- Boo.
(laughing)
hi, y'all, it's Daysha
and I'm here to talk about Halloween,
one of my favorite times of the year
that also happens to be ruined by racist asshats
who think that they have the winning response
for why blackface is okay in 2016.
In the wise words of Kanye,
"You ain't got the answers and you never will."
- is meet me in the zoo in the morning at 9 o'clock.
- Yeah, with the rest of the monkeys?
- With the rest of the monkeys.
- Yeah, I'll bring my grandpa with me.
- I decided to play a game with my coworkers
to see if they can see why blackface is so unnecessary
in 2016 and 2017, 2018,
you know what?
Just forever.
I had a model come in and dress up
as four prominent black celebrities.
Given that the argument is
that we'd never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever
be able to know who these celebrities are
because the people wearing the costumes aren't black,
I actually wanted to see if that was true.
- I'm thinking this is like an early days Miley Cyrus.
(buzzer beeping)
- The plaid shirt looks like Al Borland
from Home Improvement?
(buzzer beeping)
- Looks like a nice blond hipster.
(buzzer beeping)
- Beyonce?
(bell chiming)
- Ooh, woo.
- Did I get it?
- Look at you, yeah.
- Woo.
- I think of Beyonce, I think of the leotards,
I think of like iconic stuff from her music videos.
- So, this was the outfit from her flawless video.
- Oh, I'm so bad.
- I'm not a big enough Beyonce fan.
That's my fault.
- What gave it away for you?
- This.
So, if this is her costume she needs to be
like this all day long.
- Oh, easy, Michael Jackson.
(bell chiming)
- Michael Jackson.
(bell chiming)
- How could that be anyone but Michael Jackson?
(bell chiming)
- I'm gonna say this is Michael Jackson,
although it also could be Eddie Murphy
from his rock.
(bell chiming)
- Sliding in for the win.
What gave it away for you?
- The jacket.
- [Blonde Woman] Well, it's an iconic outfit.
- [Curly] Oh, this one looks easy already.
- I mean, this is Prince. (bell chiming)
- Definitely Prince. (bell chiming)
- Prince. (bell chiming)
- So you would say Prince, final answer?
- Absolutely.
- Okay.
Prince.
(bell chiming)
(laughing)
What about this allowed you to get that it was Prince?
- The glasses, the hair, the outfit again.
- The pirate shirt, that's pretty classic Prince.
- Diana Ross.
(buzzer beeping)
- Dolly Parton maybe? (buzzer beeping)
- Does Diana Ross sing What's Love Got To Do With It?
- No.
- Okay.
- That might be your problem.
(laughing)
- Tina Turner?
(bell chiming)
- Tina.
- Tina?
- Woo.
- Tina who?
- Tina Turner. (bell chiming)
- Yeah. (bell chiming)
- There is only one Tina.
- Woo. Curly's the winner.
Winner, winner.
You get a beautiful skull for being a winner.
- Yay, you know I don't like bullshit like this,
take it back.
(laughing)
- So, the whole reason why I brought you here is that
it's Halloween season and it's very common
for people to want to dress up as iconic people
and iconic black people.
The issue is though, is that a lot of people
then feel justified in using blackface.
- Really?
- Yeah.
Why do you think some people feel so compelled
to use blackface even though they know it's offensive?
- It's funny, it's something I've never grown up with,
the thought of being an option.
- Exactly, right?
More people need to be raised like you.
- I think that people think that,
oh yeah, it's just my costume
and they don't realize like, the historical significance
of blackface and what it means.
- They've never had that done to them,
so they don't understand the gravity of the situation.
- I know this might feel like a strange question,
but did you ever feel like,
when we went through the pictures
that you needed blackface to understand
who these people were?
- No.
- So, you struggled with a few of them
and like, with those that you struggled with,
like, do you think that them being in blackface
would've helped you anymore?
(laughing)
- No, I think my lack of understanding pop culture
is a definite divider.
- These people aren't iconic for their race,
they're iconic for their hair,
they're iconic for their style,
they're iconic for their dance moves.
- The better your actual costume is,
the less you have to do anywhere else, right?
- The answer is not being like, ugh,
if only I was brown, they would've gotten it.
It's like no, then you would've offended a lot of people.
- You guys, 100, 100 percent, blackface is never okay.
It'll never be okay, it's not okay, it wasn't okay,
that's just how it is y'all.
- Curly is taking me to church with this sermon over here.
- Like, if people don't recognize it
from what you're wearing,
then it was probably just a bad costume.
- So, just to recap some of the major tips that were offered
as alternatives to blackface:
your look needs to be super duper iconic.
In the words of Claudia, if nobody knows who you are,
it's because your costume is shitty
and not because you needed blackface
for people to understand.
Tip number two:
Iconic actions and phrases are your friends
when done non-offensively, there's a line there, folks.
And tip number three:
it never hurts to just tell people who you are.
I mean, it just saves you a whole lot more controversy
than using blackface.
Just to be clear, blackface is not and will never
be something that's okay to do, ever.
There's so many more fun and creative ways
to honor your favorite black celebrities
without dehumanizing the entire race at the same time.
Real talk, actual blackness is magical
and you can't cheaply imitate something this magical.
So, with that,
have a happy and non-racist Halloween, everyone.
Don't do blackface, yay,
but for real, don't do it.
Just don't do it, you don't wanna be,
don't be the one, don't do it,
just don't do it.