- Mar 11, 2015
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Now we're getting somewhere. Just no skin darkening. I assume a wig is okay?Don't go all Iceberg on me. And I still don't see Herring as an example of obvious white racism; I see him as a guy who is catching an overly sensitive reaction to costumes.There's a paywall on your article, but I've read others that cover the same history. I think your comment "blacks are wary of whites dressing up as black" because of the 150 years of denigration and humiliation behind it is probably the crux of it, and I had thought of that but shouldn't everyone try to curb oversensitivity when it is not called for?Here's a concise history of "blackface", the degrading legacy it entails, and how it became part of American culture: Why Won’t Blackface Go Away? It’s Part of America’s Troubled Cultural Legacy
Without that background, yes, the current reaction to Northam would be incomprehensible. Including it, and 150 years of denigration and humiliation, into your deliberations should help explain why blacks are wary of whites dressing up as black. That's the most salient part.
There are at least two additional aspects worth consideration: First, there's the the Culture of Outrage, playing out mostly on so-called "social media", with folks jumping at whatever click bait dangled before their noses.
Second, and maybe more importantly, there's the ratfucking by the right, trying to make up for their losses in Virginia, and desperate to distract from their having the most overtly racist goon in many decades elected to the most powerful office of the land. And that's why they need to amplify the aforementioned "social media" hyperventilation to the max.
What you guys call oversensitivity is always in reference to complaints about obvious white racism.. Because we have argued here where whites get pissy about us not saying "not all whites" before we talk about white racism and we don't read any comments about oversensitivity.
But I listened to the good explanation by Olde Europe and I guess I'll just have to accept that this is the way it is at the moment.
And I am saying that he could have dressed as a rapper without the blackface. I dressed as Abe Lincoln on Halloween in college and didn't have to paint myself white to do it.
Just start recognizing the history whites have created and begin respecting the wishes of other groups.
Instead of asking dumb questions.