Discussion: Alabama Elementary School Teacher Apologizes For Wearing Blackface For Halloween

Discussion for article #242178

Iā€™m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that his bonehead move was specifically about Kanye and not about black people in general. But seriously, Teach-- how do you not know that blackface is never a good idea?

I take back my first statement-- never trust anyone who doesnā€™t ā€œsee color.ā€

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Hey, white humans. It is the year 2015. For the love of Yeezy, do not dress up as people of other races. Period.

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Iā€™m really gobsmacked that this was a teacher and not, oh say, a garage mechanic what did this thing.

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Perhaps a cosplay idea that sounded clever at the time, but without considering any blowback in the digital social media age. I wouldnā€™t characterize this ā€œcostumeā€ as perjorative blackface, however; this seems closer to a white actor darkening up to play Othello.

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I guess I need to rethink my ā€œEmaciated Jew in a concentration campā€ costume for the Halloween party at work? Would that be in poor taste? Sure,ā€¦ for work I suppose. Itā€™d be OK for a school party though, right?

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Not enough. Terminate employment.

I donā€™t know how youā€™re going to be Kanye unless youā€™re black. I donā€™t see any attempt to denigrate anyone. Whatā€™s the problem?

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Poor judgment. But Iā€™ll cut him a little bit of slack. His wife is pretty hot, my guess is that she wanted to be Kim Kardashian and talked him into it. If it was his idea, then it was really bad judgment.

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Thatā€™s not Black Face. For fucks sake folks its not all that hard. Black Face is a specific makeup style created to mock and deride Black people. Big lips, bug eyes and a mentally diminished demeanor. If youā€™re making yourself up as a Black person ( and you are White ) you will have to darken your skin. Kanye is Black. If you are going to impersonate him you will have to make yourself Black. If you do so with the exaggerated white lips and bug eyes of ā€˜black faceā€™ you have a problem. If you do it like this guy, not for racist derision, you have no problem. Good Lordā€¦if everything related to Black is racist when a White person is around just what the fuck does that say? Is being Black so bad that any mention or imitation of it is racist?

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The problem is in TPM folks not knowing what the fuck ā€œblack faceā€ means and the much to frequent cries of racismā€¦just because a Black person is involved. Being Black is not the same as being bad.

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Headline should stop after ā€˜sorryā€™.

Nope. ā€œYou should know betterā€ doesnā€™t even begin to address this shit.

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What shit? Is it wrong that Kanye is Black? And that impersonating mandates you include that Black?

Seems like they all do. It boggles the fucking mind. Try talking to one of these twits at a bar or wherever and you can immediately tell they think theyā€™re the next Kim K or Paris Hilton or or J-Lo or J-Law or whatever. Take off the giant sunglasses, toots, weā€™re indoors, and no, Iā€™m not interested in what happened on the latest episode of Housewives or which celebrityā€™s pet convinced you to also buy a pocket-puppy that you donā€™t even know how to care for.

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Has anyone ever claimed not to ā€œsee colorā€ in any context other than apologizing for some stupid, racist act?

I give most folks the benefit of the doubt on this one because I think a lot of people really are paying homage to people of color they admire and others simply do not know/understand how offensive it is. I can see why a white person who loves Jay Z would think they need to darken up in order to ā€œsellā€ the costume. What bothers me is when white folks try to ā€œact blackā€ or ā€œghettoā€ in order to portray someone black. That almost always turns into mockery, which is indeed racist.

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I guess the only thing that will finally put a stop to this is white-face. Sean anyone? Andrea Tantaros, oh the funā€¦

What was racist about it. Kanye is Blackā€¦is he not?

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Alabama, huh? How surprising.