Lately, there have been a number of incidents where well-known public figures, celebrities, and even name brands have been accused of blackface.
The well-known brand Gucci was recently criticised for creating a black sweater that featured a turtleneck with a cut-out for the lip-area, which was surrounded by a bright red color.
Gucci isn’t the first designer brand to be accused of supporting blackface. In December 2018, the Italian designer brand Prada, popular for its handbags and shoes, removed statues with brown-skin, big bright red lips, and a monkey-like appearance in a New York store window that was accused of resembling blackface. There was also an entire line of products resembling the same figures titled “Pradamalia”, all of which are no longer being sold. According to a CNN article titled, Prada pulls products after accusations of blackface imagery, Prada stated the images are “imaginary creatures not intended to have any reference to the real world and certainly not blackface.”
Pop star Katy Perry also received backlash for creating shoes designed with blue eyes and bright red lips, which happen to come in black.
Several other celebrities have been called out in the past. In 2016, actor and dancer Julianne Hough dressed as Crazy Eyes from the popular Netflix show “Orange is the New Black,” a black character which Hough wore darker toned makeup to look like her. She has since apologized on her Twitter account.
Unfortunately, even politicians have been apart of this controversy. In early February, Virginia governor Ralph Northam was discovered to have a photo of 2 men, one dressed as a Klu Klux Klan member and another in blackface on his personal page in his medical school yearbook. “I believe then and now, that I am not either of the people in that photo,” Northam stated in a press conference.
He did, however, admit to wearing blackface before. ”I darkened my face in part of a Michael Jackson costume,” he stated. Northam has apologized and stated that he is focusing more on racial issues and educating himself. “His advisers have assigned the governor homework: He’s begun to read Alex Haley’s ‘Roots,’ and ‘The Case for Reparations,’ the seminal essay in The Atlantic by Ta-Nehisi Coates,” according to the Buzzfeed article “Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam Plans To Survive By Changing His Agenda To Focus On Race.”
Incidents such as these highlights the importance of being informed. It is imperative that people of all races and nationalities understand the history behind the word, and why it is so offensive.
What is the meaning of blackface? Blackface originates from the early 1800’s, a time where slavery was still legal. White Americans would place shoe polish on their skin to resemble African-Americans and perform plays meant to be comical called minstrels that help spread many of the negative stereotypes still associated with Black Americans today. African-American actors often times were forced to participate in these awful events and behave in the same ways that blackface actors portrayed them as.
Participating in blackface equates to continuing a time in American history where African-Americans faced social and political oppression. It is denying Blacks the respect that was fought so vigorously for through riots, protests, and bloodshed, which is why many are quick to call anything out that so much as resembles the horrible images created by this.
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