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[spindashing]

same thing with an old thread here about a show called "Your Face Sounds Familiar" where a white blonde girl had to do a stevie wonder impression. how can your face sounds familiar if your stevie wonder is white and blonde? women doing male impression and men doing female impression are ok but white/black are no-no?

She did not need to paint her face to do the impression.

Women doing male impressions and males doing female impressions is different than whites dressing up as ridiculous portrayal of blacks, which has a troubled history behind it.

Just because it, in the minds of some people, has a rougher history in the US does not mean it is "okay" in other parts of the world.

Edit: On a tangent, White Chicks is a fucking dumb movie. You are allowed to be offended by its portrayals. But to equate it to blackface is laughable.

 

[DUFFMCWALIN]

I STILL don't see how (some) Europeans can defend this practice. Yes, blackface is a worldwide thing, not just an American thing. Yes, it is racist and offensive! Yes, everyone, including European institutions are calling you out on it! Why is it a big deal to end old, racist traditions? These threads always bring bans because it seems that no one can fucking learn.

 

[Forkball]

At least now I've got my Halloween costume sorted this year.

I've dressed in blackface before. Me and my friends have a dark sense of humour.

 

[freeofgreed]

o my and now he is banned too, this thread is a mine field.

Question moderation in threads is a bannable offense. This is nothing new. If you you have a problem with mod decision you're suppose to PM one.

 

[massoluk]

I used the toothpaste in the middle until they rebranded them (right) while I was in primary school.

 

[Caronte]

I didn't know this was a thing. In Spain it is only used to dress up as the three magic Kings (one of them is black) and it's not meant to be offensive.

 

[Randomizer]

A country with one of the worst colonial records in Africa can't really claim ignorance when it comes to racism against Black people.

 

[perkyz]

And the actual Flemish only live in about half of Flanders. The other half are Brabantians and Limburgians, their provinces span two countries (Belgium and The Netherlands) so they are divided by a state border.

I'm a Dutch speaking Belgian, and I would never identify myself as Flemish.

What? You're being ironic right?

 

[Oersted]

She did not need to paint her face to do the impression.

Women doing male impressions and males doing female impressions is different than whites dressing up as ridiculous portrayal of blacks, which has a troubled history behind it.

Just because it all may have a rougher history in the US does not mean it is "okay" in other parts of the world.

Edit: On a tangent, White Chicks is a fucking dumb movie. You are allowed to be offended by its portrayals. But to equate it to blackface is laughable.

Belgium has a quite "rough" history with Africa. Very "rough". The lack of awareness and sensivity displayed in this thread makes it look even worse.

 

[CloudWolf]

I always found it odd that some Belgians are weirdly proud of the Scramble for Africa. I mean, up until last year the National Museum for Central Africa showed stuff like Belgium Brings Civilization to Congo and The Leopard Man. Both highly offensive statues that were considered national treasures. When the museum got to their senses last year and tried to remove them, there was an outcry from some of Belgium's leading historians.

At least we Dutch acknowledge that we did a lot of fucked up stuff in the colonialism era and don't like to be reminded of it, but the Belgians seem to take pride in their time as a colonial power.

 

[spindashing]

Belgium has a quite "rough" history with Africa. Very "rough". The lack of awareness and sensivity displayed in this thread makes it look even worse.

I tried not to compare all too much with the word "may" but that was not the correct way of doing things. You are right, my apologies.

 

[perkyz]

A country with one of the worst colonial records in Africa can't really claim ignorance when it comes to racism against Black people.

The colony was a private posession of the ruler and a lot of the belgian people did not know the atrocities that were going on there. The brutalities were done by a small rich elite who wanted to gain a lot of money. Like in the other colonies. Every colonial country has their share of atrocities. France, Britain, spain, portugal...

Personally, I think this tradition should fade away gradually. In the netherlands they started using yellow/pink/blue/.. faces aswell so the connection with the 'blackface' will be lost even more. And then eventually maybe noone has to paint their face black anymore... The problem is that very few people in belgium see this is an issue - even most black people just join the holiday. It's just about making kids up to 7 years very happy. Older people don't care.

Ok, this is ignorance. And I agree that it is bad because people don't care. But I very much disagree if people call Belgium a little racist shithole in europe. Because I hardly believe there is any country in which the society is so much evolved that they are all open-minded, self criticising and intellectually developed people. That just doesn't exist, it's an utopia. People are ignorant assholes all over the world. Like in the USA, where police officers are eager to shoot at black people. This would be unthinkable in belgium, and I believe the racism in USA is still at a much worse level than the ignorance of the belgians.

Belgium also tries to be progressive in a lot of ways in the world. Gay marriage, abortion, euthanasia laws... I hope we can also become one of the first countries where there is no ignorant racism anymore.

 

[Dilly]

I always found it odd that some Belgians are weirdly proud of the Scramble for Africa. I mean, up until last year the National Museum for Central Africa showed stuff like Belgium Brings Civilization to Congo and The Leopard Man. Both highly offensive statues that were considered national treasures. When the museum got to their senses last year and tried to remove them, there was an outcry from some of Belgium's leading historians.

At least we Dutch acknowledge that we did a lot of fucked up stuff in the colonialism era and don't like to be reminded of it, but the Belgians seem to take pride in their time as a colonial power.

I don't see what the problem is with The Leopard Man in a museum that adds context to the statue. These things are there to remind us what it used to be back then, I find it a slippery slope just to put them away because it has historical relevance.

 

[freeofgreed]

The colony was a private posession of the ruler and a lot of the belgian people did not know the atrocities that were going on there. The brutalities were done by a small rich elite who wanted to gain a lot of money. Like in the other colonies. Every colonial country has their share of atrocities. France, Britain, spain, portugal...

Personally, I think this tradition should fade away gradually. In the netherlands they started using yellow/pink/blue/.. faces aswell so the connection with the 'blackface' will be lost even more. And then eventually maybe noone has to paint their face black anymore... The problem is that very few people in belgium see this is an issue - even most black people just join the holiday. It's just about making kids up to 7 years very happy. Older people don't care.

Ok, this is ignorance. And I agree that it is bad because people don't care. But I very much disagree if people call Belgium a little racist shithole in europe. Because I hardly believe there is any country in which the society is so much evolved that they are all open-minded, self criticising and intellectually developed people. That just doesn't exist, it's an utopia. People are ignorant assholes all over the world. Like in the USA, where police officers are eager to shoot at black people. This would be unthinkable in belgium, and I believe the racism in USA is still at a much worse level than the ignorance of the belgians.

Belgium also tries to be progressive in a lot of ways in the world. Gay marriage, abortion, euthanasia laws... I hope we can also become one of the first countries where there is no ignorant racism anymore.

Just because other countries are racist as well doesn't excuse Belgium for being racist. Would you be fine is your PM said "well were not the poorest country in the world so let's not bother trying to grow our economy".

This thread is about racism in Belgium, if you want to talk about racism in the USA go do it in any of the other 12 threads currently on the OT. I don't think neogaf is ignorant to racism in the US so bringing it up here is moot.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

o my and now he is banned too, this thread is a mine field.

Minefields are generally not clearly labeled

Some people can't help themselves though. Maybe there's sexual release that comes from doing blackface since some people seem so determined to defend it

 

[SuperSah]

At least now I've got my Halloween costume sorted this year.

Spoiler

I've dressed in blackface before. Me and my friends have a dark sense of humour.

See ya.