News — White Woman

 A white woman observes a Black man sitting with two white children and thinks they’re in danger. She takes their picture and threatens to call 9-1-1. Will other people think that’s a good idea?

Black Twitter is sorely upset about a viral TikTok video in which a White woman is seen peeling off a Black prosthesis that made her resemble South Africa’s Nomcebo of ‘Jerusalema’ fame. Many social media users claim this is wrong on all levels.

The entire music show on a Bulgarian TV called Kato 2 Kapki Voda has people dressing up and transforming themselves into various artistes and then go on stage to perform their music. Now, this is an extreme form of any musical show that I have seen.

In their defense, the contestants do transform into Black artistes only. On their Instagram page, one can see the host of impersonations from Justin Timberlake, Dua Lipa to Britney Spears and Fran Sinatra.

Still, it is 2021 and the world is fighting to get back on its feet as it fights the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Why would anyone think a Blackface or an entire transformation into another race for ratings on a TV is right?

It is worrying that the producers of this TV show still thought it was okay to keep on filming such insensitive content for public consumption.

The list of impersonations goes on and on and the show’s producers have apologized on TikTok but Black Twitter is angered by it and the comments tell it all.

One Twitter user said, “like this is genuine entertainment for them? It is disgusting.”

Another said, “This is so disgusting, we already know you want to be us but to have to go to that extent shiish that’s some deep mental or insecurity issues right there. And for everyone else in the crowd dancing must be some serious idiots. In fact, this is hilarious.”

“This happens a lot throughout Europe sadly. I lived in Portugal and watched a lot of singing or entertainment shows where they would do this. Unfortunately, racism and things like the black face do not sit the same way it does in North America,” a Twitter user said.

Some were of the view that organizers should let people who already have that skin tone take on such performances. “Like why not just hire black performers instead of blowing money and putting the person/ production at risk for blackfacing in 2021,” a Twitter user wrote.

Blackface grew out of Minstrel shows starting in the 1830s, according to a brief on the subject on BET. The act involved White actors darkening their faces with shoe polish or greasepaint, painting exaggerated red lips with makeup, and acting out stereotypically dumb, foolish, or dangerous Black characters – that is the “happy darky on the plantation” or the “dandified coon”. The larger purpose of these shows was to entertain white slave owners, who were humored by acts mocking slaves and free Blacks during the 19th century.

From the small stage, blackface made its way to the big screen where some performers like Bert Williams, Al Jolson, and Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, who created “Amos N’ Andy” made it widely popular. These White men also performed in “dialect” or ‘African American English’.

Minstrelsy was at its height between 1830 and 1890. Even in the late 19th century when black artists were finally allowed to perform publicly, they had to wear blackface no matter their hue and had to reenact stereotypes of their time (some did find ways to subvert this).

Blackface only went out of vogue during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. But by then, it had already caught wind around the world, especially in many Asian and European countries where actors still put on the face to perform.

In the U.S., wearing blackface is almost sacrilege. It is met with great criticism because it hearkens to a painful past of slavery, segregation – Jim Crow, and discrimination for Black people. It reinforces stereotypes about Black people that are not true.

White college students in the U.S. are especially warned to not wear blackface on occasions like Halloween.

After the widely publicized video of a white woman falsely accusing a Black teenager of stealing her iPhone, went viral, the Manhattan District Attorney office is reportedly “thoroughly investigating” the incident. According to CNN, the white woman who is seen on video as the aggressor is claiming she was the one who was assaulted, and, after her rambling account, says she is willing to speak to police, however, has not done so as of yet.

Jazz musician Keyon Harrold posted the video clip of the incident on his Instagram account. Harrold and his son are now being represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who posted a message on Twitter calling for the district attorney to bring charges against the unnamed white woman.

“As this year of racial awareness is drawing to a close, it’s deeply troubling that incidents like this one, in which a Black child is viewed as and treated like a criminal, continue to happen. Compounding the injustice, the hotel manager defaulted to calling on 14-year-old Keyon to prove his innocence, documenting that we have two justice systems in America and that Black people are treated as guilty until proven innocent. We strongly urge Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. to bring assault and battery charges against this woman to send the message that hateful, racially motivated behavior is unacceptable. This is what it will take to drive change. We also call for a civil rights investigation into the Arlo Hotel for its implicit bias in its treatment of Keyon.”

The New York Police Department told CNN that a complaint about harassment at the Arlo SoHo hotel has been filed. They stated that after viewing a surveillance video of the incident at Arlo SoHo Hotel, investigators are prepared to consider charging the white woman with assault and possibly grand larceny or attempted robbery, according to Rodney Harrison, chief of detectives for the NYPD.

CNN reported that the white woman, who says she is 22, spoke to them by phone and has disputed Harrold’s description of what took place. She claimed that she requested to see the surveillance video from hotel staff to try to figure out who took her phone, which, by the way, was left in an Uber returned to her shortly after this incident.

She then claims she approached someone else in the hotel lobby to “empty their pocket,” before she falsely accused Keyon Harrold Jr. “That’s when everything got a little bit more serious,” the woman said referring to the interaction.

The unnamed white woman claims she is willing to speak to investigators but has yet to do so. She stated she had evidence to present but when asked to provide it, she didn’t respond to numerous follow-up calls.