# Is the mask in this picture racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 27, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967 "2012-09-27T03:52:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/1 "2012-09-27T03:52:22Z")
I snapped this picture while waiting in line at an Obama rally today. There’s some controversy among my group of friends as to whether or not the mask could be considered racist. Please help me settle this. [https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/MdulkotIaOYYgEws3pROHxdB8b3Gp0LozA5Mknsyn8s?feat=directlink](https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/MdulkotIaOYYgEws3pROHxdB8b3Gp0LozA5Mknsyn8s?feat=directlink) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/2 "2012-09-27T03:58:17Z")
Taken in the overall context of the image, [a white kid wearing a blackface](http://articles.cnn.com/2009-10-14/world/sawyer.blackface_1_blackface-black-skin-australians?_s=PM:WORLD) mask touches a historical raw nerve. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/3 "2012-09-27T04:00:00Z")
Masks cannot be racist. We can’t tell what’s in the mind of the kid wearing the Obama mask. There is documentary evidence of his intelligence level in the picture though. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/4 "2012-09-27T04:01:12Z")
Not racist. It’s insulting for (lots of) other reasons, though. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/5 "2012-09-27T04:02:31Z")
> [@Mr.Slant](#): > > I snapped this picture while waiting in line at an Obama rally today. > There’s some controversy among my group of friends as to whether or not the mask could be considered racist. > Please help me settle this. > > [https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/MdulkotIaOYYgEws3pROHxdB8b3Gp0LozA5Mknsyn8s?feat=directlink](https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/MdulkotIaOYYgEws3pROHxdB8b3Gp0LozA5Mknsyn8s?feat=directlink) Hard to say from the picture. If it’s someone wearing an Obama mask for an (anti Obama or pro Romney) rally…probably not. If there’s something (stereotypically black…and meant to be mean) going on with his teeth/mouth that I can’t quite see in the picture, then maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/6 "2012-09-27T04:12:06Z")
The mask has been cut so that the likeness of Obama it creates is missing teeth. If you look carefully, you’ll notice that the cut is not even. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/7 "2012-09-27T04:15:46Z")
> [@Mr.Slant](#): > > The mask has been cut so that the likeness of Obama it creates is missing teeth. > If you look carefully, you’ll notice that the cut is not even. How do you know he didn’t make that cut so he could breathe? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/8 "2012-09-27T04:19:01Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > How do you know he didn’t make that cut so he could breathe? I certainly don’t. I’ve been to a lot of Halloweens and never saw intentionally modified masks, so I assumed intent. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/9 "2012-09-27T04:20:33Z")
> [@Mr.Slant](#): > > I certainly don’t. I’ve been to a lot of Halloweens and never saw intentionally modified masks, so I assumed intent. Is there something racist about a depiction of a person with missing teeth? I thought that was a stereotype of hillbillies and the like. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/10 "2012-09-27T04:25:54Z")
Good question. I’m going to lay low and avoid discussion for a while. I’ve given my account of the actual scene and context, and I’m curious as to the outcome of this poll. If I discuss further, I’m afraid I’ll spoil the answers by arguing on one side or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/11 "2012-09-27T04:38:56Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Masks cannot be racist. We can’t tell what’s in the mind of the kid wearing the Obama mask. I can tell, because I don’t feel any need to go to ridiculous lengths to give people the benefit of the doubt. And his buddy’s sign about a village in Kenya missing its idiot (I assume that’s what the rest of it says) makes it all the more clear. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/12 "2012-09-27T04:41:30Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > I can tell, because I don’t feel any need to go to ridiculous lengths to give people the benefit of the doubt. And his buddy’s sign about a village in Kenya missing its idiot (I assume that’s what the rest of it says) makes it all the more clear. You’re correct about the sign. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/13 "2012-09-27T04:44:48Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > I can tell, because I don’t feel any need to go to ridiculous lengths to give people the benefit of the doubt. And his buddy’s sign about a village in Kenya missing its idiot (I assume that’s what the rest of it says) makes it all the more clear. How do you know that idiot is his buddy? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/14 "2012-09-27T04:47:02Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > How do you know that idiot is his buddy? He doesn’t, but they walked about six miles up and down the length of the line for the Obama rally together. If they’re enemies, they hang out together a lot… ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/15 "2012-09-27T04:51:02Z")
> [@Mr.Slant](#): > > He doesn’t, but they walked about six miles up and down the length of the line for the Obama rally together. > If they’re enemies, they hang out together a lot… Okay, I’d assume they are co-idiots then. On that basis I could guess that the guy in the mask is racist. But the mask in itself isn’t making a statement about race that I can understand. It looks like a cheap Barack Obama mask similar in nature to those made for every president in recent times. Even if he cut out the area in the mouth to make some racist statement it’s not one that conforms to traditional racist stereotypes. So I still don’t think the mask per se connotes racism. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/16 "2012-09-27T04:53:02Z")
I love your cross-ex, by the way, **Tripolar**. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/17 "2012-09-27T04:56:53Z")
If it were a Dubya mask and the sign referred to a town in Texas missing it’s idiot and the guy wearing the mask were black, would it be racist? I try to play opposites when determining racism. If the opposite would be racist, then what’s in front of me probably is, too. Totally insulting, for sure, totally racism, I don’t really think so. Obviously the whole scene demonstrates a double-digit IQ between the three of them, but calling them racists would be difficult without more information. The mask by itself can’t be “racist.” ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/18 "2012-09-27T04:59:40Z")
Why would it be racist to wear an Obama mask? There are Bush masks, Clinton masks, Nixon masks, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/19 "2012-09-27T05:02:36Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > If it were a Dubya mask and the sign referred to a town in Texas missing it’s idiot and the guy wearing the mask were black, would it be racist? Obama isn’t actually from Kenya, you see. > [@](#): > > I try to play opposites when determining racism. Doesn’t work because things have to be taken in context. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967/20 "2012-09-27T05:05:48Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > Obama isn’t actually from Kenya, you see. Yes, which makes them idiots. But I don’t see how that makes wearing an Obama mask racist. I don’t see any kind of black stereotype in the photo. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mask-in-this-picture-racist/635967.md?page=2)