Oh Halloween. A fun holiday where you’re usually allowed to creatively express yourself without any restrictions. Except of course if you want to dress up as a Black entertainer, or historical figure.
On Tuesday, NBC News host Megyn Kelly held a roundtable discussion where she literally seemed shocked that a university put a mandate on its students to refrain from dressing up in offensive costumes this year. Some of the warned against costumes included dressing up as a nun and a cowboy, just to name a few.
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But when dressing up as a Native American was mentioned, Kelly began to meltdown. “You can’t dress up as a Native American, that’s apparently been some rule for a long time,” she said. “It’s like, isn’t the whole purpose of Halloween, to dress up and pretend you’re something other than yourself?”
This is when I knew the topic of dressing up as a Black person would be challenged next.
A university targets ‘inappropriate & offensive’ costumes like cowboys, Native Americans, and nuns.“If you’re gonna dress like an idiot…then someone should say something to somebody. But you should still be allowed to dress like a moron,” @jacobsoboroff pic.twitter.com/ckQnosst3X
— Megyn Kelly TODAY (@MegynTODAY) October 23, 2018
After her guest, MSNBC correspondent Jacob Soboorff, mentioned that racist costumes deserve to be called out, Kelly went full rogue.
Megyn Kelly wonders what the big deal is about blackface pic.twitter.com/07yvYDuAYe— Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) October 23, 2018
“But what is racist because truly you do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on Blackface for Halloween, or a Black person who puts on white face for Halloween. Back when I was a kid, that was OK as long as you were dressing up as a character,” she said.
Soboroff, Melissa Rivers and even Jenna Bush, did their best to explain to Kelly why Blackface shouldn’t be stomached, but Kelly wasn’t done.
Kelly then brought up Real Housewives of New York cast member Luann de Lesseps, who dressed up in Blackface as Diana Ross for Halloween last year as her shining example of when people overreact.
De Lesseps has since apologized for her costume and denied using any material to make her skin darker–so this example is somewhat null and void and honestly I don’t see any semblance of Diana Ross when I look at that photo.
But what does exist are numerous photos of white college students dressing up as gang members and entertainers putting on their latest and greatest “thug” impersonation. It’s rare to see those same students honoring the rich legacy of Black people, to dress up as W.E.B. Du Bois or Ida B. Wells, or anyone who has contributed to American history as a Black person.
“I can’t believe the number of people we’re offending just by being normal people,” Kelly said at the close.
As far as Blackface is concerned and the historical context of why it’s offensive, the National Museum of African American History & Culture has a great exhibit which explains how the medium propelled negative stereotypes of Black life and culture. Kelly girl, please visit the museum or click the link. With all the technology that exists to educate and alleviate ignorance, it pains me that I still have to do this work for you.
To put it plain, when you lather up your white skin with Black or brown paint, you’re making a mockery of my struggle as a Black person living in present day America, and you damn sure are offending my ancestors. It’s no longer sufficient for Black people to know their history if other citizens who do not identify as Black refuse to take part in the same education.
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