Justin Trudeau

Actually I did mention that the show is not acceptable now! But it was acceptable when it was aired, and just because you SirChenjin choose to view it from today’s perspective, it doesn’t make all the people who watched it, including my lovely father, racists!

SirChenjin,
"Sounds like you mix with people who are similarly unaware of the racist connotations of blackface Magpie"

You are clearly missing the point I was making. There were NO racist connotations in that particular instance.
And for the record it was a public event so people of all races, colours, creeds, sexual orientation etc etc were present.

Actually - blackface is racist. Lots of things were ‘entertaining’ or ‘harmless’ back in the 60s and 70s but we nowadays we tend to be better educated and understand the historical, social or political context of these ‘harmless, funny’ issues.

Oh dear, what a lot of views, where to start?

I try to be PC wherever possible (I was a teacher, we’re all PC in teaching) but I do get a tad fed up at times where offence is taken, often on behalf of others, where non is meant. I think most people try to keep up, and we should only be upset when real racism occurs. My dear old Dad, bless him, loved The Black and White Minstrel Show, but he was the least racist person you could ever meet. You see he regarded the show as entertainment and he enjoyed the songs, but he would never have behaved in a racist way, he was far too dignified and caring. He wrote in my autograph book, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ Wise words. Of course that show isn’t acceptable now, but we shouldn’t look for problems and take offence where none is meant.

Rosina, thankfully that nonsense about the poppies seems to have disappeared. Of course we should honour our dead, soldiers from all over the Commonwealth who died in the two World Wars in the last century. Yes, they were black, they were brown,
they were white, they were Asian. We honour them all by wearing our poppies.

Sounds like you mix with people who are similarly unaware of the racist connotations of blackface Magpie

Eloethan - Renaming wasn’t just related to skin colour. My friend Giovanni arrived in the West Midlands from Italy about 50 years ago as a six year old.
He was enrolled in a Catholic primary a school where the nuns asserted “We can’t be doing with that, we’ll be calling you John!’ Such sensitivity!

We attended a fancy dress party a few years ago with one of my sons friends who had dressed up as Barack Obama - with dark brown makeup on his face.
There was never any thought of racism, the young man concerned was a massive fan of Obama and everything he stood for and had achieved in his time in office.
Obviously nobody else thought it was racist either - he won first prize!

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/09/19/world/brownface-blackface-yellowface-trnd/index.html

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface

Here’s a basic introduction to blackface and why it’s wrong. Disclaimer: other websites are available by doing a very quick google search www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/2014/10/29/7089591/why-is-blackface-offensive-halloween-costume

Why it is considered offensive for a person to imitate a person of another race by use of costume, make-up and wigs I really do not understand, (and please don't come on here again to tell me; I have read the previous posts).

The intention is not to ridicule or humiliate, but to emulate.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

It’s not really that hard, is it? Most people find it quite easy to understand that blacking up is not acceptable, nor is the term n*gger, paki, chinky, spaz, mong, crip and so on. If you’re not sure it’s easy enough to do a bit of research.

G47 - I did that, too. OH was horrified and convinced the PC police would arrive at any second to take me away for corrective therapy.

JenniferE - Wouldn't it be wonderful if everyone refused to take part in all this nonsense?

- yes!!

I agree Scribbles, I'm not white either. On a form, perhaps the last census?, there was a choice of colours white brown etc. to tick, helpfully with 'other' at the bottom. So I wrote in the box 'pale pinky/grey'.

These days there seems to be no end to the ways in which we can allegedly offend someone by our innocent actions.

It seems to me that every week we have a new rule or phrase to learn - something else we mustn't do or say in case the permanently outraged will be - well - outraged.

A while back we had 'cultural appropriation ' whereby we mustn't dare to put on a sombrero in case we offend one of Donald Trump's Mexican friends!!

Who comes up with supposed rules?

Why do we feel we have to abide by them?

Wouldn't it be wonderful if everyone refused to take part in all this nonsense?

Hopefully to a place where all white people better understand the racist history behind black face and know why it’s unacceptable (as most of us did 20 years ago)

I’m with you too, Rosina. I give up! Where are we going.......?

With all due respect - this is not about the white people though, is it.

I try to remember that I should refer to persons "of colour" rather than "black people". I don't want to deliberately offend anyone even though the world now seems to be populated by professional offence-seekers.

But why is it okay for me, as a pale skinned northern European to be called "white"? I'm not! I'm a blend of pinkish bits and a few brown freckles. If I wasn't busy getting on with my real life, I might start to feel offended.

Daft?
Yes. Just like all this focus on skin colour and how to describe it. Isn't it time everyone got past all that and concentrated on accepting each other for who we are?

The media's at fault for creating these frenzied articles to purposely get the racially motivated idiots on side.

My late husband went to sea and sailed with crews of all nationalities who many of them usually blacks used to skit at the whites and call them limey's.
To many Americans we're still classed as limey's, which includes the British people and not just sailors.
Am I bovvered ? Not at all !

Anyone who believes that we didn't know that darking up (and singing Day O) was wrong 20 years is either lying through their teeth or hiding their racist views behind faux ignorance. He's only 3 years younger than me, and we were pretty well appraised of the connotation of blacking up back then - in fact, we've all been well appraised for a lot longer than that.

If anyone still isn't aware of the historical context then reading some of the links posted upthread and some of the excellent posts by Eloethan and others should help to educate.

It seems to me that given the up coming election in Canada this is exactly the type of thing we will be seeing soon in this country.

Trashing the oppositions reputation is the name of the game.

We can choose to ignore it or not.

Having said that, he has promoted multiculturalism and women's rights in his cabinet since he was elected.

Counts for nothing?

One mistake is forgivable but today it is reported that as a young man he repeatedly “Blacked up”. That was the 1990s and he seemed to think it was funny then, a lot of people will have the opposite view and it will probably damage him.

I do remember having gravy browning put on and being dressed as a golly for a fancy dress in the 50s, was a long time ago

Lyndiloo You say "who cares?". Well, obviously you don't care but the people who are hurt by it care and those who are bothered that they are hurt by it care too.

It is your opinion that the complaints are not legitimate. It is my opinion that they are.

While black people in the US were being oppressed by white people and subjected to segregation in every area of public life, the entertainment industry reinforced the idea that they were intellectually and morally inferior to white people by creating distorted caricatures to portray them. In the UK, the Black and White Minstrel Show presented a similarly distorted picture.

The Penguin Encyclopaedia of Popular Music states that: that:

'Minstrelsy became more overtly racist after the Civil War: the image of the 'darky' as a comic buffoon insulated whites from having to deal with the reality of free black Americans . . . Conditions were terrible for black performers . . .'

Is it any surprise, with these sorts of historical associations, black people feel insulted and threatened when they see white people "blacking up".

You blithely say that you "would not give a toss" if a black man whitened his face". But white people's historical cultural associations do not include the subjugation and brutalisation of their race by another so a black man "whiting up" would be very unlikely to induce in a white man the same discomfort, fear and anger.