For those that do celebrate this holiday, I’m sure most of you have already have a Halloween costume in mind. For those that are still on the fence about what you should be for Halloween, do yourself a favor and do not follow the trend of idiots that have been doing blackface this year. This is completely offensive to anyone that has any human dignity and to Black Americans in particular.
Media Take Out, a blog that posts pictures and stories of celebrity gossip, posted a recent picture of two young white men, William Filene and Greg Cimeno, as George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin for Halloween. The man dressed as Trayvon Martin is in complete blackface makeup. I wonder where they got this idea from? Julianne Hough from Dancing With the Stars? Hough also
Courtesy of Huffington Post
dressed in blackface makeup for a Hollywood costume party when a group of friends dressed as the cast from the new hit NetFlix series, Orange is the New Black. She was dressed as the character “Crazy Eyes,” played by Uzo Aduba (a real Black woman). She apologized later for her offensiveness.
Is this the new trend? Blackface in the 21st century? I do not expect these “special” individuals to know anything about minstrel shows or the history behind it because they think this is “okay” to do. The level of offensiveness with these costumes is beyond disgusting, as Media Take Out put it, it is inhumane.
Similar to slavery, the history of blackface and minstrel shows runs deep into our history. Minstrel shows consisted of White and Black actors in blackface makeup mimicking stereotypes of African slaves with music, dance, and shivaree for pure entertainment. This is where all racist Black stereotypical characters, such as Mammy, Jezebel, Jim Crow, Pickaninny, Coon, Buck, and Uncle Tom, had originated. Minstrel theatre was introduced back in 1828 by Thomas Dartmouth “Daddy” Rice, a White minstrel show performer, dressed in tattered clothes wearing the burnt cork makeup singing “Jump Jim Crow.” Rice toured all over the United States and England profiting off of this character. It soon became the most popular form of entertainment from the 1840s to the 1870s. This form of entertainment also transcended into Hollywood where movies, shows, and other performances displayed the same racist stereotypical roles of Blacks. Some of these roles are still depicted in the entertainment industry today.
So next time anyone has the bright idea of dressing up in blackface, do yourself a favor and go hang a noose on a tree…..for yourself.
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