White beauty blogger “wasn’t aware” of blackface before she created the chocolate challenge
http://www.fark.com/go/9661551
July 14, 2017
Ask just about anyone in the African-American community about blackface and they’ll most likely tell you that the crude and outlandish makeup is synonymous with racial segregation and was used as a tool to portray, stereotype and humiliate the black race. Ask Youtube beauty blogger Vika Shapel, a white woman, what blackface is and she'll tell you she's unaware.
That’s probably why she thought it would be a good idea to launch a contest on YouTube called the chocolate challenge, in which she encouraged beauty lovers to reach their chocolate-skin goals by dousing themselves in brown-toned makeup.
In a recent Instagram post promoting the challenge, Shapel encourages her followers to watch her transform her “pasty pale” completion into “deep chocolate skin tones,” while she and a friend appear with half of their faces covered in brown makeup reminiscent of blackface. The duo also photoshopped their eyes from blue to brown on the brown-painted side of their faces.
The photo, released earlier in the week, sparked immediate outrage on social media after many were offended by the blogger's apparent attempt to imitate a person of color.
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After receiving a flood of criticism, Shapel removed the photo and deactivated her social media accounts as well as her YouTube channel. However, the controversial photo was later reposted by fellow YouTuber Arnell Armon, who also blasted Shapel for trying to mask blackface as a fun challenge.
This iframe is not allowedWhile speaking with Yahoo Beauty on Monday, Shapel said she wasn’t aware of the historically oppressive makeup trend before she decided to launch the challenge.
“I simply wanted to see how I looked in a deeper skin tone,” she said. “I wasn’t aware of the whole blackface concept before people began commenting it on the photo. I would like to apologize to people that were hurt or offended by my post, and it won’t happen again.”
Despite her apology, many people on social media have continued to share their disappointment over Shapel’s apparent inability to realize how culturally insensitive and discriminatory such a challenge would have been perceived by audiences.
This iframe is not allowedJust in June, Kim Kardashian, who is considered one of the most famous celebrities on the planet, was called out for wearing blackface after she appeared incredibly darker than usual in an ad for her Kim Kardashian West beauty line.
During Halloween festivities last year, white partygoers in several U.S. cities made national headlines when they arrived at costume parties wearing blackface, including a University of Oregon professor, who was suspended from her job . At the University of Central Arkansas, the entire Sigma Tau Gramma fraternity was suspended in October and one member was expelled after he wore blackface to a Halloween party.
Blackface history extends back to the 1830s after a white actor named Thomas Rice performed a popular African-American song-and-dance routine based on mythical trickster and escaped slave, Jim Crow. For the act, first performed in New York City, Rice blacked out his face with burnt cork, mimicking the black race in front of white-filled audience members. The act received rave reviews, thus establishing the tradition of the blackface minstrel act.
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" Woman 1: I'm bored. Woman 2: Me too. Woman 1: You know what would be fun? Blackface. We can post pictures online and challenge followers to do it too "
I think boredom explains it.
Why didn't they make their faces orange in honor of the president*?
Actually you know what it really, really reminds me of considering they each only did half of their face, was an episode of Star Trek in the 1960's where there were only two people left from an entire planet who had destroyed their entire civilization. Each was black on one side of their face and white on the other, but one was white on the left and black on the right, while the other was the opposite, white on the right and black on the left. One of the two was considered to be the superior race on their planet because of which side of their face was black and which side was white. They were the last two people left alive from their whole civilization and the one who considered himself to be of the superior race was chasing the other across the galaxy trying to kill the other out of pure hateful racism. Very powerful anti-racism episode. I wish the outraged people would watch that episode.
I think we've aleady seen comments about Al Jolson on another seed.
I would like to ask the Caucasian NT members if they feel insulted and are outraged about this:
Chinese girls and women try very hard to appear white-skinned. When they are outside in the sun they use umbrellas to keep the sun's rays off their faces. In the stores, there are rows and rows of skin whiteners, and those products sell out very fast.
Can't answer my question, can you. You whiteys don't mind if girls with darker skin try to look whiter, but you're outraged if white girls try to make their skin look a little more tanned. Very strange hypocrisy, but then, why am I not surprised?
She's worthy of this chocolate challenge:
This is a perfect example of why the Democrats lost and will continue to lose.
PJ, one of the things we have learned throughout American history is that it is not "OK" to mock, even unknowingly, racial characteristics. It is very simple to avoid, just don't do it.
These two "beauty bloggers" probably meant no harm, they were just bored and thought it would be fun to make themselves look (half) like dark skinned women.
What is funny about this to those who know is that afrocentrists in the 80's and 90's , who claimed black superiority, used the desire of whites to darken their skin as one of their arguments. The case goes that whites who like to tan are subconsciously jealous of the melanin advantage that blacks , and other non whites have, and thus want to make it appear they have more melanin than they really do.
See
John - dude - I love ya but this is why the Dem's lost and will continue to lose. White people are constantly put under a microscope and if a minority doesn't like what we say or do then they simply drudge up something that happened in history to make a comparison and demonize the individual or group. I don't support people being treated disrespectfully and I don't promote racism but I think this country needs to have an honest conversation about what racism is. As it stands now it's an unfair conversation because the the minority has set rules of the conversation.
If there had never been racism, maybe it would be "fun" to play at looking like you had a different skin color. But that is not reality. Reality is that blackface was used a means to humiliate blacks during the Jim Crow era.
You can't do it PJ.
Find some other aspect of p.c. to harp on.
John,
My kids' generation has no idea of what "blackface" is. The are "Clueless". The appropriate reaction should be to educate the girls on why this is offensive, and not to make it a big racial issue. I'm kind of with PJ on this one.
Then they have had an incomplete education.
Thanks for proving my point and for contributing towards Trump's second term. We're not permitted to discuss racism unless it meets a specific criteria for those who champion it and those who claim it.
I'll stop "harping" about having a serious discussion. BTW - "harping" is a derogatory term that men use to describe women......just saying.
What kind of serious discussion do you want to have about race, and who is stopping you?
We have a dominant popular culture in this society which for most of its history presented whites (the dominant group) looks, thoughts, feelings, and history as the "norm".
Opposition to that "norm" is generally what you refer to as political correctness.
I would say that your argument had more weight 20 years ago but these days the younger generation adopts the look, actions, dialect, and anything else they can mimic of minorities and cultures. So, how do we determine when it's considered racism......do we say when the older generations does it then it's racists but if the younger generation does it then it's embracing diversity?
One of my favorite musicals of all time is "Swing Time" with Fred Astaire from 1936 and there is a part in it where he does a tribute to Bojangles Robinson in Blackface. I know it's not politically correct, but it is a fantastic dance sequence and I have a hard time feeling bad about it.
OK I would like to know how many of you folks still love "Breakfast at Tiffany's'? It's still run on TV. Why is it OK to have Mickey Rooney running around like a dufus Chinese man? Would there ever be allowed a black version of this in this day and age. My sister in law, who is Chinese will never watch this movie as she is deeply offended. Is she wrong? Do we remove this movie over this? Why is F Troop OK? The Hekawis were mocking indians, and the cast was made up of not a single real indian. Why is that show allowed on TV? I don't understand why the only minority that counts seems to be blacks. Can someone explain that to me?
I just feel like there is selective outrage going on.
Movies are still shown on tv featuring Stepnfetchit characterizations and mammy characterizations. The reason we don't see it as much anymore is because those movies from the 30's and 40's and in some cases the 50's are fading from tv play in general.
Did you see this disturbing story in the recent news?
"I wouldn’t rent to u if you were the last person on earth,” Barker wrote back to Suh. “One word says it all. Asian."
When Suh replied that she would report the host to Airbnb for being racist, the host told her to “Go ahead” and “It’s why we have trump,”
Yes, this is a clear case of racism and this person is completely empowered to discriminate because Trump and Trump supporter's validate his actions.
Well that is totally disgusting. It's good to know who the bigots are though. It's all out in the open.
You are still not answering my question. Why are those shows OK?
In the history of inexplicable Hollywood racism, Breakfast at Tiffany's takes the motherfuckin' rice cake. Nobody would've noticed had director Blake Edwards removed the random, inconsequential character of Mr. Yunioshi, gold digging Holly Golightly's bumbling, annoying Japanese neighbor, but there he is, sticking out like the two-inch buckteeth Mickey Rooney in yellowface sports to complete his look and ensure that the movie, like his portrayal, is ah-so disrespectfur.
This site ranks Breakfast At Tiffany's as the second most racist movie of all time, behind only Birth Of A Nation
I'm so old, I remember when you could buy black face at the corner drugstore. These days, there is theater makeup available during Halloween, but back when I was a kid-- there wasn't any. If you wanted to turn white, you had to make your own out of corn starch and crisco. Blue paint meant you added blue cake coloring-- which then had to be removed by bleach, Clorox. Not a good idea.
I've never tried black face, because Grandma didn't approve. And please remember that my little Grandma was born in 1891, and had a black nursemaid, as many families did, back then.
I'm glad times have changed. They needed to. I can see where these girls were unaware of black face and it's history, but my son knows about it. In fact, he made the comment that it depends on what country you're in. In Japan, black face is a statement against the social norms, sort of a protest thing. Here, it is purely racial.
It would never occur to me to put on black face, in fact, I wouldn't even consider it. I think it is insensitive.
I'm so old, I remember when you could buy black face at the corner drugstore. These days, there is theater makeup available during Halloween, but back when I was a kid-- there wasn't any.
I did that too....
You have such a pretty skull!!!
Crisco and corn starch was a mess!!!
LOL Pat!! Too funny!!