# Is Black Face necessarily racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 22, 2014, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-black-face-necessarily-racist/686660 "2014-04-22T05:39:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![iLemming](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90db22/32.png) [@iLemming](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iLemming)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-black-face-necessarily-racist/686660/261 "2014-04-29T06:12:13Z")
> [@Pjen](#): > > Is Black Face necessarily racist? No necessarily. But, racism _is_ in the eye of the beholder; hence its wishy-washy definition(s). [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/T8zJskyoj-Y/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AHUBoAC4AOKAgwIABABGGUgUShHMA8=&rs=AOn4CLBdggsQZ0WPR6oK9iaX3bv4K3Us_w "S.mouse: Poo on You | Angry Boys | ABC1") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8zJskyoj-Y) https://www.youtube.com/embed/o0qi5sJRywY?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-black-face-necessarily-racist/686660/262 "2014-04-29T08:45:11Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > No, you didn’t. You quoted a part of a sentence, deliberately omitting context. Deliberately, nothing. I quoted the pertinent bit. If you think the rest gives such radically different “context”, feel free to quote those bits yourself. > [@](#): > > Additionally, you then used no logic/argument at all to claim that what I _meant_ was, “it’s OK because it’s common practice”. Which I’ve never said or implied. You never said - but the implication is there - what about that logic chain was erroneous? > [@](#): > > Why don’t you try debating the points actually being put to you? You may find it much more interesting. I’m pointing out the underlying assumptions you don’t even recognize in your own arguments, you don’t like the result, and you continue to accuse me of strawmanning - at no point have you shown that the chain of logic itself is broken. And you accuse me of not using logic? > [@](#): > > Here you choose to lower the tone (again) instead of address the point being put to you. I addressed the point sufficiently in the preceding sentence. The one you didn’t quote. > [@](#): > > Again: If we can infer racial (or indeed class-based beliefs) about the Chinese by the fact a minority of women use whitening products, what can we infer from the use of tanning salons in the West? That they have developed (in fairly recent times) the inverse of the Chinese beliefs. It _used to be_ that whiter was associated with upper class in the west too, until likely the late 1800s or early 1900s (Coco chanel and Josephine Baker are often cited as causative). The tan veneration is _much_ more recent, and I’d hesitate to say it’s engrained enough to come out in racial attitudes the way a 2000-year-old skin lightening tradition would. So my answer is that it’s ridiculous to think the historical Western preference for lighter skin has been gone long enough for racial attitudes to have caught up to a love of Mocha. Hence the roll-eyes with the “Jungle Fever”. You’re asking a question comparing apples and oranges. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-black-face-necessarily-racist/686660/263 "2014-05-01T10:25:20Z")
> [@BrightNShiny](#): > > I’m of Indian descent, and I’m quite familiar with English colonial policy, not just in India, but throughout the world. But, it doesn’t matter. If you agree with me about othering and marginalised groups, then you should be able to agree that these demonstrations are racist. But you already lost me with your othering and marginalising of people who don’t automatically agree with you. Presumably you’re smart enough to know that your insults are counter-productive. What’s not clear is your motivation: are you to be pitied or condemned? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-black-face-necessarily-racist/686660.md?page=13)