The Use of Blackface

In the past week, I saw pictures of many different Halloween costumes on the internet and across social media. While I believe Halloween to be nothing but a fun-natured holiday, I was very disappointed to come across some of the costumes that I did this year, particularly those people donning blackface. One such picture gained national attention. Two Florida residents sparked outrage across the web when one posted a picture of the two friends dressed up as Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman for Halloween. The male dressed as Trayvon Martin donned blackface and a hoodie with fake blood spattered across the chest. Another instance receiving much negative attention was that of celebrity Juliane Hough using blackface to dress as a character from the movie “Orange is the New Black”. These and many other media posts were the source of criticism, hate, and disgust from people across the country in the past week. Today, a simple Google search will pull the images up along with countless articles discussing the Halloween-goer’s insensitivity and unintelligence. I do not wish to spur further negative feelings from these images, rather I would like to discuss the affects of using blackface on both those who use it and the African American community whose population is being portrayed.

            The use of blackface became popular in the 19^th century and was originally used in theatrical performances to portray slaves in America. In this scenario, white actors depicted slaves as humans who were content in their submission and lived perfectly happy lives on the Southern plantation they worked. It goes without saying that the original intent of blackface was to mock African Americans and cement what whites perceived to be their inferiority as beings. In our current day and age, I think that the use of blackface still bears similar connotations. I believe it suggests that the person using the makeup is superior to African Americans, especially if the attempt at looking black is for a costume. I think that one who dons blackface also makes the assumption, whether consciously or not, that they understand what it is like to be African American; that because they can “dress up” as a black person, they know what it is like to be black.  In my opinion, the use of blackface today is also in ignorance of the many hardships that African Americans still face today. It ignores the fact that there are still underlying prejudices towards black in our society today. It ignores the fact that reports say that 1 in every 3 black males will go to jail in their lifetime. In some cases one might think that it is also okay to use black face because we have reached racial equality. I think that because slavery has been outlawed, our schools are integrated, and we have an African American president, many Americans believe that we have reached equality, and for this reason it is safe to use blackface. I think this reflects ignorance and completely false judgment.

            As someone who is not African American it is easy for me to assume the affect that blackface might have on those who use it. I’d love to hear from you all what you think additional negative affects might be or even if you think the use of blackface can be justified today. I’d also be very interested in hearing how its use in modern society affects those who are African American or of African descent.