Hat tip Campus Reform
Nancy Shurtz is a University of Oregon professor who wore blackface at a Halloween party at her home. Now she is under fire at UO, and a university investigation concluded that she violated university policies. Campus Reform has the report.
http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=8608
Blackface, of course, goes back to the early part of the 20th century when it was considered part of stage entertainment. Later it became considered offensive and mocking of black people. A few years ago, members of an Asian-American fraternity at UC Irvine made a video imittaing some rapper using blackface. It caused a firestorm on campus. The students and fraternity apologized profusely and even suspended itself for a year. I doubt the students even knew the history and significance of blackface. Lesson learned.
It appears that Ms. Shurtz was not acting out of bad intent or attempting to mock anyone. So my point is this: Are we really going to destroy this woman's career over this? I prefer to agree with the Florida A&M law professor in the above article.
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A friend of mine had a Halloween party some years ago, and two of her nieces showed up as witches, one in blackface, the other in whiteface. I mean, jet black -- not like any human skin, and the other bone white. Both of them are naturally a beautiful shade of dark brown. Both of them looked ugly as sin. Near the end of the party, they traded make-up, and their faces were a swirl of black and white. 'Nuff said on using blackface at a Halloween Party.
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