Student groups face off on blackface

As most well-informed students are likely aware of by now, the Halloween party organized by VUSAC, SMCSU and UCLit was turned into a hotbed of controversy due to the inclusion of four students purportedly wearing blackface on the "best costume list." UofT was not the only university where blackface surfaced this Halloween. Two students at Illinois' Northwestern University were pictured on Facebook with their skin significantly darkened as part of a Halloween costume. This predictably sparked outrage amongst certain student groups and prompted student leaders to organize a public forum to address and debate the issue. The knowledge that this wasn't unique to UofT further demonstrates the necessity of public discussion. This is why I would encourage all those who have a strong opinion on the issue to attend the St. George campus town hall entitled "The Manifestation of Blackface at UofT" on November 10th, organized by UofT's Black Students' Association (BSA). It will surely be an educational and important discussion of modern race relations and the prevalence of racism in our mostly PC, positive-space minded society.

The costumes and the ensuing controversy have led to numerous engaging questions that rarely are addressed: What truly constitutes blackface makeup? Is it simply the darkening of one's skin or must there be a malicious sentiment behind the makeup to truly qualify as blackface? And finally, when does a Halloween costume make the leap from being somewhat taboo to down-right offensive?

I would hope that the town hall meeting organized by the Black Students' Association addresses these issues in a constructive manner, but I worry that the contentious costumes have split the debaters into two camps who have now reached an impasse. This is apparent if one takes a glance at the discussion section of the Facebook events page for the November 10th town hall which, at this point, is dangerously close to devolving into an immature exchange of curse words and name-calling as it drifts further and further from the relevant topic. The debate is at risk of concluding with neither party arriving at any concrete answers regarding the aforementioned questions.

First, there are a number of people (UofT students or otherwise) who believe that the costumes worn by the four St. Mike's students were not offensive and should not have been perceived in such a manner. A common argument presented by this group is that Halloween is a time when it is justifiable to poke fun at ethnic and racial groups so long as it is not done in a malicious manner. This is a flawed viewpoint. If a person expresses that they are offended by a particular act, and at the same time are able to produce legitimate grounds for why he or she deems the act to be offensive (which in this case there certainly are), then anybody who responds saying that the act was not meant to be offensive is clearly in the wrong. One cannot dictate what should and should not be perceived as offensive as it's completely subjective in nature. There were participants on the Torontoist comment section who claimed to be black and not insulted by the costume, but this does not make illegitimate the response of students who were offended.

This does not place the second group who were offended by the costumes, particularly the BSA and U.T.S.U., completely in the right. The reaction to the costumes was completely overblown and a more measured response would have been appropriate. To accuse the three student councils who organized the event of "affirming and supporting racist attitudes" is irresponsible. The decision to include the Jamaican bobsled team on the "best costumes list" may be characterized as a profound error in judgment and an exercise in ignorance, but any implicit racism in the choice was unintentional and should not be taken as evidence of any underlying racist attitudes present on the student councils.

Some have expressed shock that university students could be so ignorant to include blackface as part of their Halloween costume, but we still are university students and should be able to discuss and debate even something as sensitive as race in a civilized manner.