User:Sabeel Mansuri/sandbox

PUBLISHED LIVE


 * This article is about the race-related whiteface performance. For the whiteface clown, see Clown.

Whiteface is a form of performance in which a person wears theatrical makeup in order to make themselves look like a white person, usually for comic purposes. The term is a reversal of the more common form of performance known as blackface, in which performers use makeup in order to make themselves look like a black person. Whiteface performance originated in the 19th century and occasionally appears in cinema today. Modern usages of whiteface can be contrasted with Blackface in contemporary art.

Social Attitudes
Whiteface, particularly in modern times, has been critiqued as being racist. There are various schools of thought as to why whiteface may be considered a racist art form. One is founded on the link between whiteface and blackface; both art forms are described as serving the same purpose in art. That is, if blackface is an undisputed racist mockery of black people, then it should follow that whiteface is a mockery of white people. The second major attitude for why whiteface is racist is that the manner in which white people are portrayed using whiteface is inherently demeaning. Whiteface actors often intentionally employ inappropriate masquerades and caricatures, thereby using whiteface as a tool to poke fun at white people and stereotypes of their practices.

Overview
Whiteface rose to prominence with the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, amongst many other rectifications, guaranteed black actors more artistic freedom. This allowed the expression of whiteface to seep into popular culture, and by the late 1900s black actors were found performing in whiteface in plays and films. The satire grew in boldness as time went on, taking more and more direct racial shots at white people. By the 2000s, however, experts began to widely condemn the art form as racist and, therefore, socially unacceptable. Since then, whiteface in art has died down to only an occasional occurrence in modern art. A timeline of key events detailing this summary is available below.

Timeline

 * The earliest use of the term noted by the Oxford English Dictionary is from the New York Dramatic News in 1895, and refers to the American vaudeville actor Lew Dockstader "in his new white-face act".


 * The OED also lists a 1947 reference to the black actor Canada Lee performing the role of Bosola in The Duchess of Malfi in whiteface.


 * In the 1942 film Sullivan's Travels, as the final sight gag in the runaway bus sequence, a black chef's head is splashed with cake batter for a whiteface effect.


 * In Jean Genet's 1958 play The Blacks members of an all-black cast wear whiteface to portray white establishment figures.


 * The 1970 film Watermelon Man begins with Godfrey Cambridge playing a whiteface character, who then wakes up one morning to find himself black.


 * Eddie Murphy performed in whiteface on Saturday Night Live in the 1980s, and appeared in whiteface for minor characters in the films Coming to America and The Nutty Professor. Dave Chappelle employed whiteface on his show Chappelle's Show in the 2000s.


 * In the 1990s and 2000s, several films exploited the comic potential of black comedians donning whiteface. These performances include Lenny Henry in True Identity, and Shawn and Marlon Wayans in White Chicks.


 * The 2006 FX reality television show Black. White. had two families realistically portrayed via makeup as another race: One as blackface, the other whiteface.


 * In 2007, Chamillionaire does makeup for a character in the video for "Hip Hop Police".


 * In 2013, Nazeem Hussain used whiteface to portray Prince Harry in his comedy show Legally Brown.


 * Snoop Dogg has posted Instagram videos in whiteface as a white character "Todd", and Nick Cannon promoted his album White People Party Music with the whiteface character "Connor Smallnut".


 * Tahar Rahim as Prince of the Seal People in The Eagle.


 * In 2017, rapper Aminé used whiteface in the music video for his song REDMERCEDES. In the music video, the African-American characters act like stereotypical white characters; whereas the characters in whiteface act with stereotypical black mannerisms and speech.


 * In the 2018 episode of Atlanta entitled Teddy Perkins, Donald Glover portrayed the titular character, a former musician with extreme light sensitivity, in whiteface.

Whiteface and Blackface
It is generally accepted that blackface is intrinsically racist, based upon a traceable racial link to slavery and racial segregation. For this reason, blackface is all but extinct in modern art forms. This isn't, however, the case with whiteface. Albeit controversially, whiteface is still employed in modern times as an expression of art. Those in defense of the art aim to segregate it from blackface, often arguing that whiteface does not carry the racial underpinnings that blackface does, and that the art is a wholesome satire of a white lifestyle. Opponents of whiteface highlight the art as primarily being a vulgar retribution to blackface that derives its comedy from being a payback of blackface.

Whiteface and Jewface
Jewface, the portrayal of Jewish features, culture, and actions by non-Jewish performers, gained popularity in the late 1800s. Since its birth, Jewface has been critiqued as being racially insensitive, though in recent times a consensus has formed on it being racist. The reversal of Jewface is perhaps best seen in Jewish performers engaging in whiteface. One such example is the Beastie Boys, who were championed as white rappers despite being Jewish. This parallel between the white portrayal of Jews (Jewface) and Jewish portrayal of whites (whiteface) has been used to make a case for the racism of whiteface.