10 possible reasons people are still wearing blackface on Halloween

A few weeks ago, I came across this awesome makeup tutorial on “How to do last minute blackface for Halloween” and joked with my husband like, “Do you think anyone will be wearing blackface this Halloween or do you think they’ve finally learned after the past like 10 years?”  (I say 10 years not to imply that this has only gone on for 10 years, but rather that it has only been around that many years that people could freely take and share photos of it from their cell phones).  Anyway, he hesitantly replied, “Nah…I don’t think we’ll be hearing about this again this year…at least not from any celebrities or public figures.”

Well, I was starting to believe that may be the case until this morning when I found this story on the news.  An Alabama teacher dresses in blackface for a Halloween party as part of a Kanye West costume and I am just blown away!

And then I see yet another article about a Florida teen wearing blackface as part of a Nikki Minaj costume!

Why?  Why do people still think this ok?  Why don’t people realize that this can hurt people? Why don’t they realize that their happily posed picture WILL end up on someone’s Facebook profile and in a matter of minutes, the whole world can see it and will hate you for it?  Why, Why Why???

So I had to think long and hard about this and came up with some ideas as to the reasons people are still wearing blackface on Halloween and I think I’ve got it.  Surely, it’s not the fact that they refuse to identify and acknowledge American history and the plight of African Americans.  {That would just be crazy). Instead, it’s probably one of these reasons:

1. They have not had access to a television, radio, smartphone, book, or another race ever in life. Subsequently, they may still be under the impression that whites only water fountains are still common.
2. They did hear and/or see the giant public outrage over blackface costumes and the urgency that people stop wearing these, but they thought it was just “opposites day.”
3. This might be true for ladies – they were doing their makeup in the dark or dim lighting and mistakenly grabbed their black bff’s foundation before heading to the party.
4. They are delusional and think they are actually wearing a makeup to match their own skin color.
5. Their black best friend told them it was still ok to wear that since they are a “brother from another mother” or “sister from another mister.”
6. They figured that no one at the party would own a smartphone or camera because those are so uncommon.
7. Since the world has gotten over this blunder from celebrities like Paula Dean, Julianne Hough, and Ted Danson, they figured the world would get over them too.
8. They are 100% committed to having the most identical Halloween costume, and they couldn’t possibly fathom altering it a bit to be less offensive.  (Although, these awesome celebrities have managed to rock phenomenal Halloween costumes of other races while fighting the urge to change their skin color).
9.  They thought they were attending an actual minstrel show.
10. Or maybe, they really do refuse to identify and acknowledge American history and the plight of African Americans and thus, they really don’t care who they offend.

That’s all I got, folks.  What are your thoughts on the reasons people are still wearing blackface on Halloween?