# Poll: Have You Ever Worn Blackface? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 6, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079 "2019-02-06T19:34:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/41 "2019-02-07T05:12:30Z")
OH and in theatre in HS we DID have white people sometimes portray black roles, but no make-up was used. This I only saw done in Spoon River Anthology and in…Purlie Victorious I think. The school was half black and half white. Guess there just wern’t enough people to fill certain roles. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/42 "2019-02-07T14:27:12Z")
No. Interesting to me, in the early 90’s our office was having it’s usual Halloween dress-up day, and one of the VP’s, who is black, dressed as the Little Rascals character of Buckwheat. He had a black fright-wig, and also used blackface make-up to darken his natural skin tone. Tres meta. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/43 "2019-02-07T15:05:25Z")
> [@Littleman](#): > > Yes, if this memory is correct and it had nothing to do with any human. > It was a packaged costume when I was about 5-6. > I saw it packed away years later In my 20s and I’m still baffled what the hell it was supposed to be. > > It was an inflatable hat that strapped on and the top was shaped like a round mylar balloon but sideways. It was made to look like a skull with a candle on top, I think it had arms reaching out the side of the skull down to your ears. > It came with a black spandex suit and black paint and pictured the kid on the front all blacked out. Now that I wouldn’t count. Simply wearing black makeup (without the special lips and everything) while not being black doesn’t make it to blackface. That said, I would advise anyone against it, lest it be seen like “niggardly,” an excuse to not quite be wearing blackface. Oh, and no for me. Before I knew about blackface, it would have never occurred to me to paint my face with normal human colors, nor with solid black. But I learned well before I was an adult. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/44 "2019-02-07T15:27:13Z")
> [@senoy](#): > > I did silver face for a robot costume in the 3rd grade. But no, of course I’ve never done black face, nor has **any self respecting person** since the Civil Rights era. I don’t know what he was thinking, but Bing Crosby did in Holiday Inn. I think he had self-respect though. I just skip that disc chapter - it’s cringeworthy. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/45 "2019-02-07T15:28:00Z")
I never did, but twin brothers in my second grade class dressed as Huck and Jim for Halloween with Jim, of course, in blackface. Parts of Huck Finn had been recently used in class(I don’t recall if we were assigned to read the book then or not) Nobody batted an eye except that our teacher, who was black, told everyone not to use the full Twain version of Jim’s name. It was better to say just ‘Jim’ or ‘Negro Jim’, since negro was the then-preferred term. My seven year old mind understood her to mean it was the term from the book, not the costume that she objected to. If she took any offense none of us noticed. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/46 "2019-02-07T15:36:29Z")
> [@Smudge777](#): > > I’ve never much cared for costumes, so my answer is a resounding no. Though I would have no more qualms painting my face black than I would painting it any other colour. > > However, I’d love to know what the average citizen of the world thinks about the idea that “wearing blackface is offensive”. > In my opinion, it’s ludicrous. It seems to me that, like anything else, context is king. If you darken your face for the purpose of ridiculing people with darker skin, then you’re being offensive. But if you darken your face for another reason (e.g. you’re a fan of Marvin Gaye and want to dress as him for a costume party), it cannot reasonably be considered offensive. Perhaps this is a question for another thread. Yes, context is king all right. But we need to bear in mind that white people do not get to decide what is offensive to black people. That is the entire point. The average citizen of the world, whatever that is, doesn’t get to decide either. American black people are the only ones being mocked, so they are the only ones who can judge. Whatever a white person’s intent is now, after a few hundred years of a tradition of mocking and abasing via blackface, is not very relevant. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/47 "2019-02-07T15:37:44Z")
I once dressed as Diana Ross for a murder mystery party evening. My assigned character called for a popstar diva, and it was either her or Cher, but I liked the idea of wearing a sparkly dress and feather boa. Also, one of my aunts was going dressed as Sonny Bono, and I didn’t want us to be paired up in case one of us turned out to be the murderer. The only extra makeup I wore (beyond what I’d normally wear) was some matching sparkly eyeshadow and red lipstick. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/48 "2019-02-07T15:45:07Z")
Speaking of offensive Halloween costumes, a friend once went as Charles Manson. His hair and makeup were professionally done (by a beautician/cosmetologist friend) and he really pulled off the part. The swastika scar on his forehead caused some outrage, though. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/49 "2019-02-07T15:56:58Z")
> [@ioioio](#): > > In the mid-70s, a close friend dressed for Halloween as a “southern Negro Bible salesman”. Friend was an artist, and the costume was definitely a work of art. If you’d passed him on the street, you wouldn’t have known he was not a black person. And the costume was very poignant. It made a statement, but definitely not a racist statement. Exactly the opposite. > Today the costume would no doubt be considered offensive, which is sad and stupid. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I’m curious–do you believe that yer average black American, or yer average “southern Negro,” would have seen your (white?) friend dressing up as a black person for a Halloween costume and been like, “Ooh, nice anti-racist costume there”? Or do you think that it would’ve been considered offensive by a lot of black Americans back then? It’s been a long time, but I don’t remember there being any worry about giving offense. Friend and I were both politically active college students and would’ve been aware of the potential, if it existed at that time and place. The costume was definitely seen by black people. I doubt that they thought, “Ooh, nice anti-racist costume there”. Maybe it was just a costume, and maybe it made some people think about what it represented. In my memory, the concept of “political correctness” did not yet exist then, or at least was not widespread. However, I’m pretty sure that a minstrel-type blackface costume would have not been well received. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/50 "2019-02-07T16:54:18Z")
The poll should’ve had a “yes, with an excuse” option. 🙂 I never wore blackface. The worst ethnic stereotype involved my part in the 7th grade play where I played a French detective (complete with bad accent). I checked online earlier today and found digitized versions of the Virginia medical school yearbooks that included my parents’ pictures and profiles. No blackface, I’m happy to say. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/51 "2019-02-07T17:16:40Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Speaking of offensive Halloween costumes, a friend once went as Charles Manson. His hair and makeup were professionally done (by a beautician/cosmetologist friend) and he really pulled off the part. The swastika scar on his forehead caused some outrage, though. While I was at Pitt almost all my Halloween costumes were offensive to someone or other. I always assumed that was part of the college experience; stupidity. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/52 "2019-02-07T17:52:18Z")
I’ve done silver (alien), white (clown) and red (devil) but never black. Back in the early 80’s at Ohio University for Halloween I saw a group of guys in blackface as a “ghetto gang” and thought what a bunch of preppy frat aholes. No imagination to do a real costume, just using Halloween to show that they could get away with being overt racist. So no, it wasn’t cool even back then. Also I never saw anyone with the balls to wear a Klan outfit on Halloween. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/53 "2019-02-07T17:56:47Z")
10 Dopers have answered “yes” – anyone want to volunteer? ---
**Author:** ![Littleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ccd318/32.png) [@Littleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Littleman)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/54 "2019-02-08T02:48:28Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Now that I wouldn’t count. Simply wearing black makeup (without the special lips and everything) while not being black doesn’t make it to blackface. > > That said, I would advise anyone against it, lest it be seen like “niggardly,” an excuse to not quite be wearing blackface. > > Oh, and no for me. Before I knew about blackface, it would have never occurred to me to paint my face with normal human colors, nor with solid black. But I learned well before I was an adult. I’m envisioning when I took the hat off. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/55 "2019-02-08T03:13:02Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Now that I wouldn’t count. Simply wearing black makeup (without the special lips and everything) while not being black doesn’t make it to blackface. I’m thinking of [the twins that dressed as Peter Pan and his shadow](https://pics.me.me/mutilatedmemories-mandopony-trickystarz-randommakings-thatmagicaldisneyplace-gonbutnotforgotten-eurotrottest-thatmagicaldisneyplace-no-where-boy-s-30261101.png). Myself, I’d like to go in the deepest of black clothing and makeup, dotted with luminescent paint, and walk up to everyone saying “I am the night.” ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/56 "2019-02-08T03:15:09Z")
Nope, not me. But I thought I remembered somebody in my own mid-80s high school yearbook in blackface, and when I checked today, sure enough, there he was in pictures – a guy I knew a little, in a Michael Jackson costume with his face painted perhaps a few shades darker than Michael Jackson ever was. Nobody thought a thing of it at the time. IIRC he did all kinds of celebrity impersonations and was known for it. I suppose his life would be already ruined by now, if he’d grown up to be famous or a politician. This was in suburban Southern California, in a medium-sized public high school with no African-American students then. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/57 "2019-02-08T03:31:52Z")
No. And I was on stage quite a bit. As a dancer. We did some character makeup a few times. When my kids were in 4H we had a costume party for the preteen set. A parent brought her two white boys in full out blackface minstral makeup and costume. It was quite disturbing to see. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/58 "2019-02-08T04:19:56Z")
As a 16-year-old camp counselor-in-training, I did wear reddish-brown body paint as sachem (weekly quasi-Native American ceremony/games). _Nunway!_. I answered “no” for this poll, but if someone thinks that counts, I respect that opinion. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/59 "2019-02-08T04:41:16Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > As a 16-year-old camp counselor-in-training, I did wear reddish-brown body paint as sachem (weekly quasi-Native American ceremony/games). _Nunway!_. I answered “no” for this poll, but if someone thinks that counts, I respect that opinion. I was a gypsy for Halloween one year. I still cringe in shame thinking about it. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2019, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079/60 "2019-02-08T05:09:06Z")
I can’t even remember being around anyone who did it. I certainly never did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-have-you-ever-worn-blackface/829079.md?page=4)