It’s 2021. It was never okay to do blackface before—and it sure as hell isn’t okay now. Despite this, some people just never learn, do they? A Virginia city councilman is facing backlash after wearing blackface as part of his Halloween costume, but that’s not all: After being called out on it he, defended it as part of an apology.
It all began when Faron Hamblin shared a photo of himself dressed as the character Randy Watson, lead singer of fictional music group Sexual Chocolate. Dressing like the iconic character from Eddie Murphy’s film Coming to America is not an issue; the issue is that Hamblin, a white man, slathered himself in brown makeup in an attempt to look Black.
Apparently, he didn't realize the issue with his actions and happily posted a photo on social media. It has since then been deleted—but not before screenshots of it circulated online. NBC News affiliate WWBT was able to capture screenshots of the photo before it was removed.
“You could depict a character without smearing paint on yourself to change your race, especially to black,” one Reddit user said of the image. “I would’ve recognized Randy Watson without the blackface as long as he had the Soul Glo.”
Of course, there was online uproar. How could there not be? What Hamblin did was not appropriate and unacceptable. Anyway, the backlash prompted Hamblin to offer a non-apology apology on his Facebook account … which, like the original photo, he deleted. Again, not without screenshots captured by NBC12, in which Hamblin wrote, “I made a post that hurt a lot of folks and that was not my intention.” He added that he was devastated that people considered him a racist.
“Folks I made a post of me dressed like the movie character Randy Watson. For those of you who know the movie, Randy is a lack man. So I dressed the part. Suit, hair and, yes, my makeup was brown. Many saw it degrading, which I did not. I did it to show my love for the character and the movie. But since I’m white, it’s considered by some as offensive to dress as a lack person,” he wrote, according to NBC12 screenshots.
Let’s just go back to one line of his “apology”: “Many saw it degrading, which I did not.” He also pointed out that it’s only offensive because he’s white. No—it’s offensive and wrong no matter what race you are. So basically he is defending his use of blackface. But that’s not the worst part, as he continues to dig a deeper hole. He even brings up the fact that Eddie Murphy played a Jewish man in the movie.
“I can’t speak for the Jewish community and I’m sure some were offended. But Eddie showed his freedom of expression. He never meant any ill harm to the Jewish community,” he posted.
I’m sorry: Is he unaware that there are Black Jews? Yes, Murphy may have been playing a white man, as Hamblin said, and by no means am I saying that his portrayal cannot be offensive to the Jewish community. But dressing in blackface is not the same. Of course, the ignorance doesn’t end there: Hamblin then compares himself to comedian Dave Chappelle, who has been criticized as being transphobic.
Again, Hamblin doesn’t seem to understand what he is doing wrong, but instead is using his “apology” to defend himself and bring up other controversial incidents that have nothing to do with him.
“Like Eddie, or Dave Chappelle, I don’t go around walking on eggshells, worried about hurting someone’s feelings,” Hamblin posted. “But I never intended for this to be a racist issue.”
He clearly doesn’t understand the racist history of blackface and its role in oppressing Black people.
“Black face minstrelsy originated from people who came to the South and observed Black people dancing, and the way that they entertained…They thought it would be fun to use black cork or shoe polish to blacken their faces and then perform,” Dr. Andrea Simpson, a political science professor and diversity dean at the University of Richmond, told WWBT.
“When you don’t know what the history is, it may seem to you based on your knowledge of where we are today, it may seem to you that this is harmless and we’re all just having fun, but in doing that, we’re actually hurting people,” Simpson said.
While now deleted, according to WWBT the councilman’s “apology” was met with “tons of comments mostly from people asking why he’s apologizing at all.”
It all began when Faron Hamblin shared a photo of himself dressed as the character Randy Watson, lead singer of fictional music group Sexual Chocolate. Dressing like the iconic character from Eddie Murphy’s film Coming to America is not an issue; the issue is that Hamblin, a white man, slathered himself in brown makeup in an attempt to look Black.
Apparently, he didn't realize the issue with his actions and happily posted a photo on social media. It has since then been deleted—but not before screenshots of it circulated online. NBC News affiliate WWBT was able to capture screenshots of the photo before it was removed.
“You could depict a character without smearing paint on yourself to change your race, especially to black,” one Reddit user said of the image. “I would’ve recognized Randy Watson without the blackface as long as he had the Soul Glo.”
Of course, there was online uproar. How could there not be? What Hamblin did was not appropriate and unacceptable. Anyway, the backlash prompted Hamblin to offer a non-apology apology on his Facebook account … which, like the original photo, he deleted. Again, not without screenshots captured by NBC12, in which Hamblin wrote, “I made a post that hurt a lot of folks and that was not my intention.” He added that he was devastated that people considered him a racist.
“Folks I made a post of me dressed like the movie character Randy Watson. For those of you who know the movie, Randy is a lack man. So I dressed the part. Suit, hair and, yes, my makeup was brown. Many saw it degrading, which I did not. I did it to show my love for the character and the movie. But since I’m white, it’s considered by some as offensive to dress as a lack person,” he wrote, according to NBC12 screenshots.
Let’s just go back to one line of his “apology”: “Many saw it degrading, which I did not.” He also pointed out that it’s only offensive because he’s white. No—it’s offensive and wrong no matter what race you are. So basically he is defending his use of blackface. But that’s not the worst part, as he continues to dig a deeper hole. He even brings up the fact that Eddie Murphy played a Jewish man in the movie.
“I can’t speak for the Jewish community and I’m sure some were offended. But Eddie showed his freedom of expression. He never meant any ill harm to the Jewish community,” he posted.
I’m sorry: Is he unaware that there are Black Jews? Yes, Murphy may have been playing a white man, as Hamblin said, and by no means am I saying that his portrayal cannot be offensive to the Jewish community. But dressing in blackface is not the same. Of course, the ignorance doesn’t end there: Hamblin then compares himself to comedian Dave Chappelle, who has been criticized as being transphobic.
Again, Hamblin doesn’t seem to understand what he is doing wrong, but instead is using his “apology” to defend himself and bring up other controversial incidents that have nothing to do with him.
“Like Eddie, or Dave Chappelle, I don’t go around walking on eggshells, worried about hurting someone’s feelings,” Hamblin posted. “But I never intended for this to be a racist issue.”
He clearly doesn’t understand the racist history of blackface and its role in oppressing Black people.
“Black face minstrelsy originated from people who came to the South and observed Black people dancing, and the way that they entertained…They thought it would be fun to use black cork or shoe polish to blacken their faces and then perform,” Dr. Andrea Simpson, a political science professor and diversity dean at the University of Richmond, told WWBT.
“When you don’t know what the history is, it may seem to you based on your knowledge of where we are today, it may seem to you that this is harmless and we’re all just having fun, but in doing that, we’re actually hurting people,” Simpson said.
While now deleted, according to WWBT the councilman’s “apology” was met with “tons of comments mostly from people asking why he’s apologizing at all.”