Source: Matthew D White / Getty
There’s a thin line between paying homage and being racist when it comes to Halloween costumes.
We’ve seen the worst of the worst when it comes to non-Black people trying to impersonate Black people for Halloween (as well as the other 364 days of the year for that matter). And what’s worse is that some Wypipo still can’t grasp the concept that it is racist AF to rock blackface, regardless of who, what, when, where or how it’s done. Take news anchor Megyn Kelly for example.
After the ignorant remarks she made on the Today Show about Blackface last year, she was dropped by her CAA talent agency and NBC News chair Andy Lack condemned her racially insensitive comments during a town hall meeting with staffers on Wednesday morning.
All the backlash comes from Kelly saying on her Today segment, “What is racist? You get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on black face on Halloween, or a black person that puts on white face for Halloween. It was okay when I was a kid as long as you were dressing like a character.”
Not only did White America not let that slide, but prominent Black folks in Megyn’s field, like Al Roker and Wendy Williams, expressed their disdain for Kelly’s remarks. Wendy said on her show, “Excuse me. This is such a basic thing for such an educated woman to know. She was lying.It’s shocking when it comes from such an educated woman with such a prime spot.”
Megyn’s collegue, Al Roker said of the incident, “The fact is, she owes a bigger apology to folks of color around the county. This is a history, going back to the 1830s [with] minstrel shows. To demean and denigrate a race wasn’t right. I’m old enough to have lived through Amos ‘n’ Andy where you had white people in blackface playing two black characters just magnifying the stereotypes about black people. And that’s what the big problem is. … No good comes from it. It’s just not right.”
https://twitter.com/MegynTODAY/status/1055084273420722176
But believe it or not Ms. Kelly, there are ways to honor Black culture without being racist and insensitive. Four White girls have gone viral with their “Cardi B & Migos” inspired Halloween costumes — no Black face involved.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BoA2aZLAb6u/?utm_source=ig_embed
And thanks to the bold and wise Ms. Amanda Seales, we have concrete examples of how to show love to Black folks and the culture without crossing the line of cultural appropriation or racial taunting.
Hit the flip to see how it’s really done. Take it away Amanda…..
Here’s How Non-Black People Can Show Love To Black Culture On Halloween The Right Way was originally published on globalgrind.com
