Twitch Punishes White Apex Legends Cosplayer Who Painted Her Face Black (read Staff Post before posting)

[StereoVSN]

My girlfriend is from an eastern European country. She told me she would expect the people in her country to not understand why blackface is bad if asked, but that was BECAUSE racism is so ingrained there that they don't see a hugely racist action as problematic.

This is the root of why people "don't understand", not because they don't understand racism, but because they don't see the problem with racism.

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This is the main point here I think. "Casual Racism" (for the lack of better term) is widespread in Eastern Europe. People there use racist rhetoric all the time but they themselves *surprise* don't find it offensive (since it's not directed at them) and are very nonchalant about it.

It's very similar with anti-Semitism and some measure of support for neo-nazism/fascism. I do know folks that recently came from over there (Russia, Ukraine, Belorus) and yeah, racism is very much a thing still there at a level where people don't even see it as being quite wrong (at least regarding some bad terminology, concept of blackface and so on).

 

[Osiris397]

Because a black person telling them it's wrong doesn't mean shit to them and a white person telling them its wrong doesn't count because it's based on the feelings of black folks.

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...So essentially you also understand that they're fucked in the brain, yes?
(EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS THIS a lot of people are unwilling to admit or accept it)

 

[The Adder]

...So essentially you also understand that they're fucked in the brain, yes?
(EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS THIS a lot of people are unwilling to admit or accept it)

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Preaching to the choir.

 

[BakedTanooki]

Damn, this is the first time I've ever heard about the blackface thing.

Reminds me of the time when I watched Pacific Thunder and years later my friend told me how Robert Downey Jr. was the black guy, lol.
I was blown away.

 

[CaviarMeths]

You know the funniest thing about this "I'm not American, so can someone please explain what the issue is here" is that you Europeans who do this shit obviously know what blackface is and why it's offensive if you know enough to identify it as an "American" thing.

But yeah, there are precisely zero places on earth or among the stars where blackface isn't demeaning and offensive to black people. What you meant to say was "I've never met a black person before, so it has never crossed my mind that my mockery of them is offensive. I've lived decades without ever having my racially homogeneous culture confronted or challenged in any way and it's affected my ability to understand why blatant racism is racist." And if you do know a black person who is pretending to be OK with blackface because they just want to go about their day without being hassled in your 99% white country, then really just shame on you.

 

[giraffereyn]

I don't know why so many people try to argue that intent matters. Sorry that I don't care about whatever the molecules in your brain organized into a stupid thing.

 

[kennyamr]

She's just cosplaying. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Trice]

My country has a show where you dress up and imitate famous singers and if you get a black one, you get a blackface. Weird stuff.

We're like 99% white so it's deemed normal.

 

[Hucast]

I think she is trying to capture the beauty of the skin color(as is obvious because she likes the character) instead of mocking. Having said that i'm not familiar with the sensitivities but having just shown this to some black friends they had no problem with it either.

 

[TimFL]

This topic is literally the first time I've heard of and educated myself about the term blackface (european here). I mean, I see why it is considered racist in the US, but that doesn't mean the whole world knows about it so the "she should've educated herself" posts are mind boggling to me (like I've seen people paint their skin here during halloween/carnival or whatever you call it and I'm pretty sure it had no racist intend).
It was pretty ignorant of her to keep reposting the pictures though, after she was banned and told it's not okay. Probably only made her matter worse in terms of getting unbanned from twitch.

 

[severianb]

She's just cosplaying. Nothing wrong with that.

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Yeah, because I'm American and educated in the horrific history of racism (and blackface) here, I understand why people should not do it.
HOWEVER, I am VERY uncomfortable with someone being punished and bashed for simply trying to recreate in cosplay a character they love. The whole point of cosplay is to dress up like something you are not. Add onto that fact that this is young non-American person who had no knowledge of the history and I find it even more disturbing that people STILL want to pile on.

 

[severianb]

My girlfriend is from an eastern European country. She told me she would expect the people in her country to not understand why blackface is bad if asked, but that was BECAUSE racism is so ingrained there that they don't see a hugely racist action as problematic.

This is the root of why people "don't understand", not because they don't understand racism, but because they don't see the problem with racism.

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Yep, some places just don't see racism as a problem, they embrace it. As another example, I was in China recently and they were being OPENLY racist against "black" people. Saying things like they would disown their children if the married one, they shouldn't be allowed in the country, etc... I was VERY confused, as there are almost ZERO people of African descent in China. Then I found out they were talking about Southeast Asians (Vietnamese, Cambodians, Filipinos....) it was quite eye-opening.

 

[Assenzio]

She clearly is racist scum that does not want to understand it but, what everybody else is saying about Black face outside of anglophone countries is true.

If somebody uses "nigga" to call me in any country I know they are racists, because it's somethig that is everywhere in media. It's made clear by the infinite amount of movies, videos and media in general.

But blackface is way too specific. I am black and even I had to have it explained to me by an american teacher. Usually the rule i live by is not overact for black face and explain to that person why is wrong, if they still carry on then I get angry about it call them out for what they really is.

 

[severianb]

This topic is literally the first time I've heard of and educated myself about the term blackface (european here).

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I'm not surprised. I'm grew up in the USA (in a very white part) and even *our* education system and community did a terrible job educating us on systematic racism and it's scope and the pain it has caused. It wasn't until much later in my life that I learned the history and impact of things like racism. People's first response to these incidents of blackface should be education, not anger, in my humble opinion. Most of it is simply ignorance and not ill-will.

 

[samthebreadman]

Wow, it's painful to see that photo. That's going to haunt her for the rest of her life.

 

[TimFL]

I'm not surprised. I'm grew up in the USA (in a very white part) and even *our* education system and community did a terrible job educating us on systematic racism and it's scope and the pain it has caused. It wasn't until much later in my life that I learned the history and impact of things like racism. People's first response to these incidents of blackface should be education, not anger, in my humble opinion. Most of it is simply ignorance and not ill-will.

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Worldwide history is so incredibly rich (and horrible) that it's simply impossible to know everything. I mean I know about the racist past in the US, but our education system is so dead set on telling us about the incredibly horrible past of our own country 24/7, so stuff like slaves or imperial territories feels incredibly glossed over (so we can get back to how bad the nazis were). I was never a good history student, so I potentially forgot or slept through most topics, but I'm pretty sure we never learned the term blackface. But hey, at least we have the internet to educate ourselves.

 

[Oligarchenemy]

Yeah, because I'm American and educated in the horrific history of racism (and blackface) here, I understand why people should not do it.
HOWEVER, I am VERY uncomfortable with someone being punished and bashed for simply trying to recreate in cosplay a character they love. The whole point of cosplay is to dress up like something you are not. Add onto that fact that this is young non-American person who had no knowledge of the history and I find it even more disturbing that people STILL want to pile on.

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Skin color is not a costume.

 

[SurrenderDorothy]

Yeah, because I'm American and educated in the horrific history of racism (and blackface) here, I understand why people should not do it.
HOWEVER, I am VERY uncomfortable with someone being punished and bashed for simply trying to recreate in cosplay a character they love. The whole point of cosplay is to dress up like something you are not. Add onto that fact that this is young non-American person who had no knowledge of the history and I find it even more disturbing that people STILL want to pile on.

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People should have the common sense to not paint their skin black.
Just wear the costume as is. This character is distinctive enough that Apex fans would know who it was.
I'm fine punishing them for this, it's happened far too many times and with every instance they cry about how they were ignorant. I'm sorry, but it's not enough.
Then we have many here and elsewhere handwaving it away, every time, without fail. There's no fixing this when others are constantly making excuses for it.
It's not our(black people) job to constantly educate and repeat, verbatim, that this is wrong.
So I say fuck them and their feelings, they're only "ignorant" of blackface because of the racism, not because they're alright with Black people, Native Americans, or whoever. Skin colour isn't a costume.

 

[TheRuralJuror]

People should have the common sense to not paint their skin black.
Just wear the costume as is. This character is distinctive enough that Apex fans would know who it was.
I'm fine punishing them for this, it's happened far too many times and with every instance they cry about how they were ignorant. I'm sorry, but it's not enough.
Then we have many here and elsewhere handwaving it away, every time, without fail. There's no fixing this when others are constantly making excuses for it.
It's not our(black people) job to constantly educate and repeat, verbatim, that this is wrong.
So I say fuck them and their feelings, they're only "ignorant" of blackface because of the racism, not because they're alright with Black people, Native Americans, or whoever. Skin colour isn't a costume.

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Pretty much. And that whole non-American thing is mostly disingenuous bullshit at this point.

 

[severianb]

Skin color is not a costume.

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Do you feel that way when black comedians constantly paint their skin white? There is a entire movie called "White Girls" where two black men transform themselves into white women. How do you feel about those costumes?

 

[M.J.]

Do you feel that way when black comedians constantly paint their skin white? There is a entire movie called "White Girls" where two black men transform themselves into white women. How do you feel about those costumes?

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CONSTANTLY... (i.e. a few isolated examples, of course you didnt list any). That sort of generalization doesn't help your argument.

I feel like White Chicks had very well done costumes and hilarious in a groundbreaking way.

Blackface is old, tired, and not funny.

If you can't see that the two aren't equal, you must be from that tiny island in the middle of Europe where racism is quantum locked.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

Do you feel that way when black comedians constantly paint their skin white? There is a entire movie called "White Girls" where two black men transform themselves into white women. How do you feel about those costumes?

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This post is so dishonest I can't even grasp how someone could type this bullshit.

 

[Ploid 6.0]

Do you feel that way when black comedians constantly paint their skin white? There is a entire movie called "White Girls" where two black men transform themselves into white women. How do you feel about those costumes?

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The reason why I feel it shouldn't be a costume, and others as well I'm sure, is that they wear it for fun, but without all of the downsides. Like if they made themself to look black and all of a sudden a cop pull them over, or if they have to go to find a job, or if they want an apartment, all they have to do is remove that paint and they get their Chance to _____ +5 buff (checks to make sure this is on the gaming side). They want to be black for the moment, but don't care to make lives of black people any better. They like our stuff, but not us (not all, just how it feel. "Stop kneeling, this is your job to kneel to this messed up anthem that was edited to take out the racist stuff, but we know the true meaning of it. And let's take attention away from the reason you want to kneel.").

A black or POC/minority painting their face whiteish isn't the same situation. They aren't punching down when they are having fun with it like the old blackface movies, or modern uses of black face, like college parties where they mock black people with the browning of the skin and such costumes. Then after what ever reason they did a bit of brighter skin face they have to take it off and deal with playing life at a greater difficulty.

Don't worry, this doesn't affect combat, just every other aspect of your life."

 

[Silky]

Do you feel that way when black comedians constantly paint their skin white? There is a entire movie called "White Girls" where two black men transform themselves into white women. How do you feel about those costumes?

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As if there's a history as prolific as blackface that could even be compared to face painting yourself as a white person

Here's something you could consider today: brushing your teeth

 

[Van Bur3n]

Do you feel that way when black comedians constantly paint their skin white? There is a entire movie called "White Girls" where two black men transform themselves into white women. How do you feel about those costumes?

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Will somebody think of the white people and the hundreds of years of racism, oppression, hatred and violence towards them.

 

[Deleted member 24907]

Do you feel that way when black comedians constantly paint their skin white? There is a entire movie called "White Girls" where two black men transform themselves into white women. How do you feel about those costumes?

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"Constantly"

*cites a 15 year old movie*

Blackface has decades of history and comes from a position of power, blackface is a form of comedy that punches down. "Whiteface" doesn't really exist. It has no historical context, it's not punch-down comedy, and there's only been one major piece of media that features it.

There's simply no equivalence to be made here, not even in a hypothetical way.

 

[WrenchNinja]

Do you feel that way when black comedians constantly paint their skin white? There is a entire movie called "White Girls" where two black men transform themselves into white women. How do you feel about those costumes?

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My favourite part of this post is that he couldn't even be bothered to get the movie name right

 

[TheRuralJuror]

"Constantly"

*cites a 15 year old movie*

Blackface has decades of history and comes from a position of power, blackface is a form of comedy that punches down. "Whiteface" doesn't really exist. It has no historical context, it's not punch-down comedy, and there's only been one major piece of media that features it.

There's simply no equivalence to be made here, not even in a hypothetical way.

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Shit, normally the transformation to being white in these cases is seen as a positive thing 9/10 times where that characters life improves for the better as a result of simply being white. Most the time when we see blackface, we get a "can I say the n word?" joke.

 

[Yukari]

I was thought that movie hire real woman play after disguise.

 

[Messi]

She doubled down attacking another cosplayer while also not understanding lighting and cameras. Twitch should have permanently banned her. Ignorant asshole.

 

[Shinku_King]

So wait she not American? So might not understand doing black face is a no, still she should know that's not a good thing I do feel a little offended when I see someone doing that, why couldn't she just wear the outfit to cosplay that character?

 

[Messi]

So wait she not American? So might not understand doing black face is a no, still she should know that's not a good thing I do feel a little offended when I see someone doing that, why couldn't she just wear the outfit to cosplay that character?

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She claimed to not know what racism is

 

[Dandy]

She claimed to not know what racism is

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Oh brother...

 

[UnNamed]

I am the only one who wonder why Era is not closed to American or even US citizen only?

Because this is the 10000 time a discussion born by people from different nations with different cultures, different story, differen approach to problems, different way of thinking turns to
whe are right so you're dismissing the problem, you are wrong
and
if you aren't with us, you are against us. Just black or white, no gray shade. Binary thinking.

It's becoming very annoying.

 

[Jade1962]

She doubled down attacking another cosplayer while also not understanding lighting and cameras. Twitch should have permanently banned her. Ignorant asshole.

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So she isn't ignorant or sorry? Who would of thought. Maybe more white knights can run in here to make excuses for racism.

I am the only one who wonder why Era is not closed to American or even US citizen only?

Because this is the 10000 time a discussion born by people from different nations with different cultures, different story, differen approach to problems, different way of thinking turns to
whe are right so you're dismissing the problem, you are wrong
and
if you aren't with us, you are against us. Just black or white, no gray shade. Binary thinking.

It's becoming very annoying.

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LOL.

 

[SurrenderDorothy]

nvm

 

[Messi]

I am the only one who wonder why Era is not closed to American or even US citizen only?

Because this is the 10000 time a discussion born by people from different nations with different cultures, different story, differen approach to problems, different way of thinking turns to
whe are right so you're dismissing the problem, you are wrong
and
if you aren't with us, you are against us. Just black or white, no gray shade. Binary thinking.

It's becoming very annoying.

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This is a take.

 

[ShyMel]

I am the only one who wonder why Era is not closed to American or even US citizen only?

Because this is the 10000 time a discussion born by people from different nations with different cultures, different story, differen approach to problems, different way of thinking turns to
whe are right so you're dismissing the problem, you are wrong
and
if you aren't with us, you are against us. Just black or white, no gray shade. Binary thinking.

It's becoming very annoying.

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There have been people in various countries, spanning several continents, over the years being called out for blackface. Knowing blackface is a bad thing to do is not new knowledge.

 

[Ploid 6.0]

She doubled down attacking another cosplayer while also not understanding lighting and cameras. Twitch should have permanently banned her. Ignorant asshole.

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Looks like she deleted it.

There were some gold in those responses. I don't think I saw a single person defend her.

 

[HAL-x9000]

Holy cow, this thread gets you banned fast!