What makes people think this is OK?

[DU Ute]

Nice LDS couple, from a friend of a friend's blog.

[DU Ute]

Here's another one my buddy forwarded me. Apparently this is someone on the BYU Tennis team.



More here and here.

[Donuthole]

This:

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Here's another one my buddy forwarded me. Apparently this is someone on the BYU Tennis team.



More here and here.

It looks like you're free to post comments on the first blog. "K" already told the couple that they're racist. I would have used a different tactic. I would have told the girl that it was cool that she didn't have to use anything for her costume besides the black face makeup and the wig.

[DU Ute]

It looks like you're free to post comments on the first blog. "K" already told the couple that they're racist. I would have used a different tactic. I would have told the girl that it was cool that she didn't have to use anything for her costume besides the black face makeup and the wig.

K is my buddy's wife. She's the one that dug these up.

[wuapinmon]

Nice LDS couple, from a friend of a friend's blog.

They look like homeless Ferengi.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

K is my buddy's wife. She's the one that dug these up.

I just submitted my own post under your buddy's wife posts.

Here it is:

What a great costume- it looks like it only took a wig and Black Face makeup.

Next year, I'm going to deck the tanning cream on, buy a straw hat, an old ratty shirt and jeans and go as "Illegal Alien."

I'm not sure if I have the guts to pull off Black Face by itself. Maybe I could do the next best thing and I can just use the ratty shirt and jeans from Illegal Alien together with the makeup and go as "Darfur Refugee." Some people will think I'm trying to be Jim the Slave, but I'll just point out that jeans weren't widely available to slaves during Huck Finn's time.

[JohnnyLingo]

This further promotes the idea that Ute fans are oversensitive.

"Wah wah wah Max Hall said he hates me!"

"Wah wah wah some people dressed up as another race for Halloween!"

And BYU fans are the judgmental, self-righteous folk. Got it.

[jay santos]

Nice LDS couple, from a friend of a friend's blog.

Nice booty.

[Pheidippides]

This further promotes the idea that Ute fans are oversensitive.

"Wah wah wah Max Hall said he hates me!"

"Wah wah wah some people dressed up as another race for Halloween!"

And BYU fans are the judgmental, self-righteous folk. Got it.

You really do not see the problem with using blackface? Whether or not it is racist in terms of intent (and there may be argument there), it is generally accepted as offensive and in poor taste at best, and a good way to get shot/punched/fired/ridiculed/hated at worst.

I am asking this in all seriousness. It is very, very possible that the use of blackface as an absolutely unacceptable act (I think you'd be better off to show up at a party and drop a deuce on the host's living room floor, seriously) is not common knowledge in the state in which you live.

[jay santos]

At the kids school they do this wax museum thing every year where they choose a famous historical person or celebrity and dress up and the parents come and walk through like you're visiting a wax museum. Without fail at least a couple kids a year are doing the Al Jolsen black face thing dressed up as Michael Jordan or Mohammed Ali or whoever. It's one of the highlights of my year.

[UtahDan]

I would love to hear people who were raised in Utah or Idaho and then moved to a more diverse area chime in more. I know that when Super moved east, she had to lot to learn in terms of expressions and words that were offensive that it had never occurred to her before might be. There are just things you know not to say or do when you grow up around black people and culture, even in a mostly white suburb, that you just don't get in part of the west where you really don't know almost anyone who is black.

Thinks as simple as "cotton pickin" is not an expression you should use.

I have to wonder, and I suspect, that anyone who would don a black face costume is woefully ignorant of what black face is, means and how it is recieved by blacks. I have seen examples of this over and over from Utah friends and acquaintances. I really think it most cases it is ignorance and probably not their fault.

[jay santos]

You really do not see the problem with using blackface? Whether or not it is racist in terms of intent (and there may be argument there), it is generally accepted as offensive and in poor taste at best, and a good way to get shot/punched/fired/ridiculed/hated at worst.

I am asking this in all seriousness. It is very, very possible that the use of blackface as an absolutely unacceptable act (I think you'd be better off to show up at a party and drop a deuce on the host's living room floor, seriously) is not common knowledge in the state in which you live.

As a follow up, it should be noted that a malicious intent is not required for a racist act. If you do or say something unknowingly racist, it's still racist.

[UtahDan]

I am asking this in all seriousness. It is very, very possible that the use of blackface as an absolutely unacceptable act (I think you'd be better off to show up at a party and drop a deuce on the host's living room floor, seriously) is not common knowledge in the state in which you live.

I hacked a bit. I think we are saying the same thing.

[Pheidippides]

I would love to hear people who were raised in Utah or Idaho and them moved to a more diverse area chime in more. I know that when Super moved east, she had to lot to learn in terms of expressions and words that were offensive that it had never occurred to her before might be. There are just things you know not to say or do when you grow up around black people and culture, even in a mostly white suburb, that you just don't get in part of the west where you really don't know almost anyone who is black.

Thinks as simple as "cotton pickin" is not an expression you should use.

I have to wonder, and I suspect, that anyone who would don a black face costume is woefully ignorant of what black face is, means and is recieved by blacks. I have seen examples of this over and over from Utah friends and acquaintances. I really think it most cases it is ignorance and probably not their fault.

I have already chimed in, but this was my experience too. I had a lot of things I had to learn about interacting with (and being, from a religious standpoint) minority groups in America. It pretty much boils down to be nice and don't go out of your way to be a complete jerk. This is just one of those ways to be a complete jerk that many people don't understand. Ignorance is my call as well.