With lots of celebrities being called out recently for the use of blackface, Twitter recently turned their attention to the use of whiteface.
More specifically, the movie White Chicks and whether it’s racist or not. As you can imagine, this has led to a heated debate on Twitter.
Keep reading to see where people stand on this important subject.
Over the past several weeks, some celebrities have been called out for their use of blackface.
This offensive practice is when a person (typically someone with white skin) paints their face and/or body darker to resemble a black person.
One of the first to be called out recently was Jimmy Fallon.
While working on Saturday Night Live in 2000, the late-night talk show host wore blackface for a skit of him impersonating Chris Rock.
Also in the clip was Darrell Hammond who played the then- Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? host Regis Philbin.
After the controversial clip was unearthed, Fallon apologized for his actions.
“In 2000, while on SNL, I made a terrible decision to do an impersonation of Chris Rock while in blackface. There is no excuse for this,” he wrote on Twitter.
“I am very sorry for making this unquestionably offensive decision and thank all of you for holding me accountable.”
While some accepted his apology, some thought that it wasn’t enough.
Pretty soon, the hashtag #JimmyFallonIsOverParty began trending.
Some also believed that Jimmy should have the same fate as Megyn Kelly who was who fired from NBC for her blackface comments.
Another celebrity who recently apologized for playing a character in blackface in the past is Jimmy Kimmel.
While working on The Man Show on Comedy Central, he performed a recurring skit that included him dressed in blackface as then-NBA star Karl Malone.
After facing criticism for his actions, Kimmel announced that he’s taking the summer off from his late-night talk show.
“I’m taking this summer off to spend even more time with my family,” Kimmel said on Thursday night from his at-home studio.
“There’s nothing wrong. I’m healthy, my family’s healthy, I just need a couple of months off.”
But not everyone agrees with the backlash against blackface.
Some critics on Twitter have pointed out that it’s unfair that “whiteface” is accepted in some movies and TV shows.
This soon led to a huge debate over whether the movie White Chicks is racist.
In the blockbuster comedy that starred the Wayans brothers, Shawn and Marlon, it centered around two black FBI agents who go undercover as white women.
They did so using extensive makeup and prosthetics.
But, like many movies that have not aged well , a lot of the racially-charged jokes and stereotypes in it would not fly today.
One of the first reactions to the debate over whether *White Chicks* is racist or not was shock.
People couldn’t believe that this subject would even require a debate.
That’s because they believe that there’s a big difference between someone wearing blackface and someone wearing whiteface.
It’s led to the question as to whether this is a double-standard.
“Furthermore, they weren’t acting as white girls, they were undercover, protecting a them from kidnap.White chicks portrays white people positively, rich, successful, worth protecting…Black face demonized black people, enforced stereotypes, was a constant reminder of inferiority,” added another .
One person pointed out that white people worked on the movie *White Chicks*:
In case you didn’t know, blackface began in the United States right after the Civil War.
White actors would darken their skin as a way to demean African American characters.
The biggest point made in the debate is that blackface has a violent history while whiteface doesn’t:
“White people don’t have a tradition of being dressed up as and mocked w/ negative stereotypes through blackface/minstrel shows. There’s no equivalence here – blackface has been used for 100s of years to damage on the basis of race, like the n-word. Whiteface isn’t even a word,” wrote this user.
This person stated that white people aren’t offended by the movie:
“I get the whole ‘double standards’ argument, but there’s history behind blackfacing it demonised POC after slavery was abolished and offends people still to this day. ‘Whitefacing’ doesn’t have the same effect at all regardless of whether it’s comedy or not it’s still racist,” they added.
Finally, the debate led to the question over whether the movie should be cancelled or not:
This user’s tweet got a swift reply from someone who pointed out that ” context matters .”
“Did black people enslave white people for hundreds of years? Do white people suffer under institutionalized racism at the hands of Black people? No.”
As it stands now, we’ll have to wait and see what happens with the film.
What’s your take on the debate?
Do you think White Chicks is racist? And do you think it should it be cancelled? Let us know in the comments below.
