<p>"Two white male students, who attended what appears to be an off-campus Halloween weekend party, blackened their faces and arms while wearing tennis clothes and wigs, posing as Serena and Venus Williams."</p>
<p>Do you find this an example of racism or just two college students dressing up and being goofy for Halloween?</p>
<p>Students</a>, faculty react to blackface incident - News</p>
<p>I find it a form of racism. My daughter was very upset that some students dressed up as another race for Halloween at Cornell, some kids painted their face black. There is nothing goofy about it.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Disagree.</p>
<p>They should know the historical context, and understand racial sensitivities. If they don’t, I suggest a forced change of major to history.</p>
<p>Not acceptable in my opinion.</p>
<p>I think the reaction to this incident has to do with Lehigh’s concerted effort to become more diverse, welcoming to minorities and “improve the climate on campus”. They have an active dept. called the Council for Equity and Community to address any campus issues in this regard. Lehigh reacted strongly as well to an incident in 11/08 after the presidential election–its just their way of striving to becoming a more open & sensitive university.</p>
<p>If they did it like an expert in drag, with an effort to really look like two women, using body makeup, good wigs, etc, probably people wouldn’t be upset. But apparently they had bad wigs and obvious fake huge breasts, which makes it seem as if they were making fun of the Williams sisters as physically powerful women. If two black male students had dressed up as the Williams sisters, using similarly crude accoutrements, would people be offended by that, I wonder?</p>
<p>The crudity/charicature is what makes it reek of “blackface” as opposed to a “disguise.” Blackface is always in poor taste. I find it hard to believe that anyone doesn’t know that, even an undergraduate.</p>
<p>I find this an interesting question. It doesn’t seem to me inherently offensive to dress up as a person of a different race (especially if the person is a celebrity), but people are sensitive to blackface. My son (who is white) wanted to dress up as Tupac for Halloween. My advice to him was that I thought it was OK, as long as he didn’t darken his skin. As far as I know, there were no comments. There were also lots of people dressed up as Antoine Dodson–but without darkened skin. Was that racist? I don’t really think so, but the line-drawing isn’t so easy.</p>
<p>I find this discussion interesting. I am not stupid or historically illiterate, and I have no idea what people mean about the “historical context of blackface” making it inherently offensive. That’s an enormously debatable point. To me, the “historical context of blackface” represents the characteristic (and nearly unique) American dynamic of cultural engagement and dialog between the dominant white culture and African culture. Sure, minstrel shows and blackface performers sometimes reinforced offensive racial stereotypes, but they were subversive of white culture as well, and ultimately they evidenced tremendous respect by white performers for black ones. And, in most cases, the blackface performers were outsiders themselves – white immigrants who experienced discrimination and disrespect personally.</p>
<p>It’s an important and complex part of the history of race in America. It’s the people with the kneejerk reactions who are ignorant of the historical context.</p>
<p>Didn’t the Wayans Bros do the reverse in the infamously funny comedy White Chicks and wasn’t it globally accepted as a farce?</p>
<p>interesting issue here; agree with alot of the statements already posted, including JHS and UF…</p>
<p>not sure what the correct answer is here, but would it be preferred to dress up like Serena and Venus with a mask (that, incidently would be black?) would that have been more acceptable?</p>
<p>as a HS teacher who has discussed blackface in the historical context referred to on here, I must say that in many historical artifacts it is dealt with in the entertainment arena (i.w. vaudeville)…not necessarily the sports or political arena…</p>
<p>UF: thanks for the laugh of the morning…you should send your dialogue to the Lehigh newspaper</p>
<p>UF I enjoyed your post and although the idea of black face may be insulting to many the context of this incident should put this in its proper place. It was Halloween and the students who did this were not going to dress up as African American tennis stars without coloring their skin. That has nothing to do with them being bigots or racists or anything else for that matter. I would bet many of the students on that campus do not even know the historical significance of black paint on the face. I think this is an example of a few students on campus trying to make a name for themselves as black activists. I do not believe for a moment that the students who dressed as the Willams sisters meant any harm in their portrayal of the sisters on Halloween.</p>
<p>IIRC, there was a hulabaloo a few years ago when some students dressed up for a frat/sorority party at some Calif school as hispanic cleaning staff (I am fuzzy on the details-- anyone recall?). While it might have been in bad taste, perhaps the cultural sensitivity/PC stuff is taken a little too far. It wasn’t meant in an offensive manner. Maybe some were offended, and maybe they had a right to be, but come on … sometimes its ok to laugh at ourselves.</p>
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Umm…it’s ok to make fun of white people.</p>
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<p>Wow . . . that’s much worse than the kids in blackface as tennis players, IMO.</p>
<p>Many Halloweens ago, 3 friends and I all dressed up as Michael Jackson. We put in a lot of details - spangly gloves, sunglasses, bejewelled band jackets, flood water level pants, white socks and yes, we applied dark make-up to our faces.
If we dressed up as Frankenstein, I would have put green make-up on.</p>
<p>We should all protest “Wicked” because the main character is wearing green make-up!! How insensitive to witches everywhere!</p>
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Why?</p>
<p>Sorry…</p>
<p><<umm…it’s ok=“” to=“” make=“” fun=“” of=“” white=“” people.=“”>></umm…it’s></p>
<p>@sylvan and others, then why not all races and cultures?
to be PC, everyone is up for grabs in a setting that accepts diversity.</p>
<p>Why, because MJ used to be black before he had it changed.</p>
<p>I think it is offensive to to dress up as a hispanic cleaning staff, but I don´t find it offensive for people to dress up in very colorful Mexican dress. It is the connotation behind it.</p>
<p>If one wants to dress up as Whitney Houston or Oprah, it would be more authentic to make one´s face a bit darker. In doing so, one is not making fun of the race.</p>
<p>If someone were to put on a Kimono or Qipao as a dress up, most people wouldn´t take any offense to it. But if someone were to dress up as a railroad worker with blackened teeth, I would be offended by it.</p>
<p>Lets suppose if your kid were going to a school in a foreign country, he/she is very much of a minority, and on their Halloween day (Day of the Dead), a group of kids at that school decided to come to school dressed as Americans (loud pattern clothing, sneakers, messy hair, chewing gum), how do you think your kid would take it? Would your kid be able to laugh at him/herself, or would your kid feel like he/she is being made fun of?</p>
<p>I would think my kid would be smart enough to say: “that is a stereotype, and not representative of myself.” People need better things to do with their time than worry about the perceived offensiveness of Halloween costumes. I would find it hilarious if a black woman colored her face white and dressed up as George Bush.</p>