Nigel Farage thinks blackening of faces is ok. What do you think?

I saw a story i few days ago that nigel farage said its perfectly o for white people to black up their faces. He says its ok as political correctness has gone to far. I have put a link of an article with more details of what he said.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/nigel-farage-theres-nothing-wrong-with-white-people-blacking-up-9823608.html

The article mentions David Cameroon was pictured with Morris dancers with blacked up faces, which I think is also offensive and I can't believe the UK prime minister would do such a thing. However I don't know if he has made any comment on it so I'll just leave it at that.

But the fact Nigel Farage thinks blackening of the face is ok, in my opinion is so wrong. To be honest I don't know much about UKIP but from what I have observed they are of course anti-Europe and xenophobic. While before people could argue that nigel farage and Ukip were racist or not, it is comments by Farage like this that make me believe he is truly racist and that this is indisputable in my opinion.

I feel like he is basically going to bring back open and overt racism. By this I mean in the UK I feel racism is mainly very subtle and most cases hidden as people know its wrong but try to do it subtly to avoid being labelled racist. But now with comments like this from farage, he is basically going make racism seem like its ok and it is a norm.

What's your opinion of farage's comment?

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

indigobluesss

Is it really that big of a deal? To me it doesn't seem offensive at all...

Reply 2

Blinka

Original post by ontrack7

Should you avoid paining your hands green in case it's offensive to Kermit the Frog, or have we all just become a bunch of muppets discussing how offensive it can be to paint certain colours.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 3

Greenlaner

Original post by ontrack7

The article mentions David Cameroon was pictured with Morris dancers with blacked up faces, which I think is also offensive and I can't believe the UK prime minister would do such a thing. However I don't know if he has made any comment on it so I'll just leave it at that.

Why do you find it offensive? It's a very old folk tradition in parts of England, that doesn't even have anything to do with race.

Reply 4

AuldReekie123

No problem with it. It's an old tradition in Iran, the Netherlands and in England.

Reply 5

AuldReekie123

Original post by ontrack7

Well, he is in England. That is part of the culture of the country.

If you actually read up on the culture and history of it, it has nothing to do with black people.

Reply 6

Maid Marian

Lol, there's nothing wrong with that.

Reply 7

Snagprophet

What I find ridiculous is that minstrels and 'blackface' or whatever, that's not a part of this country or modern society, yet something that is, i.e. Morris dancing, gets penalised for doing nothing wrong. For whatever reason, the viewpoint which is less related to this country is made to overshadow something that is related to this country.

And even if everyone started wearing blackface to mock black people, it would still be unbalanced due to the attack on cultures for being different, i.e. Morris dancing and the Nordic Ice Princess (which a Pokemon was based off it and because it had a black face, they changed the face colour).

If anything, I find that if anyone was to wear blackface, it would be to mock the Guardian and the Independent rather than making people feel **** about themselves. People dressing up as black people for fancy dress, like what happened with the summer ball, that instantly becomes more amusing because some 'liberal' ponce will get upset and dressing up as a famous person has absolutely nothing to do with whatever minstrels and blackface was.

I don't get mad if people put white on their face. Therefore I expect equal treatment.

Reply 8

L i b

He referred to David Cameron meeting with Morris dancers, who wear black face paint. That is clearly fine. Pagan groups paint themselves black too, as they would have done at events last night to mark Hallowe'en. That's also clearly fine.

As with everything, it is the intent behind it and the context that matters.

Reply 9

Snagprophet

Original post by L i b

Also, what if new groups emerge that paint their face black? Will they be allowed this freedom or will the 'liberals' say 'no no it can only refer to minstrels and blackface which hasn't been in this country in for so long it may as well have never been'?

Reply 10

Chlorophile

Not entirely sure how tasteful it is but no, I don't think there's any huge problem with it as long as you don't go too far.

Reply 11

DErasmus

Original post by Chlorophile

Not entirely sure how tasteful it is but no, I don't think there's any huge problem with it as long as you don't go too far.

too far to the right?

Reply 12

Chlorophile

Original post by DErasmus

too far to the right?

Too far in the "genuinely racist" direction.

Reply 13

yo radical one

Morris dancing including that with blacked up faces is fine (perhaps a crime against taste and decency), but actual Blackface, as in what was used to demean Black people really isn't. The two are not the same.

Reply 14

DaeronTarygaen

Some African tribes wear white face paint what's the difference? you can tell if something is mocking black people or not, Morris dancers wearing black face paint isn't.

Reply 15

DaeronTarygaen

Here's a picture of the African tribe in White face. :biggrin:

I think we'll have to dig in the history of them wearing black facepaint, if it was done way before blackface became popular it's probably just a coincidence.

Reply 16

felamaslen

How does makeup oppress anyone, pray tell?

Morris dancers are already offensive enough anyway, I don't see how them blacking up is any worse.

Reply 17

lucaf

Depends on the context. Isn't the Morris dancer thing them something to do with coal mining or something? I don't see how that could be considered racist, it isnt remotely related to race.

Reply 18

Buxtonwater

UKIP are so xenophobic, I mean it's not like Nigel Farage is married to a german wife and worked in Europe, right?

Reply 19

Comus

Original post by ontrack7

Just a minor point but the morris dancers don't paint their faces in such a way in order to mock or even attempt to imitate black people (which certainly wouldn't be acceptable), instead it goes back to the time when morris dancers used to cover their faces in soot so as not be recognised - this was also a tactic used by political agitators.