Political Correctness Gone overboard?

[Beckpatton]

I think so.. This kid was just paying tribute to his fave football player, how is it racist? Yes I know "blackface" in the traditional sense was a way of mocking black people, but this is so not the same thing.. Am I wrong?

I'm white, and would have no problem with a black person doing white face in such a situation, but I'd like to know what other people think about it.. I WOULD have a problem with someone doing blackface in order to make fun of someone, but I don't see why it's wrong to do it when you want to dress up as someone who's a different colour to you because you admire them. What about kids who want to dress up as their fave sporting hero, actor etc for Halloween.. What if a white kid wanted to be Blade, or a black kid wanted to be Wolverine? Sure they could do the costume without changing their skin colour, but should they HAVE to?

http://www.news.com.au/world/race-ro...-1226546979280

[bara]

The kid is in no way being racist. At least from my point of view.

[KabeRinnaul]

He's 10. He's probably never heard of blackface being used to mock black people.

Also, political correctness went overboard years ago. It happened when it was decided that "Politically Correct" was not politically correct. The preferred term is "Socially Aware".

[Greenday]

Doesn't seem like a big deal to me. He didn't do it with racist intent and didn't do it to mock the player.

[violiav]

I heard about something similar to this a while back. It was a white kid tat was assigned to do a report about MLK Jr where he had to dress up. So his parents theater grade makeup and went all out. Note that the kid admired MLK quite a bit. He got in trouble for being racist. Wtf society?

Don't forget about this back in the 90s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Danson#Controversy Offensive or no, Whoopi was a big part of the bit. It was her idea. The intent was not mean at all.

[Lillfilly]

No, I don't think this is racist at all. What about all the other forms or emulation; girls dressing like a boy pop-star, cosplay, etc. Some of those fake tans look horribly racist! Heck, I remember in high school I was Zorro for Halloween, so I put on a fake mustache. Got hit on by a few girls too...

This actually reminds me of my live-action roleplaying games. Some locations ask that you clean-off your makeup before going off the site if you play certain races, like a black panther cat-kin (called Sarr) or a Dark Elf, since they worry the makeup (professional with prosthetics, hair coloring, in-period costuming, etc.) may be mistaken for black face. One location wants us to take-off any makeup and costuming before leaving site because it's afraid we'll bother the locals. I know one player who was black actually joked about the rule because he played a Stone elf, which is all white makeup, and asked 'I'm in whiteface, is there a law against that?' And yes, if you're a dark-colored person playing a black-skinned race, you need to use the makeup, otherwise it would be assumed you're just a dark-colored human. Same rule applies to players with beards still needing to wear big dwarf beards, otherwise they're just a human with a beard.

People need bigger things to whine about; this almost seems like they're more upset that, gasp, this white child loves a black celebrity so much that he wants to be black! Oh no, can't have that!

[siead_lietrathua]

what i find funny is that for little girls to get spray tanned up and dressed up to emulate their favourite pop starts like beyonce or nicki minaj doesn't even generate an eye blink anymore, but for a boy to do it for an athlete is omfg raaage.

the last time i saw a legit intentional blackface in media was black men in exaggerated black face mocking their own culture. (i think it's called "eat that watermelon", it's on youtube).

besides, blackface is ment to mock, not to actually emulate. if you're doing an imitation out of admiration... it's not blackface in any traditional sense.