Equal opportunity racism at UVa

[Toujours_Jolie]

I personally believe that any member of any race has the ability to be racist against an individual, or group of individuals, of another race. Whites can be racists, blacks can be racists, etc. However, I don't feel that this episode at UVa is as much about racism, as perhaps poor judgment. Considering the past incident, the young man most likely knew that his costume would evoke a passionately irate response from many of his peers. However, "black face" is offensive, not because it is a way to imitate blacks, but because it was used historically in minstrel shows as a way to exaggerate the features of blacks that were erroneously thought to be the most unattractive. As far as I know, there have been no events in American history where blacks dressed in white face as a way to degrade whites. There are certain things that are racist in one context, and benign in another. Every culture has sensitive spots, based on their history, that do not apply to another culture.

Was dressing in "white face" wrong? Yes. Was it an act of racism? No.