As a black college student, there's always a fear that you'll run into someone in blackface at a Halloween event. Despite the numerous events where students have been expelled from universities and thrown out of Greek associations, people continue to do blackface boldly and proudly. Apparently, even Megyn Kelly believes there's nothing wrong with blackface.
Let's just clear this up.
Don't do blackface this Halloween.
Don't do blackface ever.
Don't even think about it.
Aside from the harsh repercussions you will probably face, blackface dates back to a period when lynching was normal and Black people were not considered valid members of society. While not diving too deep into a history lesson, blackface was a part of minstrel shows where White people depicted Black people in garish, unnatural ways. They had big, red lips and dressed to be slaves or performers like Jim Crow.
Blackface was used to spread the idea of the submissive Black person that would entertain you at any moment. They were meant to diminish Black people to a few uses, to serve or to entertain. Furthermore, Black people weren't even initially allowed to play themselves in plays and shows, so the racist intentions were clear.
When you do blackface, you're taking away the power of Black people to control their own culture. You're creating a joke out of a person or a tradition and spinning it into a garish, exaggerated version.
Megyn Kelly thought blackface was acceptable when she was younger because she reflects what many White people think as they're trying out costume ideas for the upcoming Halloween party. They think that as long as the costume is good and you can tell who the person they are trying to be is, it's perfectly fine. They think because they as a person do not believe they are racist, that this won't make them racist either. They think because none of their friends have told them it was wrong, it won't be.
Save yourself the worry and don't do it. Save yourself the risk of losing your job or other opportunities because you ignored all previous events of blackface. Save yourself from permanently alienating your Black friends from you because you decided to disregard the importance of their culture and the hundreds of years of struggle the Black community continues to go through.
Just. Don't. Do. It.
