Blackface and Racism

When prejudice against the blacks was still very prevalent decades ago, minstrel shows were a form of entertainment for Americans.  These shows were stage performances that usually consisted of blackface, which was when white actors would paint themselves so they would resemble a black person.  Not only would they visually appear to be black, but they would over-emphasize their mannerisms and accent based on observations from actual black people, including slaves.  Their acting was dramatic to make a parody out of the black character they were portraying, but was considered entertaining and normal at the time.  Despite that, I find that it was really racist, and wouldn't be any less offensive if it was repeated in modern times.



Well... I found out that someone did do a modern blackface: Die Antwoord.  I had never heard of them before seeing this video, which was unsettling for me.  I found it pretty offensive, with the female rapper as a blackface but sporting animalistic eyes.  To me, this possibly symbolized how black people are not as 'developed' as the rest of us, and are more like animals.  Racism is not yet exterminated from society, so including blackface in something today like Die Antwoord did, especially in such an uncivilized manner, just isn't acceptable in my opinion.