Beyonce, Blackface, and Fashion Don't Mix

Beyonce Knowles returns to the media mill from what some would call a hiatus with her controversial photoshoot spread in L'Officiel Mag. The word controversial is a safe way to enter into this discussion but now that we are here, let's upgrade that term to culturally insensitive. Here's the haps, L'Officiel a french magazine celebrating it's 90th anniversary courted singer and (for lack of a better word) actress Beyonce Knowles to grace their cover and she obliged. Together the team conceptualized an "African Queen" photoshoot including a tribute to Fela Kuti-A Nigerian musician and human rights activitst who was not an African Queen so how does he fit into this picture? None of us know yet, we're still checking into it *eyebrow raise*. Oh there is that miniscule connection with Beyonce's husband Jay-Z assisting in production of Fela! a play to honor the man who's name it carries and her newfound adoratoin of his music. In her efforts to pay homage to Fela, Beyonce agreed to darken her face with makeup for several poses. The mag explained her poses in blackface as "a return to her African roots." So clearly I wasn't the only one who noticed Beyonce transformed into a white woman years ago(seriously joking). You might be thinking "Darken......her.......face....blacken...her..face.blackface! I bet that term rings a bell and if it doesn't it will after this commercial.

Blackface


Blackface, a technique that involved applying burnt cork, greasepaint, or shoepolish to darken the skin, has its roots in the 1883 mistrel show where a white performer, Thomas Dartmouth "Daddy" Rice, impersonated a black crippled slave he said he knew named Jim Crow. According to Black-face.com "Performers defended slavery by presenting denigrating stereotypes of Blacks who supposedly needed the civilizing influence of slavery to keep them in check. Black slaves were portrayed as happy and content with their lot in life and fearful of life outside of the plantation." Thus reveals the social crime behind such practices. The orginal minstrel shows saw their end around 1919 but portrayals in blackface carried through unto the 1950's and even found their way onto London television until the late 1970's. The wound is not as old as you may want to think.

Fastforward to 2011, is Blackface Art?

Fashion has it's inspirations, as anything artistic in life but take care to ponder where the idea of painting faces black could possibly come from? This is not a new and innovative move, quite the contrary it has a deep history-especially in America and considering such avoiding it should be the obvious choice. However, fashion appears to be obsessed with it's ability to take a white person and paint them black or even a step further and paint an already black person with darker skin(this same progression was evident in minstrel shows).

In 2009, supermodel Lara Stone, posed in a 14-page editorial for French Vogue in blackface shot by American photographer Steven Klein. French Vogue appears on American shelves and the work was done by an American photogrpaher thus an obligation to be culturally responsible exists. In addition, Paris-based Mongolian designer Tsolmandakh Munkhu painted her runway models entirely black to win the Hyere's International Festival of Fashion and Photography.

A trend is emerging and is seeking the approval of the very race of people it should offend the most; hopefully we will not follow Beyonce into the light. Even in moments of creativity one is expected to be responsible which is why you will not see swastikas strolling down the aisle or the United States flag burning onstage. If people allow this blatant cross into the offensive zone there will certainly be for more to come. Whether the decision to pass off blackface as fashion was made ignorantly or not, there has been enough rumble in the jungle for the industry to be aware of itself. Should we wait for them to realize the error in their ways and rectify their own mistake or send them a "don't let it happen" again message? Be prepared for the latter.

About Beyonce in Blackface
Only time will tell if she is bold enough to actually open her mouth and speak on behalf of her misguided actions but in the meantime I'd like to hope she is somewhere making the "doh" face; only then would I know all is not lost. I'm confused and feel slightly betrayed by the willlingness of people to condone such offensive behavior in an effort to make the past obsolete. Can you really say let's move on with the past when the inspiration for what is going on right now comes from the past? When there is a significant shortage of black high fashion models in the industry? When instead of hiring more black models companies would rather paint white models black? I'm left to wonder just how far we actually HAVE moved away from those days when blacks couldn't take the stage so whites played the part for them and a demeaning part it was. Blackface in fashion is not innocent, despite it's intent.

The models are not being portrayed in a negative light as that would be overt but we must war against subliminal racism as well. The idea of an already black woman needing to appear darker to pay tribute to a black man is a gross admittance of an obsession with skin color, which we are supposed to be over by now. We've come far but there is still a distance to go, simple subliminal moves such as this will eat away at the fabric we've painfully struggled to weave together. It is in our best interest, both white and black to protect everything we've worked for by clearly communciating that we do not intend to be victims of our past.  Checkout L'Officiel's video of the photoshoot with Beyonce Knowles to see exclusive poses.