Here in Australia, in the year of our lord 2016, we find ourselves once again sitting ’round the campfire / internet, debating whether or not the racist act of donning blackface is racist.
The issue here, as various white people appear to take – *COUGH SPLUTTER STEVE PRICE COUGH* – is that if someone didn’t *mean* blackface to be racist, then why shouldn’t they paint their face black to dress up as their favourite POC, just like Opal star Alice Kunek and Kanye West?
So last night on The Project, the panellists invited BuzzFeed‘s indigenous affairs reporter Allan Clarke to share his views, and honest-to-god, the fact that Clarke didn’t flip the nearest table and start gesticulating wildly to the tune of ‘WHITE. PEOPLE. DON’T. GET. TO. DECIDE. WHAT. POC. DECIDE. IS. RACIST.’ is a testament to his character.
We speak to Allan Clarke about Alice Kunek’s photo featuring blackface & the backlash surrounding it #TheProjectTV
Posted by The Project on Monday, 22 February 2016
Honestly? It’s okay to not understand at first that blackface is racist. Just like it’s okay to not understand at first that asking women to not walk alone at night is victim blaming and that calling something ‘gay’ is homophobic. We’re all stupid, uneducated kids at once point, but JFC. Once you’ve been made aware that it is, adjust your actions, apologise if necessary, and then STOP DEFENDING YOUR SHITTY RACIST / MISOGYNISTIC / HOMOPHOBIC VIEWS. Okay?
Source / Image: The Project.
