Remember the climax in the 2014’s Dear White People where the African American students crash the party hosted by the White fraternity and it turns out to be a Blackface party? The viewer is introduced to a bunch of 20 something, white, college students frolicking around a frat house with inflated behinds, gold chains, grills, and “gangsta” outfits. What if I told you that this scene (which ended in an epic brawl) wasn’t as far-fetched as we were lead to believe?
Fast forward to October 2015, on the campus of UCLA, where members of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and Alpha Phi sorority decided to co-host a “Kanye Western” themed party. In the pictures that surfaced online, party goers were dressed in attire intended to play off rapper Kanye West and his wife Kim Kardashian. To add to …show more content…
The answer is simple and, frankly, not up for debate. Blackface and any stereotypical portrayal of people of color (brown face, red face and yellow face) is racist and uncalled for.
Many on the other side of the debate will argue that it’s “just paint” and not meant to offend. Wrong. It’s almost comical how blatantly incorrect that statement is. Blackface dates back to the mid-1800s and into the 1900s and contributed to reinforcing the negative stereotypes that followed African Americans. Typically we were depicted as aloof and idiotic with large lips and wide noses. With that being said, blackface represents a time in our nation that was unshakably racist.
So, why is it that two centuries later, we are continuing to revisit this piece of American history? It would not have been difficult for the students at UCLA to be Kanye West without going the extra and unnecessary mile of throwing on a face full of black paint. The ‘Yeezus’ on the white t-shirt was a dead giveaway, trust me. Adding blackface is solely to bring forth negative comments and cause
Fast forward to October 2015, on the campus of UCLA, where members of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and Alpha Phi sorority decided to co-host a “Kanye Western” themed party. In the pictures that surfaced online, party goers were dressed in attire intended to play off rapper Kanye West and his wife Kim Kardashian. To add to …show more content…
The answer is simple and, frankly, not up for debate. Blackface and any stereotypical portrayal of people of color (brown face, red face and yellow face) is racist and uncalled for.
Many on the other side of the debate will argue that it’s “just paint” and not meant to offend. Wrong. It’s almost comical how blatantly incorrect that statement is. Blackface dates back to the mid-1800s and into the 1900s and contributed to reinforcing the negative stereotypes that followed African Americans. Typically we were depicted as aloof and idiotic with large lips and wide noses. With that being said, blackface represents a time in our nation that was unshakably racist.
So, why is it that two centuries later, we are continuing to revisit this piece of American history? It would not have been difficult for the students at UCLA to be Kanye West without going the extra and unnecessary mile of throwing on a face full of black paint. The ‘Yeezus’ on the white t-shirt was a dead giveaway, trust me. Adding blackface is solely to bring forth negative comments and cause