# Blackface - Why the hysteria? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 5, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171 "2013-11-05T19:38:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/21 "2013-11-05T21:25:10Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [Al](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhavaXOynO8) [Jolson](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tuu5YtkPIo) and [Judy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7Y2Ll24GRU) [Garland](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SAGJWTIXiQ), f’rinstance. Al Jolson and Judy Garland were some of your best friends? Color me impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/22 "2013-11-05T21:26:27Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > And now that we’re in the pit I can finally say that everyone in this thread is a flat-headed banana eating gazelle. :eek: Can you actually _see_ me through the computer screen? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/23 "2013-11-05T21:32:53Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Oh, well that’s alright then, so long as he’s a bit ethnic.:rolleyes: Why are you rolling your eyes at me? I expressed no opinion on the appropriateness or lack thereof of Armisen playing the president. 😕 I was only acknowledging that the OP may have seen a “white man” playing him on SNL at some point. And who knows if half-Hispanic meets his definition of white - I wouldn’t hazard to guess. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/24 "2013-11-05T21:35:21Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > Only confirming your gazelle status! Next you’ll tell us you [jumped](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stotting)out of your seat. That is definitely the most adorable link I have ever followed out of the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/25 "2013-11-05T21:35:35Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > And now that we’re in the pit I can finally say that everyone in this thread is a flat-headed banana eating gazelle. No no, I’m a deer in gazelle-face. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/26 "2013-11-05T21:37:42Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Al Jolson and Judy Garland were some of your best friends? Color me impressed. **All** the trapped souls I keep in bottles are my friends! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/27 "2013-11-05T21:53:19Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Uh, both actors who played the Obamas on SNL - Kerry Washington and Jay Pharoah - were black. What? They’re not Black now? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/28 "2013-11-05T22:03:49Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > What? They’re not Black now? They got better. [rimshot] ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/29 "2013-11-05T22:06:40Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Oh, well that’s alright then, so long as he’s a bit ethnic.:rolleyes: I don’t remember any outrage when Fred Armisen played [Obama](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je09HTt6VDA). And I would hardly call his make up blackface. Other than the hair they didn’t do much to him. And it was a damn good impression and not a caricature. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/30 "2013-11-05T22:08:15Z")
As an (almost) 65-year-old white man, may I just say: WE’RE NOT ALL LIKE THAT. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/31 "2013-11-05T22:17:08Z")
Here in San Diego, a couple of teachers used blackface for Halloween. There was a controversy. Then there was a controversy over the controversy, as many blacks said “Meh” and said they weren’t particularly offended. The teachers apologized, and most of us are using it as a “teachable moment,” explaining the history of blackface paint, the abuses of it in the past, and the relevance to our times. The comforting thing is that there wasn’t really any “hysteria” in this case. Some low-level offense, but also some countering low-level non-offense. Pretty much everybody recognizes that it was a damn fool thing to have done…but it doesn’t rise to the level of wearing a Nazi uniform or a KKK bedsheet. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/32 "2013-11-05T22:39:01Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Pretty much everybody recognizes that it was a damn fool thing to have done…but it doesn’t rise to the level of wearing a Nazi uniform or a KKK bedsheet. Somehow associating that image with 8-year olds shouting “Trick or Treat!” amuses me to no end. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/33 "2013-11-05T22:52:11Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Pretty much everybody recognizes that it was a damn fool thing to have done…but it doesn’t rise to the level of wearing a Nazi uniform or a KKK bedsheet. One wonders what would have happened if they had gone out in blackface wearing Nazi uniforms. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/34 "2013-11-05T23:14:50Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > One wonders what would have happened if they had gone out in blackface wearing Nazi uniforms. Jews would’ve kicked their asses anyway? ---
**Author:** ![drew870mitchell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drew870mitchell/32/3946_2.png) [@drew870mitchell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drew870mitchell)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/35 "2013-11-05T23:20:08Z")
> [@Iamnotivan](#): > > …1). I don’t understand why it is so funny on national TV and so repellent for an individual, 2). I must have missed something in seven years of undergrad and graduate studies and 65 years of life, but I do not understand what the offence (other than for a criminal act) is in costuming one’s self with an altered complexion which is black… Plausible. It’s easy for somebody in many states to grow up completely isolated from racism, and while you may be an iffy citizen for not knowing what’s going on in the country, you’re hardly a bad person. > [@](#): > > But I do understand that for the past few decades or so, nothing is so precious to so many as breathless self-righteous indignation and suffering loudly from having converted an insult out of some unintended speech or action. Here’s where you overplayed your hand. Work on making your trolling more subtle and then try again (on a different board). ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/36 "2013-11-05T23:51:08Z")
Why blackface for Holloween? Isn’t shitfaced enough? ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/37 "2013-11-05T23:52:32Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > And now that we’re in the pit I can finally say that everyone in this thread is a flat-headed banana eating gazelle. Gazelle you say! I say Giraffe! ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/38 "2013-11-06T00:55:56Z")
No one needs minstrel shows anymore. That’s what rap is for. > [@Anaamika](#): > > You really think blackface is OK? How about [yellowface](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrayal_of_East_Asians_in_Hollywood), you know, white people [dressed up as Asians](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Yellowface)? How about that? Yeah! Or [white face](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnffskKI_IA)? ---
**Author:** ![Iamnotivan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Iamnotivan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iamnotivan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/39 "2013-11-06T02:25:48Z")
I do not live in the U.S. I was little aware of Vaudeville and read of it on Wikipedia. Do you mean to tell me that a population today which is barely able to find its ass with both hands in a week is yet so aware that each time they see blackface, they flip through their tiny mental capacities and say _Dang, that blackface is painful to me due to the ghastly history of Vaudeville?_ I think Mark Twain had some pointed words about those who knew little, but thought that what little they knew damn well ought to be known by all others. What is the point of a board like this if a question cannot be asked without nasty ad hominem attacks? I am not at all bothered by the suggestion of racism. The term has been so badly abused and diluted that it means little more than _Some thing I must say reflexively to thoughts I dislike._ ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackface-why-the-hysteria/673171/40 "2013-11-06T02:32:24Z")
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