Blackface Is Extra Complicated Than Rose and Blanche’s Mud Masks

In June 2020, Hulu eliminated an episode of Golden Women the place Rose (performed by Betty White) and Blanche (performed by Rue McClanahan) awkwardly meet a Black household carrying mud masks. Within the episode, Dorothy’s son is engaged to a Black girl and the scene takes place when her household arrives to fulfill Dorothy’s household. Simply as they enter the Golden Women’ residence, Rose and Blanche barrel via the kitchen door carrying mud masks. There’s a clumsy silence, stuffed with fun observe that reveals Dorothy reacting in horror. Rose awkwardly tries to elucidate their actions by saying, “That is mud on our faces, we’re not likely Black!” The interplay is rapidly forgotten as Dorothy’s son enters the scene to be launched to the Black household and the core battle of the episode is revealed: an interracial marriage.

The removing of the episode has precipitated controversy and push again from inside the Black neighborhood with many calling the motion pointless. Echoing these Black voices, I agree this removing ignores actual points with the legacy of Blackface in our society. It additionally ignores the intent behind the joke.

Golden Women was a progressive present for its time. Whereas it was centered across the experiences of 4 white ladies, it additionally was inclusive of different narratives. Being based mostly in Miami, the present usually hosted tales that handled the struggles of Latinx immigrants. By way of Dorothy, a substitute instructor, we have been usually given glimpses right into a struggling academic system. With Rose’s work as a counselor, we regularly noticed the failings of the psychological well being care system. And Blanche? She was a sexual icon earlier than the women of Intercourse and the Metropolis marched onto HBO.

Blanche was unapologetically sexual. Then after all, we had Sophia, the rock of the group. Sophia was an immigrant girl who fled an undesirable marriage in Sicily and was not above organized felony habits to get what she wished. The present was about 4 ladies who have been lively characters with targets, complexities, and hopes.

The present addressed many tough subjects. In a time when the U.S. authorities was ignoring the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Golden Women addressed how this illness was inflicting social concern and anxiousness (season 5, episode 19). Was the present excellent? In no way. As Steven W. Thrasher addressed in his latest Vulture article, the present has its moments that may make 2020 audiences squirm of their seats. That being stated, the joke on the coronary heart of the controversy just isn’t problematic. To really perceive it, it should be checked out with context and, extra importantly, intent.

The joke is centered round a (temporary) miscommunication between two teams of individuals. Rose and Blanche don’t placed on the mud masks to mock or belittle Black individuals. They put them on as a part of a skincare regiment. They don’t burst into the room to shuck and jive in entrance of a Black household, they have been strolling via a door of their home. The joke can also be based mostly on the viewers’s information of Rose and Blanche. When the ladies enter the room carrying mud masks, we all know that Rose and Blanche are usually not doing a reenactment of a minstrel present. Viewers know the intent was innocent and we see them horrified on the scenario and miscommunication going down. The joke lands effectively as a result of it’s not a Blackface joke. To echo Rebecca Wanzo, “The joke is the scenario, not Black individuals.” That is what separates placing one thing darkish in your face from Blackface: intent.

The intent of Blackface is to degrade and humiliate Black individuals. As assistant professor of historical past at California State College San Bernardino, Marc A. Robinson acknowledged in a latest interview: “This make up [Blackface] was generally used as a part of comedic performances that caricatured Black individuals. On the floor degree then, the aim of Blackface was to visually signify Black individuals and entertain the principally white audiences. However, on a deeper degree, students argue that Blackface, as a part of these comedies or “Minstrel Exhibits,” strengthened beliefs of Black inferiority and white supremacy.”

Blackface has historic roots in Black terror and ache. Whereas minstrel reveals have been being carried out throughout the USA, Black individuals additionally lived below menace of organized violence from lynch mobs and unfair legal guidelines that stored them from succeeding socially and economically. Blackface doesn’t exist in a vacuum, it’s instantly linked to the intention of inflicting psychological ache upon Black individuals. That is the rationale for controversy round Blackface; it’s correlated with a horrific previous. Mud masks are usually not.

A mud masks inside itself just isn’t Blackface. Nevertheless, donning a mud masks after which utilizing that second to faux to be Black or mock Black individuals crosses the road into using a skincare remedy right into a racist motion that has roots in violence. The Golden Women didn’t use this joke to mock Black individuals. Eradicating the episode in hopes of avoiding criticism is problematic as a result of it creates a notion that Black persons are anti-mud masks and something resembling Blackface is offensive. The fact is, nonetheless, Black individuals can simply establish once we are being mocked versus when somebody is attempting to get easy pores and skin.

As firms attempt to think about align themselves with Black activists, they need to establish how their actions might be helpful to the Black neighborhood. The easiest way to do that? Hear. It might appear a radical thought, however the actuality is many Black individuals have repeatedly spoken on how firms can help their communities. From holding extra anti-racism coaching classes to hiring extra Black individuals, there are methods to tangibly help the Black neighborhood.

I perceive why Hulu eliminated this episode, from a public relations standpoint, and don’t imagine it was accomplished with the intent of trivializing Black individuals’s emotions in direction of Blackface. Nevertheless, how the motion was obtained ought to ship messages to firms. Particularly, it must be a dialog starter on how firms can do higher in listening and making adjustments that Black communities need and want from them.