I know this is just a bunch of terrible kids but...

[Undertoad]

Yes: in modern day, anything even approximating that is secret racism, which many white people believe is the worst form of racism.

[Griff]

I'm more against open racism like um, blackface.

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Yes: in modern day, anything even approximating that is secret racism, which many white people believe is the worst form of racism.

In addition, there's secret blackface in which white people wear blackface covered by whiteface and it's really hard to detect. You have to scrutinize every white person you meet for telltale black or grayish "smudges" where they got sloppy and didn't adequately cover the blackface; or, the whiteface got disturbed. Don't even bother looking for signs of secret blackface in photos; however, 'cause they're all shopped.

[henry quirk]

"Let them eat gas, solar, wind, and nuclear."

Nah, they just need to learn to code (like laid-off Buzzfeed 'reporters').

[Undertoad]

And coal miners?

[Griff]

I'm against mining coal, but not coal miners.

Let them eat gas, solar, wind, and nuclear.

[Clodfobble]

Psh. Coding is an after-school extracurricular these days. All the soccer moms became coding moms. But they're late to the party--the next wave of workers will contain far too many coders and not nearly enough geriatric caretakers.

[Griff]

truth

To be fair, who wants to spend their days taking care of baby-boomers?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Yeah, those boomer whippersnappers are all whiney and shit.

[Clodfobble]

Meh... tell that to the young black kid who joked about how hot the white woman was in the 50s. Good thing no one ever got offended back then.

[fargon]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

Meh... tell that to the young black kid who joked about how hot the white woman was in the 50s. Good thing no one ever got offended back then.

I hope to think that we have evolved beyond that.

[Clodfobble]

We haven't. The power has just shifted a little.

[Undertoad]

What's next? Oh you'll never guess!

Mary Poppins branded racist by US academic in 'blackface' row over scene where she gets covered in soot

I haven't linked to the paywalled NYT article where they back this notion up via vague references from the books.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

I haven't linked to the paywalled NYT article where they back this notion up via vague references from the books.

It's only paywalled if you've hit your monthly limit.

It does refer to a scene in the original Mary Poppins movie where the soot-covered chimney sweeps are mistaken for hottentots by the Admiral, so the connection between soot-covered faces and blackface is explicitly made in the film. But it is made by the crazy guy who fires cannons from the roof of the house he thinks is a ship, so make of that what you will.

It spends more time on some interesting backstory about the character "Hyacinth Macaw" referred to in the recent Mary Poppins Returns movie. A fairly explicitly (not necessarily intentionally, but at least a strong example of casual racism of the era) racist character (it's early in the month, see the article for details) from the original books was rewritten to be a bird, a hyacinth macaw. A character named Hyacinth Macaw is referred to in the new movie, a human again, nude except for feathers and a leaf, but now a wealthy widow.

It was an interesting article. Not great, but it shines next to most of the articles criticizing it.

[Undertoad]

so the connection between soot-covered faces and blackface is explicitly made

Was the explicit connection made to... "white entertainers appearing as black to make comedy routines funnier because it's common knowledge blacks are buffoons"?

Or is it now actually racist for someone to have soot on their face and be mistaken for a black person?

Does any of this bullshit help race relations? Expanding the definition of blackface to everything darkening, that's going to solve race?

No, it makes white Times readers feel better about themselves. That's all it does.