Trick or treat, it’s Halloween — arguably one of the best holidays, because you can dress up and stuff your face with candy. But it's not just fun and games — it's also the time of year when blackface suddenly seems to be OK. Some people argue that their costume wouldn't work without it. So, we decided to test that theory:
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In the 19th century, blackface was a common American cultural practice that involved non-black performers darkening their skin with makeup and performing caricatures of black people.
And even though it's 2016, Halloween seems to make history repeat itself.
So, we had one white actor dress up as four iconic black celebrities…
...to see if four people could figure out who she was dressed as (without blackface).
She first dressed as Queen Bey in her "Flawless" video.
It might be a little hard to recognize the costume if you haven’t seen the video….
...or if you're not a part of the BeyHive. 🐝
So, we tried it again with Michael Jackson's "Thriller" outfit.
And yup, they all got it right on the first try.
The third costume was Prince's iconic “Purple Rain” outfit.
And of course, people got it on the first try once again.
And how could we forget my girl Tina Turner?
Even though people couldn't put their thumb on the right name, they still had an idea of who she was without blackface.
And even though some struggled to identify these costumes…
...they all agreed that blackface is never OK.
So why do people think blackface is OK for Halloween? Maybe it’s because they don’t understand the historical context behind it.
At the end of the day, though, if people can’t guess your costume, you either need to step up your costume game or you better get comfortable repeating “I’m TINA TURNER!” the whole night. 💁
