British comedy showed us that Blackface was not just a thing of the past
With streaming services removing content, and UK comedians giving heartfelt apologises — it’s time to reflect on why Blackface continued to make its way into modern television.
“I guess we’re all on a learning journey” Leigh Francis tearfully speaks to his camera in an Instagram video now with more than 600,000 views. The comedian portrayed Black celebrities such as Craig David, Trisha Goddard, Michael Jackson and Mel B.
This apology seemingly started a catalyst of remorseful statements with Ant and Dec also saying that they were sorry for using Blackface during a segment on their show Saturday Night Takeaway. BBC also announced, “times have changed since Little Britain first aired, so it is not currently available on BBC iPlayer.” The show contained the actors playing caricatures of many races, including Black people. The Mighty Boosh and League of Gentleman have also been pulled from Netflix.
It seems that the Black Lives Matter protests following the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in the U.S. has many reflecting on their past treatment of Black people and in this case at the expense of Black people being the comedic relief.
We’ve come a long way from 19th century minstrel shows, yet Blackface infrequently, yet effectively made its way into many British comedies in the last few decades which subsequently portrayed the stereotype that Black people were hyperbolically stupid, loud and lazy. For example, The Mel B portrayal in Bo’ Selecta! would often display the Spice Girl as hairy, grotesque and foul mouthed; and Matt Lucas’s character Precious in Come Fly with Me would often sabotage their own work station in order to flunk off work, but would not be smart enough to cover their tracks properly and would get caught in a lie.
Although there is often debate as to whether this type of content is in fact humorous — it could be argued that it raises the quality of these comedians acting skills. The fact that they needed such excessive and offensive dark makeup and prosthetics in order to portray certain characters is extremely telling.
“But what about White Chicks?” is often the counter-question that often follows conversations around Blackface however it’s really a redundant argument. The film in question involves two Black FBI agents who go undercover as rich Caucasian women in order to solve a case. The project is not without its faults as it includes misogynistic scenes, fat-shaming and white people saying the N-word. However, simply put, white people have not had to deal with being excluded from theatre, film and television where Black people are only displayed with hurtful stereotypes by non-Black actors. Claiming whiteface is just as offensive is making mockery of the hurt that Blackface has caused.
Race, law and politics reporter Jenée Desmond-Harris states in their 2014 writings that:
A common refrain in defense of blackface is that it is all in good fun, a joke, harmless, or not done with the intent to bother anyone. But here’s the thing: not feeling racist when you’re wearing blackface does nothing to change how it affects those who see it. Your innermost thoughts don’t change the impact blackface has on the people of all races around you, or the way it reinforces stereotypes and the idea that blackness is, at best, a joke.
With shows being removed from streaming services and an array of apologises being circulated by the day, it’s interesting and very telling that it’s taken the crucial movement we’re currently living in for people to hold their hands up and say that they were wrong. It could very well be the case that these actors and television writers did not know the history of Blackface and the trauma and tainted legacy it holds, but with these particular shows thriving off shock value and anti-PC comedy this is extremely hard to believe.
