yes, slavery legally ended more than a century ago. Sadly, no matter how progressively Americans would like to view the United States, the effects of slavery still linger in society today. For every African-American in the White House, there’s one who can’t walk home from the store without the fear of getting killed. Racism exists and there’s no denying it. Is the situation better than it was 100 years ago? Of course. Yet it bears mentioning that the Civil Rights Movement only happened around 50 years ago. With each generation, racism shrinks little by little, but to say that it isn’t still an issue is simply ignorant.

“What about reverse racism?”

Reverse racism was a term created to help those who were oppressors cope with the feeling of losing dominance. In fact, using the claim that something is “reverse racism” is pretty racist itself.

Now some Caucasians are upset over the fact that they’re not supposed to say the n-word though African-Americans can. When said in context in the black community, the word means something very similar to “Hey bro!” When a Caucasian person says that word to or about a black person, however, it will always carry a negative connotation. Back in the day, when a Caucasian called a black person the n-word, it did not mean “Sup bro.” Instead it meant, “Hey you less-than-a-human-being-who’s-absolutely-nothing, do this.”

To say that something is reversely racist would be declaring that Caucasians and African-Americans have suffered throughout history on an equal level. Apparently, affirmative action is just as unfair as legal ownership of another person. But as Stanley Fish stated in an article for the Atlantic, “… blacks have not simply been treated unfairly; they have been subjected first to decades of slavery, and then to decades of second-class citizenship, widespread legalized discrimination, economic persecution, educational deprivation, and cultural stigmatization.”

Let’s be frank: The word “unfair” doesn’t even begin to cover it.

“So what does this have to do with blackface?”

Blackface itself has its own lengthy history, but here’s the gist: When people say blackface, it doesn’t just refer to the act of painting one’s face black. In the 19th century, some white actors began to perform skits as black characters, painting their faces dark with red lips. The skits would center around racist stereotypes, filled with gags about blacks acting dumb, loud, obnoxious and the like.

But slavery is not funny. Segregation? Not exactly a knee-slapper. Yet these performances depicted these acts as amusing, and “desensitized Americans to the horrors of chattel slavery,” according to Grio. Instead of cringing in horror over the situation, people laughed. So blackface isn’t just about trying to look black. When someone paints their face black, they’re mocking a culture — whether intentionally or not.

“How can I dress up as someone black and not be racist?”

Just because blackface is racist doesn’t mean you can’t have fun on Halloween. In lieu of painting your face black, try using other means of identifying yourself as the person you’re trying to emulate. Hough could have been easily recognized as Crazy Eyes without the darkening — the hair in knots and prison jumpsuit was obvious enough.

A person of any race could feasibly dress up as Madonna with a cone bra or wedding dress and well-placed mole, or Abraham Lincoln with a tall hat and fake beard — white face paint not needed.

Admittedly, this only skims the surface of the problem. There are far more detailed explanations that dive into the history and moral implications of the issue. But the moral of the story is blackface can be extremely hurtful to a large segment of the population. Rather than saying African Americans need to stop complaining and acting like victims, take a second and think about why they might feel hurt. Contrary to some beliefs, objecting to the idea of blackface doesn’t mean that someone doesn’t have a “sense of humor” or is “too sensitive.” It means that after centuries of subjugation, seeing a physical reminder of a dark period in the nation’s history is the last thing that anyone wants.

And it’s not just blackface. Those who dress as Native Americans or geishas run the risk of offending people as well. It doesn’t matter if the intent is sincerely positive: There is a blurred line between honoring a person or culture and mocking it.

Hopefully, the next time someone decides to paint their face black, they’ll realize what it actually means.

Blackface is racist. End of story.

Sheridan Watson is a senior majoring in critical studies. She is also the co-managing editor of the Daily Trojan.

Follow Sheridan on Twitter @IAmSheridanW