Eli5 (and a German) the problem with black facing.

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So I rewatched Pulp Fiction last night and thought it would be so nice to dress up on a Party as Jules, bringing a Big Kahuna Cup to drink from and quoting Ezekiel 25:17 and all.
To me this would be an act of showing how cool I find him.
In general I think dressing up as someone else could be considered a compliment to them, as it shows you’d like to be them, if only for a night.

So I am probably missing something here!
(I know it is a touchy topic and it’s not my intention to step on anyones toes.)

Edit: Added missing verb “showing”

Edit 2: Of cause I knew it is problematic! (Although I underestimated how much) I never had the intention to actually do more then fantasize about it (there isn’t even a real party coming up, it was just a thought), however I was interested in the American and the European (German) perspective. Seeing how lively this discussion is, seeing how very differnt the arguments and perspectives are, and reading all the interesting background information (I had never heared of “Minstrels”), I am very happy I asked!

In: 7450

30 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

OP, you might want to read through this before you make a decision.

>“You don’t belong here.”

>Do you know how many times I’ve heard that?

>Do you know how many times I have been told to go back to Africa?

>Do you know how many times I have been called a n*****?

>Eight years old, I had to ask my dad, “What is this word, n*****?”

>Some kids at school were eating this German candy called a schoko küsse — a chocolate kiss.

>They were calling it a n***** küsse. And I literally didn’t know what the word meant, so I came home and asked my dad, and he said something really insightful.

>He said, “This is an ignorant word, son. But the reason that these kids at school are using it is because their parents are saying it all the time at home.”

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/antonio-ruediger-champions-league-soccer-racism-chelsea

You might not see the racisim, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there.

Anonymous 0 Comments

OP, you might want to read through this before you make a decision.

>“You don’t belong here.”

>Do you know how many times I’ve heard that?

>Do you know how many times I have been told to go back to Africa?

>Do you know how many times I have been called a n*****?

>Eight years old, I had to ask my dad, “What is this word, n*****?”

>Some kids at school were eating this German candy called a schoko küsse — a chocolate kiss.

>They were calling it a n***** küsse. And I literally didn’t know what the word meant, so I came home and asked my dad, and he said something really insightful.

>He said, “This is an ignorant word, son. But the reason that these kids at school are using it is because their parents are saying it all the time at home.”

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/antonio-ruediger-champions-league-soccer-racism-chelsea

You might not see the racisim, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there.

Anonymous 0 Comments

All the posts explaining the historical connotations of blackface are right, but I want to add a less western-centric perspective as well. In a lot of the world, black people still face a lot of racism and prejudice based on their skin colour. When a non black person paints their skin black, it makes the idea of their skin colour feel more like a costume that, at the end of the day, a non black person can just take off and not face the pervasive racism that society has in it. It’s insensitive in that regard as well, I think.

Anonymous 0 Comments

All the posts explaining the historical connotations of blackface are right, but I want to add a less western-centric perspective as well. In a lot of the world, black people still face a lot of racism and prejudice based on their skin colour. When a non black person paints their skin black, it makes the idea of their skin colour feel more like a costume that, at the end of the day, a non black person can just take off and not face the pervasive racism that society has in it. It’s insensitive in that regard as well, I think.

Anonymous 0 Comments

You can dress as the character without the blackface. A person of colour doesn’t put on whiteface to cosplay as Superman. If you wanna be Jules or Black Panther you can just don the costume.

Anonymous 0 Comments

You can dress as the character without the blackface. A person of colour doesn’t put on whiteface to cosplay as Superman. If you wanna be Jules or Black Panther you can just don the costume.

Anonymous 0 Comments

I think others have answered perfectly but I would also say you can dress and Jules and not paint your face black. Him being black isn’t the character.

Anonymous 0 Comments

I think others have answered perfectly but I would also say you can dress and Jules and not paint your face black. Him being black isn’t the character.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

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