Remember Dharmendra in Razia Sultan playing an Abyssinian slave to the queen? No? OK then, you must remember Mehmood singing hum kale hai to kya hua? Both featured blackface; a commonly used form of (undeniably racist) theatrical makeup back in the day. Most of us thought that the exaggerated red lips and black face paint had died a natural death but apparently it did not!
Mostly this was used by white actors playing coloured characters. The makeup would typically be accompanied by exaggerated acting that tied in with racial stereotypes.
The trend of blackface started in the US about 200 years ago and was meant to mock enslaved African Americans. Actors in travelling minstrel shows would feature white performers with black painted faces and ragged clothing playing characters that were usually portrayed as ignorant, cowardly, lazy, lascivious and so on.
This window display at a Prada store in New York City prompted outrage. In a statement, Prada said that it "abhors racist imagery," and proceeded to pull the merchandise.
The luxury brand Gucci came out with this $890 sweater (yes you read that right; 890 dollars or roughly Rs. 63,000). The balaclava sweater has a pull-up neckline that covers the lower half of the face and has a cutout for the lips.
Gucci faced a flood of online criticism for its tone-deaf product. Fifty Cent expressed his displeasure in no uncertain terms by setting alight a Gucci tee and posting the video on Instagram.
Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele said in a statement that the way that the jumper “evoked a racist imagery” caused him the “greatest grief”. He also went on to explain that this was meant to be a tribute to Leigh Bowery and a “hymn to freedom”. The brand also removed the sweater from its stores.
The singer is in a controversy for a pair of shoes created by the line that bears her name. A pair of black mules featured big eyes, a triangular nose and pronounced red lips and they were slammed as ‘racist’.
The shoes were pulled out of online stores following a backlash that termed these shoes ‘racist’. The statement issued said that the shoes were meant to be a “nod to modern art and surrealism,”
A lot of people think that apologising isn’t enough. “Ignorance is Never A fashion statement! Apology NOT accepted,” said one tweet. There is another view that thinks it’s is something of an overreaction to call this racism. There is a similar beige shoe; is that racist as well?
One Twitter user asked this: “Are we as black people too sensitive and petty? I'm not really sure what is wrong with the shoe until someone makes it a problem. The beige shoe has a face, yes. So why not a black shoe? Why is the black shoe the only big issue? Is it the red lips? Is it the nose??” She has a point.
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