Safety is paramount

Here is Brian in lab safety goggles and a lab coat. Alternatively, here is Brian in the 80s. This is a doodle for the label on a home brew beer that may or may not exist in the future.

Let's talk about Issues

Writing is hard. Not writing about ice cream recipes and anime photoshops; that's bush league. None of that stuff is particularly deep, and if you screw it up, the consequences are not particularly dire. When I try to write posts about more serious subject matter, I invariably start my sentences over time and time again, revising them completely before I even finish the thought. It is not a good way to form complete, coherent blog posts. This isn't a recent problem; I read posts I wrote years ago and cringe, though that might have as much to do with reading "teenage" writing as anything.

So yes, it's hard. However. I am getting so frustrated with leaving unfinished blogger drafts on my dashboard that I figure I might as well give it an actual shot. Just to make things interesting, I think I'll write about something that makes me extremely uncomfortable! Killer. With that warning, then, let's talk about blackface.

The particular case I have in mind is that of two Northwestern students photographed in blackface for a Halloween party this past weekend. If student paper headlines are an accurate barometer (not always the case), it has caused quite an uproar on campus.

One of the pictures in question.
Awful, sure. But I'm not sure blackface is their biggest problem.

I don't find blackface to be inherently racist. Like pretty much everything, it's all about context. If you paint your face black and put on a minstrel show, yes, that is incredibly racist and awful. But if you're dressing up as Serena Williams, in blackface, that's just... a costume. It wouldn't even make any sense if you weren't in blackface. Lacking any other information about the matter, I don't see how you could call the intent of those actions "racist."

This is better stated by the case of a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader who decided to be Lil' Wayne for Halloween. Blockquote ahoy!

"The term 'blackface' has a connotation stemming from minstrel shows in the 19th century where white people dressed as black people to embellish offensive stereotypes and racial insensitivity for comedic purposes. Was she painted black? Sure. Was she adhering to the racist undertone that "blackface" implies? I believe not..."

I find this comment remarkably sane and reasonable, especially for a blog comment post. So if blackface isn't inherently racist, is it inherently racially insensitive? Well, yeah. Yes it is. But making a questionable decision on a Halloween costume isn't exactly on par with a hate crime.