LogFAQs > #891479481

darkknight109 posted...

not just on "stereotypes", but pretty badly racist ones as well, which were usually used in the service of pretty racist stories

I understand stereotypes and racist to both be forms of generalization. In a psychological context they stem from such things as 'Fundamental Attribution Error' and 'Cognitive Schemas'. What I do not understand is how a tool equates to the way in which it was used. The makeup is not the same as the performance. If you don't like a performance I expect it has more to do with the performer and less with the makeup the performer was wearing. To say that the makeup is racist is another example of 'Fundamental Attribution Error'.

darkknight109 posted...

Blacks were portrayed as uneducated, foppish rubes who couldn't match the white man in intelligence or sophistication.

I find this to be a racist attitude. A specific character or possibly a group of individual characters were shown to be uneducated and foppish. I do not think an individual should be seen as representing an entire class of people.

darkknight109 posted...

Blackface has been seen as racist for decades. If you are unfamiliar with it, it's simply because you haven't run into it before. It's not a new phenomenon.

Yes, I see it originated from decades ago. However it also appears to have fallen from favor and thus vanished from use in entertainment for several decades. As such in the past 30 years there has been little to no exposure to it. So I wonder how people are aware of it and the connotations associated with it if they have not seen the performances that inspired that association.

Melon_Master posted...

I chose Muhammad Ali for a book report in AP English in high school, later in the week the teacher wanted us all to be the subject. Did I do blackface?
Hell no, even then I was socially aware to the fact it was obnoxiously offensive for me to go in blackface.

I'd like to know how you were aware to this fact. Where did you learn about blackface and it's meaning? Did you agree that the issue was with the makeup?

I'm going to switch, now, from psychology to sociology. An action is not an isolated event. Context is form by the place and time, as well as the perceptions of those that observe the action. There are instances where wearing dark makeup complies with existing social norms, such as mascara or lipstick. Wearing makeup at a fancy restaurant at meal time has a different context than wearing makeup on a street corner late at night. Similarly one person may view the level of makeup applied as being conservative while another may view the same level as excessive.

So with this in mind I want to ask, as someone that is more socially aware and has a better understanding of the issue, is blackface racist is every context?
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No locked doors, no windows barred. No more things to make my brain seem SKARD.