This week’s Poll question: Is “Blackface” appropriate?
Nov 30
2009
Costumes are a long and established institution at festivals, but is it possible to go too far?
Is it possible that some costumes, deliberately or innocently, might come across as insensitive or outright racist? If you were a person of colour, or paddled with someone of colour, how would you feel about this costume?
What do you think? I encourage you to take a second and respond to our poll, which you’ll find on the right side of your screen.
(For more context, see McLeans.ca and The Globe & Mail and, also recently, The Guardian reporting on an Australian event and the involvement of Harry Connick Jr.)
RESULTS
No, it’s offensive: 23 votes
No, it’s insensitive: 15 votes
Yes, it’s harmless: 10 votes
Tags: Amp, blackface, Costumes, Dragon, Dragon Boat, dragon boat costumes, dragon boat festivals, Festivals, Globe, Globe Mail, Guardian, Harry Connick, Harry Connick Jr, Mail, Mcleans, Poll, Poll Question, racism, Racist, S Poll
Seems to my eyes that a similar picture, ( blackface as you call it ) was featured back in Sept 09 ( praying to the dragon boat Gods ) I guess it wasn\\\\\\\’t an issue then??? I have a few friends \\\\\\\’of colour\\\\\\\’ who think the costume was well done. Come on, find something else to get behind that actually means something.
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This man is using this web site for a personal vendeta. This is wrong in so many ways, not to mention it spoils the integrity of the web site. Get a life
Does he have permission to post the pictures of these people??
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I believe the question is a valid one, but have not expressed an opinion one way or the other, and won’t until the poll ends on Sunday, so I’m unclear where he found a “vendetta,” but Dave’s entitled to his opinion and I am happy to publish it on his behalf.
Tell us, Dave, if you believe that McLeans and the Globe & Mail were “on a personal vendetta” when they published their stories a few weeks back, and included photographs?
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