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Virginia's attorney general admits wearing blackface in college

  

Category:  News & Politics

Via:  badfish-hd-h-u  •  5 years ago  •  75 comments

Virginia's attorney general admits wearing blackface in college

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T



Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring has admitted to wearing "brown makeup" to a party, days after the state governor admitting wearing blackface.

The second-in-line to the governor's seat said in a statement on Wednesday that he wore a costume to a party when he was 19 years old at university.

Democratic Governor Ralph Northam is facing calls to resign over a racist photo and admission of blackface usage.

The lieutenant governor is also under scrutiny for sex assault allegations.

What did Attorney General Herring say?


The Democratic attorney general said that in 1980, he and his friends donned costumes after "some friends suggested we attend a party dressed like rappers we listened to at the time, like Kurtis Blow, and perform a song".

"It sounds ridiculous even now writing it. But because of our ignorance and glib attitudes - and because we did not have an appreciation for the experiences and perspectives of others - we dressed up and put on wigs and brown makeup," he said.

"That conduct clearly shows that, as a young man, I had a callous and inexcusable lack of awareness and insensitivity to the pain my behaviour could inflict on others."


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It Is ME
Masters Guide
3  It Is ME    5 years ago

I think this country has left "Stupid" in the rearview mirror !

I was in a blackface skit back in my scouting days. It was called (OMG) the "Days of the minstrel". Should I be banned from NT for it ! jrSmiley_80_smiley_image.gif

 
 
 
charger 383
Professor Silent
4  charger 383    5 years ago

Something is rotten in Richmond

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
5  Tacos!    5 years ago

The thing is, there is nothing intrinsically evil about making yourself up - as part of a costume - to look like someone else. That includes things like skin color, clothing, hair color, body type, etc. Dressing up is fun.

Blackface in the United States, however, has a specific history. White people in the 19th century employed this makeup technique to portray caricatures of black people to make fun of them for the amusement of white crowds. They were called minstrel shows. It was extremely popular for a long time.

It should be clear by now that not everyone knows this history - particularly young people who are not black. I'm sure this ignorance isn't even limited to white people. Given the quality of education in this country and the general apathy young people have for history, I would expect that most people of a certain age or educational path (the sciences, for example) know nothing (or next to nothing) about these facts. I think that should temper our outrage a little.

 
 
 
cjfrommn
Professor Silent
5.1  cjfrommn  replied to  Tacos! @5    5 years ago

no it should not temper the outrage. 

the difference is that WHITE FOLKS are forced to share why they do racist things over time when caught.  so sadly your comment falls flat by using this ignorance education relation. 

There is a clear disconnect between what some white people have to acknowledge is acceptable and what they can get away with. 

i said this before in some other posts. 

a person who is white and a racist is only known when they act that way. and some do it based on how they were raised. some do it because they were pressured to join that action(peer pressure). Some did it to think it would not be considered wrong and some do it because they think it is acceptable way to act.

-----. 

 after reading an excuse it irked me a bit. So i am replying to your comment because you always seem to post in such a fashion to seeded articles where racist are caught.  and seem to provide a TYPED OUT reason / excuse for this racist crap to be deemed less then what it is. And you also APPEAR to have convinced yourself ,it then is a ok reason for it to be justified, thus the outrage comment. ( in directly- vs normal people who just comment how fucked up the action of this man was to act this way or admit this action is unacceptable)

----

in the end, most white folks who have a moment where they did ACT racist sometimes dont know why, but in many situations if we speak honestly. It can be DIRECTLY attributed to not feeling that there would be any consequences for acting that way. 

and sadly those  consequences rarely happen at the time of the act / incident/ situation or attempt.

but i am glad they do catch up to these type folks over time. 

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
5.1.1  Tacos!  replied to  cjfrommn @5.1    5 years ago
i am glad they do catch up to these type folks over time

Why? What should be done to them? A lot of people are calling for resignations. What for? They didn't do these things while they were in office. In fact, they were done literally decades before. What should be the penalty? Should they prohibited from ever serving the public because of something they did 30 years ago? How much outrage is appropriate?

Meanwhile, how do you feel about these people? Should they lose their jobs, too? Are they racists? How would you like to punish them? Will there be a statute of limitations?

Jimmy Fallon:

635927340421665518-607045295_jimmy%20fallon.jpg-large

Jimmy Kimmel:

526x297-6_v.jpg

Joy Behar:

the-view-standing-behind-joy-behar-amid-blackface-scandal-pp.jpg?resize=540%2C400&ssl=1

Robert Downey Jr.:

DFHaOnaUwAAL6iH.jpg

Julianne Hough:

194lk2lrmi609jpg.jpg

Ted Danson:

Ted-Danson-Blackface.jpg

Laurence Olivier:

Laurence-Oliver-as-Othello-1965_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqTvqc_hNynAdosYvtfXRFJww82HE3Q1dmXG8Y1Ld2VNI.jpg?imwidth=450

Beyonce (Yes, Beyonce is  already black. She darkened her skin for this picture so she could look more "African"):

Beyonce-Blackface.jpg

 
 
 
cjfrommn
Professor Silent
5.1.2  cjfrommn  replied to  Tacos! @5.1.1    5 years ago
Why? What should be done to them?

your reply seems to have some level or expecting me to acknowledge it as if it matters. you gave your two cents i gave mine and pointed out why i did.  i do have some time to waste so i play.

A lot of people are calling for resignations. What for?

well most people who are calling for them do so because they REALIZED this guy has not been the same person his whole life. meaning, he made a choice to do something that most NORMAL white folks never ever do or will do or attempt or think about considering to do. so its a character thing, must less a person who represents people i.e. the government job, thus shows he may not be on the level. 

They didn't do these things while they were in office.

another horse shit excuse from you. it should matter more because he wasnt in office. meaning he made a poor choice or CHOICES aware from the public eye, which again shows a lack of character and trust. 

In fact, they were done literally decades before.

well some people still have felonies from decades ago, do you think they get sick of hearing about it or being judged for it. come on you are a grown ass person, reputations matter. You make chioces on what do to buy , do, pick , get or accept based on shit done over time. an example (sad i even have to do this) is buy a car, some car companies have had a recall and so someone did not buy that car based on that shit that happened years ago, it matters, same with this guy. 

What should be the penalty?

resignation

Should they prohibited from ever serving the public because of something they did 30 years ago?

Yes,  Because he knew this was in his past and he knew that it would be an issue.

How much outrage is appropriate?

enough outrage that a person who does or makes this type of choice feels the pressure of others who make it clear that no reason is acceptable to have made this type of choice. 

Meanwhile, how do you feel about these people?

i feel there is context to these pictures, and also they are not voted into the positions they are in. So there is a not a discloser requirement and the public trust is not a factor of there employment. 

Should they lose their jobs, too?

since these are people that are maintained by a private company or group that is a contractual issue. it would be nice to know if some of these photos were done with out context. if some were,  then yes i would put pressure on those companies to examine that persons action based on there business model. 

Are they racists? How would you like to punish them? Will there be a statute of limitations?

well sadly you want to lump them all together, they cant be, which is point I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO POINT OUT. 

what gets me is again your reply is all about finding a reason to suggest otherwise, which allows me to judge your comments as such. 

and i will say, it is very easy to just say it is wrong to do. but folks like you cant or wont and that is what is sad but not surprising.

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
5.1.3  Tacos!  replied to  cjfrommn @5.1.2    5 years ago
i feel there is context to these pictures

So you're saying that sometimes blackface can be ok. Does that make you racist? Some people would think so. NBC fired Megyn Kelly not long ago for trying to have a conversation on that topic.

it is very easy to just say it is wrong to do. but folks like you cant or wont

You must not be reading. I am happy to say it's wrong and I would never do it under any circumstances. In fact, I explained precisely why it's wrong.

All I said with respect to these politicians was that 1) maybe these people were ignorant of what they were doing and 2) It was so long ago and they probably know better now. With those two things in mind, I suggested that maybe we shouldn't be so upset about it now as to demand a person resign.

I then pointed out that people don't seem to mind when their favorite entertainers do it. Personally, I'd call that hypocrisy.

Meanwhile, you're the one who said context could make a difference. Seems like you might be more supportive of it than I could ever be. Unlike you, though, I won't judge you for it. 

 
 
 
cjfrommn
Professor Silent
5.1.4  cjfrommn  replied to  Tacos! @5.1.3    5 years ago

listen taco, first off if you dont know the difference between public employment and private employment i cant nor do i have the tolerance to explain it. 

i made it clear the person is a public figure and ran on a platform of being a white person who is accepting of others who are different then him because HIS PERSONALITY AND CHARACTER is presented that way. 

Based on his past and his poor choice we have found this to not be a FACT. 

and dont be a silly goose( bad words replaced) and spin shit...............with your twisting my word of context  into your play word games bullshit.

that is your game...i am judging you AGAIN for being so disingenuous and full of shit i dont have any time to waste with your juvenile reply of  assuming my word of CONTEXT means its ok, its not , it is just that the person / private citizen / actor / company will have to live or die on that business or personal choice. 

sadly private people live and die on popularity that is driven based on support by a company along with a salary. 

a public officials salary is based on the support of taxes paid by people who voted him into office. 

WE in the public can and should expect more of those we put in place and pay. THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE a cut above us all. 

lastly you keep hanging your hat on ignorance...that is a poor excuse and it gets old really quick.

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
5.1.5  Tacos!  replied to  cjfrommn @5.1.4    5 years ago
and dont be a silly goose( bad words replaced) and spin shit...............with your twisting my word of context  into your play word games bullshit.

Maybe you'll think about how that feels before you go accusing me or anyone else of excusing racism just because they offer a nuanced perspective. I refer specifically to these words written by you:

you always seem to post in such a fashion to seeded articles where racist are caught.  and seem to provide a TYPED OUT reason / excuse for this racist crap to be deemed less then what it is. And you also APPEAR to have convinced yourself ,it then is a ok reason for it to be justified, thus the outrage comment. ( in directly- vs normal people who just comment how fucked up the action of this man was to act this way or admit this action is unacceptable

With your comment about "context" you put yourself in a position to be accused of excusing racism yourself. Is that fair? Maybe not, but it gave me a chance to give you a taste of your own medicine. I would ask that in the future you not come at me with that kind of thing and maybe we can have more productive conversations.

To be clear, I never said it was ok. In fact, I have said here and elsewhere that I would never do it. But there's a reason for that. I know why it's wrong. Not everyone does. That's just a fact. We don't all share the same education.

It's a nuanced way of looking at the world, but I recognize the possibility that someone can be young and ignorant and grow into a different person. I'm not interested in condemning people for all time because they did something dumb when they were younger - particularly if their failings may not be entirely their own fault.

THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE a cut above us all.

I think that would be delightful, but they rarely are. This sort of takes me back to my original question about how outraged we should be about certain behaviors and when and where they happen. Frankly, if you're waiting for the perfect moral person to be governor, president, or whatever, you're going to be waiting a very long time.

 
 
 
cjfrommn
Professor Silent
5.1.6  cjfrommn  replied to  Tacos! @5.1.5    5 years ago

the game you play is to to NEVER SAY ITS NOT OK.  

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
5.1.7  Tacos!  replied to  cjfrommn @5.1.6    5 years ago

One, I'm not playing a game. I'm trying to talk to you straight, but you seem to have this need to assume something evil or nefarious in me for no reason.

Two, I can't understand your double-negative claim anyway. 

I will say this: You seem to be trying to insist that I believe something I don't believe. Why would you do that instead of just listening to what I say I believe? Are you incapable of discussing anything with a person unless you can make them "the enemy?"

 
 
 
cjfrommn
Professor Silent
5.1.8  cjfrommn  replied to  Tacos! @5.1.7    5 years ago

again your a grown ass adult. things are either right or wrong just like they were years ago when this man made a choice. 

he made a choice and now that choice has consequences. people believed he would not be that white guy who would make such a poor choice. especially from the votes from minority citizens that did not judge him to be one of those who could EVER be apart of such a racist minded act. 

This is not fucking rocket science. 

and for the last fucking time----you have made it clear that YOU BELIEVE IN NOT CLAIMING ANYTHING. 

so please stop.

either your life experiences allow you to believe one way or not and then just state it. 

 
 
 
KDMichigan
Junior Participates
6  KDMichigan    5 years ago

I don't know what is more pathetic. People digging up shit from 40 years ago or the excuses the Dems are making for it.

 
 
 
Vic Eldred
Professor Principal
6.1  Vic Eldred  replied to  KDMichigan @6    5 years ago
or the excuses the Dems are making for it.

I thought democrats had a zero tolerance policy on racism & rape?

 
 
 
1stwarrior
Professor Participates
6.1.1  1stwarrior  replied to  Vic Eldred @6.1    5 years ago

Only if it's against a Republican.

 
 
 
Vic Eldred
Professor Principal
6.1.2  Vic Eldred  replied to  1stwarrior @6.1.1    5 years ago

Evidently!   

What did Spartacus say about Ford?...."I believe her
What does he say about Tyson? ”This is a deeply disturbing allegation that should be thoroughly investigated.”

 
 
 
Sean Treacy
Professor Principal
6.1.3  Sean Treacy  replied to  Vic Eldred @6.1.2    5 years ago

Apparently, Tyson wasn't vague enough.

If she first claimed the assault happened sometime in the 2000s, at some location somewhere, with witnesses who deny being there, Spartacus would believe her.

 
 
 
Vic Eldred
Professor Principal
6.1.4  Vic Eldred  replied to  Sean Treacy @6.1.3    5 years ago

Yup, Tyson, on the other hand, notified rep Bobby Scott:

" Rep. Bobby Scott , Virginia Democrat, reportedly learned about the sexual assault accusations against Lt.  Gov. Justin Fairfax  — directly from accuser  Vanessa Tyson .

In a  report  Wednesday evening citing unnamed aides to  Mr. Scott , ABC News said that  Ms. Tyson  told  Mr. Scott  via text message in December 2017 that there was a “MeToo allegation” against the newly elected lieutenant governor but did not specify that she was the woman.

Within a month,  Scott  aides told ABC, the congressman learned that  Ms. Tyson  was the purported victim, that she had gone to the Washington Post with her complaint, and that she had given the newspaper  Mr. Scott ’s name as a character witness."



Evidently Bobby Scott didn't think it was all that serious either.

 
 
 
KDMichigan
Junior Participates
6.1.5  KDMichigan  replied to  Vic Eldred @6.1    5 years ago
I thought democrats had a zero tolerance policy on racism & rape?

Only one out of the three has handled it with any attempt at grace. The two "racist" will be charged in the court of public opinion. Personally I don't give a shit. Now the rapist needs to be dragged thru the mill and charged if deemed appropriate. 

#METOO

 
 
 
Vic Eldred
Professor Principal
6.1.6  Vic Eldred  replied to  KDMichigan @6.1.5    5 years ago

That is all true. I only wish that all three (Bobby Scott is now a part of the offenders - for his silence) refuse to resign and this national spectacle continues to stay in the news for as long as possible.

 
 
 
PJ
Masters Quiet
6.1.7  PJ  replied to  Vic Eldred @6.1    5 years ago

Democrats are stupid and far too righteous.  You could carry them an inch from the finish line and they'd still lose the race.

 
 
 
bugsy
Professor Participates
6.1.9  bugsy  replied to  Vic Eldred @6.1.2    5 years ago
What does he say about Tyson?

He knows his dumbass can't call for his resignation, otherwise, everyone would come at him about his allegations of sexual assault, and rightfully so.

Something tells me those accusations will come out again during the 2020 campaign, and more than likely by one of the democrats first.

 
 
 
PJ
Masters Quiet
9  PJ    5 years ago

So what.......shrug

When the racist in chief apologizes for current racist statements and policies and steps down from his elected office then we can look at how others have acted many many decades ago. 

There is a difference in what some did a loooooooooooooooong time ago compared to the current racist actions of the President and his administration.

Next....

 
 
 
KDMichigan
Junior Participates
9.3  KDMichigan  replied to  PJ @9    5 years ago
So what....

I know right. We have a rapist and two racist Dems in Virginia nothing to see here. We all know that the racist KKK Dems all became Republicans, right? Oh wait...jrSmiley_10_smiley_image.gif

 
 
 
PJ
Masters Quiet
9.3.1  PJ  replied to  KDMichigan @9.3    5 years ago

Weird that you think any type of assault or discrimination is funny......  jrSmiley_78_smiley_image.gif

 
 
 
KDMichigan
Junior Participates
9.3.2  KDMichigan  replied to  PJ @9.3.1    5 years ago
Weird that you think any type of assault or discrimination is funny...

You were the one with the so what comment. What I find Hillaryious is here we have the champions of women jrSmiley_10_smiley_image.gif and minorities jrSmiley_10_smiley_image.gif showing there true colors. 

And your response to their transgressions is ….So what...

 
 
 
PJ
Masters Quiet
9.3.4  PJ  replied to    5 years ago

The new criteria set by this President and his groupies give all others a pass.  

 
 
 
1stwarrior
Professor Participates
10  1stwarrior    5 years ago

320

 
 
 
Perrie Halpern R.A.
Professor Principal
10.1  Perrie Halpern R.A.  replied to  1stwarrior @10    5 years ago

There you go 1st.

 
 
 
charger 383
Professor Silent
11  charger 383    5 years ago

when deciding who to vote for, if they wore a toga to a party years ago or painted themselves or dressed up in a costume or got drunk and acted stupid is right low on things I make a decision on 

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
14  Buzz of the Orient    5 years ago

Al Jolson

512

Eddie Cantor

512

Let's go desecrate and smash their tombstones and excoriate their names from history.  Hey, is that any different from tearing down statues of slave owners like Thomas Jefferson or other slave-owning American politicians?

 
 
 
Galen Marvin Ross
Sophomore Participates
14.1  Galen Marvin Ross  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @14    5 years ago

Interesting that you would pick these two gentlemen and, the times that they came from. First, I'm not against getting rid of racist politicians but, I am against denigrating the dead simply because of how they performed their acts when they were alive. Wearing blackface in the early 1900's is different than it would be now or, in the 1980's would be, now and, in the 1980's we should know better, in the early 1900's not so much, especially if you were a Jewish kid who grew up in a Jewish community were there weren't that many blacks and, you spent most of your time with white people when not in your community. Since Cantor's and, Jolson's times we have seen the Civil Rights Movement and, that is a very important part of history. I think if the two gentlemen you mentioned were alive today they would have been the first to apologize for their actions.

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
14.1.2  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  Galen Marvin Ross @14.1    5 years ago

Okay, you want post civil rights era?

Why would desecrating their gravestones be any different than tearing down Confederate statues or banning the Confederate flag?

Now, why would liberal social justice warriors ever vote for these warriors?

512 512

512

Would BLM supporters ever have voted for this guy?

512

And who the hell would ever vote for Eddie Murphy?

512

UNFORGIVEABLE!!!

 
 
 
Galen Marvin Ross
Sophomore Participates
14.1.3  Galen Marvin Ross  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @14.1.2    5 years ago

Ok, now you're getting ridiculous with the three pictures of soldiers, if you've ever been in the service you would know what that camouflage was for. Anyone would know better, even when Michael Jackson was alive, he wasn't someone you would vote for, does the term Chester the Molester ring a bell? Eddie Murphy, IMO, is the same as Trump for the most part, his mouth overrides his common sense.

As far as statues celebrating slavery and, the Confederacy, do I really need to explain that to you Buzz? Really?

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
14.1.4  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  Galen Marvin Ross @14.1.3    5 years ago

So who is it up to to decide when and why a person is allowed to change the colour of their face, and not be criticized for doing so? 

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
14.1.5  JohnRussell  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @14.1.4    5 years ago

A racist photo from a 1984 yearbook threatens to end Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s political career. The photo shows two people: one in blackface and one wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe. The image generated intense pressure for Northam to resign and offered the latest example of a prominent white person facing harsh criticism for wearing blackface. Here’s a look at the practice and its history:

BLACKFACE ORIGINS

Blackface minstrelsy is considered by some to be the first uniquely American form of entertainment.

White men would darken their faces to create caricatures of black people, including large mouths, lips and eyes, woolly hair and coal-black skin. The performances would stereotype black men and women as ignorant, hypersexual, superstitious, lazy people who were prone to thievery and cowardice.

The practice took hold in New York City in the 1830s and became immensely popular among post-Civil War whites. In fact, the Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation in the South took their name from a character played by blackface performer Thomas Dartmouth Rice. He said his act “Jump, Jim Crow” (or “Jumping Jim Crow”) was inspired by a slave he saw.

CONTROVERIAL FROM THE START

Blackface performances were condemned as offensive from the beginning.

In 1848, after watching a blackface act, abolitionist Fredrick Douglass called the performers “the filthy scum of white society” in The North Star newspaper.

Blackface performers, he said, “have stolen from us a complexion denied to them by nature ... to make money and pander to the corrupt taste of their white fellow-citizens.”

Civil rights organizations have publicly condemned blackface for decades, saying it dehumanizes blacks by introducing and reinforcing racial stereotypes.

A letter to the editor in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from 1946 called a blackface performance “grotesque” and said it attacked “by ridicule and cheap buffoonery the self-respect of every American Negro.” The letter was written by a state lawmaker, the Inter-Racial Action Council, the Inter-Denominational Ministers Alliance and the publisher of The Pittsburgh Courier.

NORTHAM ISN’T THE FIRST

Other white politicians and celebrities have faced criticism for blackface performances.

Comedian Billy Crystal was criticized in 2012 for impersonating Sammy Davis Jr. in blackface during his opening montage at the Oscars, a repeat of his oft-performed skit from “Saturday Night Live” from the 1980s.

Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan had to apologize in 2000 for a picture of him and his brothers singing in a blackface quartet in 1960 that came up during his run for U.S. Senate in 1999. He died in a plane crash the next year, but won the Senate seat anyway.

Actor Ted Danson was accused of being racist and tasteless for performing a skit in blackface, using the N-word and joking about his sex life with then-girlfriend Whoopi Goldberg, who is black, at Goldberg’s Friars Club roast in 1993.

Dozens of other whites, including college fraternities and sororities, public officials and law enforcement officers, have also been criticized for blackface incidents.

Florida Secretary of State Mike Ertel resigned last month after a newspaper obtained photos of him in blackface and wearing earrings, a New Orleans Saints bandanna and fake breasts under a purple T-shirt that said “Katrina Victim.” The photos were taken two months after the deadly storm ravaged the Gulf Coast in 2005, killing more than a thousand people.

AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN BLACKFACE

Early black actors, singers and vaudevillians were forced to don blackface as well if they wished to perform for more lucrative white audiences.

For example, William Henry “Master Juba” Lane is considered the single most influential performer in 19th century dance and is credited with inventing tap. It was only after his fame reached international proportions that he was allowed to tour with an all-white minstrel troupe and to perform without blackface.

One of the more disastrous critiques of blackface was from black actor Ben Vereen at President Ronald Reagan’s inauguration. Vereen’s intent was a tribute to legendary black vaudevillian Bert Williams, who was forced to wear blackface to stay employed.

Vereen first danced and sang “Waiting for the Robert E. Lee” before a cheering GOP audience, along with the president and first lady Nancy Reagan. He then stripped the blackface off while singing “Nobody (I ain’t never got nothin’ from nobody, no time)” to show the pain of blackface and the exploitation of African-Americans.

But ABC omitted the second part of Vereen’s performance when airing it, showing only the minstrelsy segment. Vereen, who at the time was one of the nation’s top black actors, faced an immediate backlash from African-American fans for what they saw as buffoonery.

Vereen has said he was promised that both parts would be shown and that he was “sabotaged by the network.”

___

TENSION IN OTHER COUNTRIES

Similar controversies have arisen in other countries.

In 2017, confrontations broke out in the Netherlands over the helper of the Dutch version of Santa Claus. Known as Black Pete, the character is played by whites in blackface at children’s events.

A leading television station in Peru was fined $26,000 for airing the popular comedy character Negro Mama on an entertainment show in 2013. The character is played by Jorge Benavides, who dons blackface, exaggerated lips and a flaring nose.

In 2010, Mexican media conglomerate Televisa drew criticism for hiring actors in blackface for a popular morning program during the World Cup.

___

Associated Press writers Russell Contreras in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Terry Tang in Phoenix contributed to this report.
 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
14.1.6  JohnRussell  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @14.1.4    5 years ago
So who is it up to to decide when and why a person is allowed to change the colour of their face, and not be criticized for doing so? 

Give it a rest Buzz. The condemnation of blackface is not an expression of political correctness. Wearing blackface or forcing someone else to wear blackface has always been racially offensive. For a long time the people wearing the blackface didnt care.

And your "example" of soldiers who put dark substances on their faces to eliminate glare is not appropriate.

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
14.1.7  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  JohnRussell @14.1.5    5 years ago

Al Jolson was making fun of or denigrating African Americans when he sang songs beautifully?  Guess it's just a matter of opinion.

 
 
 
Galen Marvin Ross
Sophomore Participates
14.1.8  Galen Marvin Ross  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @14.1.4    5 years ago
So who is it up to to decide when and why a person is allowed to change the colour of their face, and not be criticized for doing so? 

Who knows? I sure don't know but, I do know that if we hold every person accountable for every little thing that they have ever done in their lives then no one will be good enough to serve our country, ever. You've seen my posts on racism and, you've seen my posts on women's rights and, gay rights so, you should know where I stand here, when I was in the seventh grade in North Carolina, there was a skit done in my class, four of the kids wore blackface during the skit and, made a parody of blacks during the skit, like the other kids in the class when it ended I laughed and, applauded their effort, since that time I've had friends on every side of the color spectrum and, I've even had a wife that was African-American, I've spoken about her on this site. One of the kids involved in that skit even married her boyfriend while she was in high school, a nice kid by the name of Rex, he happens to be African-American and, they had two wonderful kids and, as far as I know, they are still married to each other, he runs a hair salon in Boone, N.C. and, as far as I know it is still doing a booming business there. So, the question I have is, when do we start looking at what the person has done since that time in their lives?

I have no idea when that time is but, I'd like to know because, I have that one thing in my life that is still hanging over my head from the seventh grade according to people in the news and, else where. It was a class participation thing when I attended school and, it was supported by the school, the teachers and, the principle were involved in setting it up so, who's to blame here, me or, the school?

The statues you mention were raised during the Jim Crow era in the 1900's, as I said they were put up to support slavery and, racism and, not for any other reason, they should be taken down. The soldiers had that camo on their faces so they couldn't be seen in the dark, it cuts the shine to their white skin. Eddie Murphy was playing a role in a movie which required a certain makeup, you want to blame someone, blame the producers of the movie. Michael Jackson, well, take your pick of reasons there, there were many. In my case, in the south at that time, you had to "go along, to get along", in other words, if you didn't act a certain way there and, agree with certain things, you got your ass beat or, worse. 

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
14.1.9  JohnRussell  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @14.1.7    5 years ago

I spent a decade poring over blackface composites from yearbooks and fraternal orders, watching cracked film footage and cataloguing more than 10,000 blackface plays at Harvard University. Those plays and Northam’s racist photo show us the centrality of amateur blackface minstrelsy to American cultural life and universities. They show how upwardly mobile white men concentrated white-supremacist political power in the century after the Civil War, using the profits of amateur blackface to build white-only institutions and using blackface performances to articulate to voters their legislative commitment to white supremacy.

They also show how persistent those power structures remain.

Though blackface was the No. 1 entertainment form throughout the United States in the 19th century, it has a particularly notable legacy in Virginia. The first globally famous minstrel troupe hailing from New York City rebranded itself as the Virginia Minstrels in 1843. Dan Emmett, the group’s founder, understood his minstrel troupe needed to project a sense of authentic, stereotypical blackness. Virginia, a state that imported enslaved Africans as a colony as early as 1619, embodied the complex relationship between blackface entertainment, slavery and American culture in a single word. The troupe did not just borrow Virginia’s brand, but shaped it: Its song “Dixie” became the unofficial Confederate anthem.

That legacy can be seen in the history of blackface at the University of Virginia, founded and designed by another Virginia governor: Thomas Jefferson. Virginia was a state built on enslaved labor, and U-Va. was no different. Beginning in 1830, the university would “hire out” enslaved people from the surrounding area. Eventually, U-Va. purchased humans like “Big Lewis” Commodore in 1832 at auction for $580, permanently separating him from his family.

Virginia’s slave empire ended when African American slaves fought for their freedom in the Civil War. After 1865, Lewis Commodore was free. But when slavery disappeared, fundraising with amateur blackface minstrel shows and city minstrel parades emerged. They featured fictionalized blackface slaves and their Klansman counterparts — a pairing on display in the Northam photo — to sustain Virginia’s infrastructure and segregated economy, as well as to inculcate new generations into a form of white supremacy associated with collegiality, school spirit and patriotism.

The era we now call Jim Crow America was named after a famous blackface minstrel character. His signature debut song “Jumpin’ Jim Crow” reached global fame in 1832, but it wasn’t until the 1860s that everyday Americans bought commercially packaged how-to minstrel blackface plays to perfect these racial stereotypes. A new era of segregation, mass culture and blackface emerged, where blackface-imitating pro-Klan movies such as “Birth of a Nation” were the go-to entertainment form for young men.

In Jim Crow’s century-long reign, a strange, visible and highly pervasive world of blackface minstrel shows took hold in nearly every city and town in the United States. Amateur blackface minstrel shows and parades were so central to civic and campus life in 20th-century America that it’s hard to find a university yearbook without a blackface image or a town that didn’t hold such a parade.

[ Northam's ugly yearbook photo and the racist origins of blackface ]

U-Va.’s love affair with — and financial reliance on — amateur blackface grew during Reconstruction. A rumor circulated throughout U-Va. that “some of the students are forming themselves into a negro minstrel troupe” to perform on campus and in the local towns in Virginia. In 1886, the official University Minstrel Troupe donated the proceeds of its minstrel show to the construction of the University of Virginia Chapel, where hundreds of couples continue to marry each year. The show , which included a “stump speech” — a stand-up comedy routine lampooning black politicians — also featured a “Berlesque of Mikado,” likely in yellowface.

Throughout the First Klan era, the U-Va. minstrel troupe “sweetly” sang in “darky dialect” to raise funds. During World War I, a university-sponsored minstrel show took place on the white steps of the Rotunda, where Lewis Commodore used to be enslaved. Scores of U-Va. yearbooks named “Cork and Curls” (minstrel slang for the burned cork used to blacken faces and the curly Afro wigs that were signature costume pieces) show blackface was omnipresent on campus.

Blackface was a fundraising and socialization tool for white, all-male, Christian civic organizations such as the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks. The Ku Klux Klan and the United Daughters of the Confederacy in Virginia used blackface in raids to confuse victims and in comedy shows to recruit members. In 1924, as Charlottesville erected its infamous Robert E. Lee statue, the Charlottesville Elks Minstrel show ran ads ridiculing black American soldiers. They all solidified the relationship between slavery, blackface, white-supremacist political power, segregation, business and university life.

As late as Gerald Ford’s administration in 1974, the annual Charlottesville Lions Club Minstrel show was still so popular it was recommended in travel guidebooks. It has proved to be a hard cultural habit to break. In November 2002, U-Va. made national headlines when three students arrived at a joint Kappa Alpha and Zeta Psi Halloween fraternity party in blackface. As recently as March 2017, mere months before the horrific events in Charlottesville, the obituary of a member of the Retail Merchants Association in Charlottesville cited his participation in the annual minstrel show of the Charlottesville Lions Club, of which he was a member for 64 years.

When white supremacists set U-Va.’ s lawn aglow on Aug. 11, 2017, the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow that stretched between the governorships of Jefferson and Northam materialized in the plume of tiki-torch smoke. The photographs of the rally mirrored the magic-lantern slides I studied in U-Va.’s library, which depicted amateur blackface minstrel shows that were hosted by Charlottesville firefighters, and Confederate veteran parades between 1900 and 1910.
 
 

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