Is blackface racist by design?

In America there is a taboo about white people taking on the mannerisms of black people. Our history of slavery and racism makes it a sensitive topic. But I don't see this in other countries. For example Black Peter in the Netherlands is a Christmas tradition. In England there is a famous white male comedy duo. On their show one of them pretends to be a Jamaican women and no one seems to care.

I don't think the act of pretending to be someone else has to be racist. Parody is crucial to comedy. But I do think you can have comedy that is disrespectful to the race of person you parody. That is the issue with American blackface. It comes from a place of saying white people are better so you are parodying an animal not a person.

I don't see that in the clip below. It's just having a laugh. You could never do this in America though.

 

All this this stuff pertaining to race in America is being pushed heavily for a reason. It's all about divide and conquer. We are heading into times off extreme civil unrest, so it bodes well for the system to get the masses warring among themselves instead of directing their attention to where they should be directing it.

Funny how the media has been pushing this crap about blackface so heavily over the last few weeks and months, going as far as to bring out shit from decades ago, before everyone was so conditioned and overly sensitive to these contrived issues.

I mean, that EMPTY SUIT from Virginia, Ralph Northam, SHOULD be thrown under a bus and left for the dogs as would be the case if it were a Republican that did this, but ultimately it is a non-issue, and there are much worse things to be offended over than something that happened 35 years ago.

Where was the outrage over this in 1994??

 

I heard a story about this on NPR the other day. It related the blackface concept to minstrel entertainers who wore black face with exaggerated lips, eyes and hands (white gloves). It was an interesting segment and the presenter then tied it to Mickey Mouse and other white gloved cartoon characters.

They also talked about Al Jolson who made bank singing in blackface. For Jolson the joke was on him because American audiences LOVED to hear Mammy the way Jolson belted it out. The success of that role was short lived, but it eclipsed everything else he did. When he performed in clubs audiences became unruly if he didn't sing Mammy. He grew to hate it utterly.

Personally, I fail to see how anyone could do this any earlier than maybe the 40s. To hear people were doing this in the 80s is just plain weird to me.

On a political note, this image came out a couple of years ago:

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Supposedly the top pic is the Clintons, but I don't see how that can be. The woman's teeth are different as are the cheeks of the man. A great example of how an image on the web can be abused.

 

It's like people have been conditioned to respond to this kind of shit like dogs. Whatever happened to just calling someone a jerk or an asshole after they've exposed their mentality as being that of a dumb kid? What's with the obsession with obscenity?

 

Nah, that couldn't be Hillary. Hillary loves black people. I mean, shit, black people fared so well under 8 years of Bubba.

 

This sweater has just caused a huge storm in the UK.

Gucci blackface controversy: Why has Gucci been forced to say sorry over jumper design?
GUCCI has apologised for and discontinued a jumper following a backlash over its design, but why has the design caused such controversy?

 

Wow, this story comes conveniently right on time. And it seems like total bullshit. Why the fuck would Gucci even make something like that? It's like that H&M ad with the young black child wearing a shirt that says "coolest monkey in the jungle," as if they didn't know it would cause a shitstorm.

Cognitive dissonance is strong in these times.

 

What's so stupid about this is the sweater costs $890! The design is hideous regardless what colorway is used for it.

 

Holy fuck. I cannot imagine spending that kind of dinero on an item of clothing. Plus, it's ugly.

 

Yeah, if people can't see the pattern and the purpose here, then cognitive dissonance is exactly right.

Humans don't evolve when they're at war. So the psychopaths who run the place find it expedient to keep people's minds in a conflict mode. And this kind of shit fits the bill.

 

Silver Streak
1976

Did anyone think this was funny when it came out? Shit, I forgot most of you weren't alive yet...I didn't think it was funny.

 

Comedy was different.

The Jerk
1979

 

My dad liked the Amos & Andy radio program; he had them all on cassette tape. He'd put in a tape, start drinking and laugh till he couldn't breathe. It was funny to watch.

Amos 'n' Andy - Wikipedia

 

When Nick Cannon back in 2014 wore white face to promote his new album the press tore him a new ass

It may have been one of the reasons Mariah Carey demanded a divorce

 

Pic reminds me of the black people can not be racist since they have no control over society argument which I don't agree with.

It would be nice if the jokes were about the person not the race. Personally when I have seen black comics do white face it gets very stereotypical. Feeds into a double standard that some people love to run with.