Althouse: "I'm going to say this one last time, but the folks who get it, understand and the ones who DON'T, won't. I can be Doc Brown, and I wear the outfit and wig and not change my skin color."

November 1, 2018

"I'm going to say this one last time, but the folks who get it, understand and the ones who DON'T, won't. I can be Doc Brown, and I wear the outfit and wig and not change my skin color."

"if you're white, you can be President Obama if you want. Just don't color your skin!"

Al Roker explains the rule, quoted in "Al Roker defends dressing as white character for Halloween."

"Doc Brown" — I had to look it up to check if that really was the character's name (and I've seen all the "Back to the Future" movies many times).

123 comments:

rehajm said...: Thanks Al. I'm sure you'll be there to defend me when I catch Hell for following your rule.

Now here's what's happening in your neck of the woods...; 11/1/18, 8:39 AM
Humperdink said...: Oh we get it alright.

In Commie-Pinko leftyland all the streets are one-way. You don't need GPS to navigate it.; 11/1/18, 8:40 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: the ever sad and pathetic "You just don't get it, do you" argument.; 11/1/18, 8:41 AM
clint said...: Is it still okay to wear white pancake makeup if you're going as a clown?

*confused*; 11/1/18, 8:45 AM
Big Mike said...: To summarize: Black privilege.; 11/1/18, 8:47 AM
Ray - SoCal said...: Be more interesting to find a person explaining why whiteface is acceptable.; 11/1/18, 8:48 AM
Kevin said...: The Roker Rule!; 11/1/18, 8:53 AM
rhhardin said...: Wear a gorilla mask instead of darkening your face.; 11/1/18, 8:57 AM
rhhardin said...: Megyn Kelly's adventures in the gorilla suit.; 11/1/18, 8:57 AM
Birkel said...: Let me say just one time: I don't care about Al Roker's opinions and neither should anybody else.; 11/1/18, 8:57 AM
Rick.T. said...: I guess the only safe interracial costume left is Michael Jackson.; 11/1/18, 8:58 AM
Kevin said...: "I'm going to say this one last time, but the folks who get it, understand and the ones who DON'T, won't."

The ones who don't will all be on one side of the political spectrum.

They walk around fearful of offending people and validate their good intentions by pointing out potential issues to others.; 11/1/18, 8:58 AM
WK said...: At least he is saying it for the last time.; 11/1/18, 8:59 AM
Kevin said...: They walk around fearful of offending people and validate their good intentions by pointing out potential issues to others.

They're the ones constantly explaining how gender is just a construct, fluid, and unimportant, while race is juste a construct, fixed, and the most important issue of all.; 11/1/18, 9:03 AM
Jess said...: Al Roker hasn't had much credibility, since his shart episode in the White House. It's not because it happened; it's because that's something you don't admit.; 11/1/18, 9:05 AM
Fernandinande said...: "I'm going to say this one last time, but the folks who get it, understand and the ones who DON'T, won't."

So...you're pointlessly repeating yourself? IOW, you're stupid?

"I can be Doc Brown, and I wear the outfit and wig and not change my skin color."

I, too, am pretty gosh-darned special, just like everyone else.

"if you're white, you can be President Obama if you want. Just don't color your skin!"

At least this philosopher warned us in advance that he is stupid; most of 'em don't.; 11/1/18, 9:05 AM
rhhardin said...: You're being turned into white niggers. What would that then mean. I guess the word here naturally means second class moral citizens. The ruling class gets to say who you are.

Can it be moved to the rappers' rogue sentiment. Possibly stupid but living by your wits against the PC machine's thicket of oppressive rules. Doesn't seem to go there.

Anyway blackface is now on the nigger list of things you can't say or do.

It's not a double standard but who gets to characterize what's going on.

Playing with it to see where it seems to go would be a way out. The word knows the way, find out what it is. The lit crit escape.; 11/1/18, 9:06 AM
Leland said...: I don't understand why we need federal rules for Halloween costumes. If we need them, who elected Al Roker to make those rules?

But if we have to have nitpick rules; when did Doc Brown use a radio controller in the trilogy? I thought the DeLorean was always driven from the driver's seat.

Finally, we keep being told it is not ok for actors to appropriate roles from other races, genders, orientation, or even body shape. So Emma Stone shouldn't play an Asian pacific islander, Scarlett Johansson shouldn't play an Asian, and Ruby Rose shouldn't play a fit lesbian superhero. Yet Al Roker can appropriate a role of a white male scientist; and his cohost can gender appropriate a role too? I think the rules are simple; what we do is acceptable and what you do is totally wrong. I get it.; 11/1/18, 9:08 AM
FIDO said...: We get it. We just don't believe you. If Trump dressed as Michael Jackson or anyone not in your 'tribe', you'd be on him like a ravenous hyena.

We are holding you to your own rules. You don't like your rules, you hypocritical POS.; 11/1/18, 9:08 AM
rhhardin said...: If you paint a black man, that's blackface. The art problem. Definitely painted on.; 11/1/18, 9:08 AM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: Fuck Roker. He's the one who got Ryan Lochte in trouble for getting extorted at gunpoint while white.; 11/1/18, 9:09 AM
rhhardin said...: Making a list
nigger
blackface
gorilla
needs extending

Stuff only black people can tell you what's going on about. You get fired for it if there's a HR department involved.; 11/1/18, 9:11 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: So it's okay to go as a nappy-headed ho, as long as I only wear the nappy-headed wig and don't color my skin?; 11/1/18, 9:14 AM
gilbar said...: people people people
the rules are simple, they're straightforward, and they're Always the same
The elites (Who these are DOES change)can wear and do and be ANYTHING THEY WANT
See? simple rule.
The Hard Part is figuring out WHO this weeks elites are (hint: they've got more money than you); 11/1/18, 9:14 AM
Wince said...: "I'm going to say this one last time, but the folks who get it, understand and the ones who DON'T, won't."

Maybe that's because Roker is issuing a command, not an explanation or coherent rationale for social ostracism?

Roker's concept of "understanding" seems to entail everyone else simply following along by dressing up as a NPC (non-player character) the other 364 days a year.; 11/1/18, 9:16 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Leland said...

But if we have to have nitpick rules; when did Doc Brown use a radio controller in the trilogy? I thought the DeLorean was always driven from the driver's seat.

The first test run in the first movie has the dog in the car, and Doc Brown and Marty watching, with Doc Brown using a remote control.; 11/1/18, 9:19 AM
gahrie said...: But if we have to have nitpick rules; when did Doc Brown use a radio controller in the trilogy? I thought the DeLorean was always driven from the driver's seat.

The first trip was taken only by the dog.; 11/1/18, 9:24 AM
gahrie said...: OOOPs..need to read the comments first.; 11/1/18, 9:24 AM
Nonapod said...: On some level it's a little weird that adults are dressing up in costumes at all. Back in my day (way back in the 1980s) Halloween was more of a kids Holiday. Now there's full grown dudes cosplaying the Arbitor from Halo for comic conventions and chicks on Instagram who try to out sexy each other with elaborate cosplays of characters from comics, video games, and movies.; 11/1/18, 9:25 AM
Tommy Duncan said...: "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize." --Voltaire; 11/1/18, 9:28 AM
Fernandinande said...: Mr. Roker, Mr. Roker!

Would it be OK to wear blackface makeup under a gorilla mask while wearing a sign saying "OBAMA" if you're a Aussie Abo?; 11/1/18, 9:29 AM
buwaya said...: In my old world it was a Christmas tradition for the "reyes magos", the three wise men, to have one of their number (Baltazar, by reputation the most generous) in blackface. They would dress in beards and robes, and one year, I recall, they delighted us kids at the Casino Espanol by bringing along a few camels from the zoo. They were (and mostly still are) the hispanosphere version of Santa Claus.

I dont know why African Americans would hate the idea of white people having even an ersatz black man as the equivalent of Santa Claus. But cultural politics is strangely twisted these days.; 11/1/18, 9:30 AM
Fernandinande said...: "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize." --Voltaire

Voltaire didn't say that and it's also not true.

If one makes fun of blacks, one generally get fired by whites, not blacks.; 11/1/18, 9:32 AM
Curious George said...: "if you're white, you can be President Obama if you want. Just don't color your skin!"

Color half of it.; 11/1/18, 9:34 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: If you want to paint your face black (by the way, are people with dark skin really black? I mean not really -right? just like "white" people are shaded differently, so are "blacks" and the colors range from beige to dark chocolate. Olive to deep cocoa etc... peachy pink to freckled tan, the lovely colors of the human race. It's so silly saying "black and white" because true black and white don't even exist as skin color.

Anyway - what if you want to dress up as a bug, or a cartoon character - and the exaggerated effect is full black? Our silly PC culture says "No! you are offending someone - Al Roker is pissed." It's right up there with stricken vocabulary and free speech codes.

This is so silly.

Real racism exists in the hearts of a small few and a Halloween costume is not it.
find another hallway for your grievance.

Now certainly, if you are a racist and you think it's funny to paint your face black as a way to mock, well then you're just an idiot - but I doubt anyone does this. Not even David Duke.; 11/1/18, 9:36 AM
Fernandinande said...: Come to think of it, last night I saw a few dozen Indian kids appropriating the culture of Wonder Woman and Batman.; 11/1/18, 9:42 AM
Lucien said...: More proof that Halloween is not for adults.; 11/1/18, 9:44 AM
CJinPA said...: The Prophecies said that one day TV weather guys would be the only citizens wise enough to hand down decrees dictating social norms.; 11/1/18, 9:49 AM
President-Mom-Jeans said...: You don't get to tell me what I can and can't do, weather bitch. Shit like this is why Trump is going to get re-elected.; 11/1/18, 9:57 AM
CJinPA said...: If one makes fun of blacks, one generally get fired by whites, not blacks.

True, but the whites to the firing at the direction of black activists. (Glad you corrected the quote attribution, btw.)

Related from NY Times:
Among white liberals, according to Pew survey data collected in 2017, 79.2 percent agreed that “racial discrimination is the main reason why many black people can’t get ahead these days.” ....Among blacks, 59.9 percent identified discrimination as the main deterrent to upward mobility for African-Americans, and 32.0 percent said blacks were responsible for their condition — in other words, blacks are more conservative than white liberals on this issue.

https://tinyurl.com/yaf5ybtk; 11/1/18, 9:59 AM
Limited blogger said...: Walking on eggs here; 11/1/18, 10:02 AM
66 said...: Look you racists, it's not that hard. We're all equally free to wear halloween costumes of people of different races, but we should not change our original skin color. Skin color remains separate from the costume being worn. Equal but separate. How hard is that?; 11/1/18, 10:04 AM
CJinPA said...: Fernandistein said...
"To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize." --Voltaire

Voltaire didn't say that and it's also not true.

If one makes fun of blacks, one generally get fired by whites, not blacks.
---

I guess a better argument for why the quote, though wrongly attributed, rings true, is that white liberals, via media/academia dominance, are generally in charge of determining these things.; 11/1/18, 10:06 AM
CJinPA said...: Look you racists, it's not that hard. We're all equally free to wear halloween costumes of people of different races, but we should not change our original skin color. Skin color remains separate from the costume being worn. Equal but separate. How hard is that?

Next Halloween you can go out as someone who missed the point.; 11/1/18, 10:09 AM
Molly said...: (eaglebeak)

Hey, Al, do you remember when Eddie Murphy played Saul, the old (white) Jewish man, in Coming to America?

He changed the color of HIS skin. Was that okay because he started out black?; 11/1/18, 10:11 AM
Kevin said...: Hasn't this guy's entire life and entire career been spent reading cue cards that other people wrote for him? Why do we care what he thinks about anything?; 11/1/18, 10:12 AM
Known Unknown said...: Radio controller in question.; 11/1/18, 10:13 AM
gahrie said...: Look you racists, it's not that hard. We're all equally free to wear halloween costumes of people of different races,

Wanna bet? If I showed up in a dashiki or a serape, some woke son of a bitch would attack me for cultural appropriation.; 11/1/18, 10:18 AM
rcocean said...: Yeah, coloring your skin to look black, dressing up like blacks, calling people nigger - just don't do it.

What's so hard?; 11/1/18, 10:19 AM
Jupiter said...: I think it's actually very kind of Massa Roker to blacksplain this to us all.; 11/1/18, 10:20 AM
gspencer said...: Skin color can't be changed. Neither can chromosomes.; 11/1/18, 10:21 AM
66 said...: I really do think equal but separate is a policy that could last. I would give it at least 58 years.; 11/1/18, 10:27 AM
Jupiter said...: CJinPA said...
"If one makes fun of blacks, one generally get fired by whites, not blacks."

We had an illustrative example here in PyongYang recently. An older white lady law professor, as a matter of fact, wore blackface to her own Halloween party. It was the white administrators who ultimately crucified her, but she had to be turned in first. And the people who turned her in were a couple of LSOCs she invited to her party. So the rule is, no POCs, no foul.; 11/1/18, 10:27 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: I just learned that Al Roker dropped some weight.; 11/1/18, 10:27 AM
Jupiter said...: 66 said...
"I really do think equal but separate is a policy that could last. I would give it at least 58 years."

Sounds good to me. Let's write some zoning laws.; 11/1/18, 10:28 AM
bagoh20 said...: OK Al, I'll follow your rule as soon as you stop wearing that fat suit. It's offensive to people of girth.; 11/1/18, 10:29 AM
Leland said...: Thanks Ignorance. I thought it might have happened in the third movie, but now I recall Doc Brown demonstrating the vehicle to Marty. I couldn't remember that as much as when he drives back with the terrorist chancing him. But isn't the test run a plot hole, since the dog couldn't manipulate the time to come back nor would Doc Brown's RC remote work across time?; 11/1/18, 10:29 AM
rhhardin said...: calling people nigger - just don't do it.

Nigger meaning what. It has a performance range from clever to stupid.

If you want to know what's going on, ask the nigger.

It doesn't even mean black person there.; 11/1/18, 10:31 AM
bagoh20 said...: Al usually plays a white guy, but every once in a while he needs to put on his authenticity outfit and march around to get some cred back after cashing his check.

Al seems like he would be perfect as a tuba player. Some people just have a way about them that speaks to a certain role.; 11/1/18, 10:32 AM
bagoh20 said...: Is there anything that black people should just not do because of their skin color?; 11/1/18, 10:34 AM
bagoh20 said...: Is there anything that black people should never say or risk immediate and definite ruining of their careers?

Tell me again about oppression and discrimination and where it is?; 11/1/18, 10:38 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: Isn't Doc Brown's name now questionable for a white dude?

He is certainly not brown, nor one of the Seven Dwarfs.

I am Laslo.; 11/1/18, 10:43 AM
Quaestor said...: If minstrel show blackface is racist, then this must also be racist.; 11/1/18, 10:44 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: Think about it -- if you are talking about Halloween costumes in fear of an aura of potential firing for "inappropriate" Halloween costumes, something is greatly amiss....; 11/1/18, 10:45 AM
iowan2 said...: rhhardin said...
Making a list
nigger
blackface
gorilla
needs extending

Add 'dog' to the list. That's one of the data points proving President Trump's racist bonafides (I just don't know why, and Roker wont respond to my emails); 11/1/18, 10:46 AM
66 said...: Jupiter said . . .

"66 said...
'I really do think equal but separate is a policy that could last. I would give it at least 58 years.'

Sounds good to me. Let's write some zoning laws."

You know, Jupiter, you have really got me thinking about my policy of equal but separate. I conclude that, in the field of halloween costumes, the doctrine of "equal but separate" has no place. Separate rules as to what make-up can be worn as part of a halloween costume based on the race of the costumed are inherently unequal. Therefore, I hold that the costumed individuals that Al Roker speaks of are, by reason of the segregation in the equal but separate policy, deprived of the equal protection of the laws. Or they would be if Al Roker was a school principal.; 11/1/18, 10:46 AM
bagoh20 said...: "What so hard?"

I bet white racists used that line a lot about Blacks using their own fountains and staying in their own neighborhoods.

You gotta love rules that only apply to one race, and then expecting that race to appreciate your fair-mindedness about it. The Rastafarians have a word for that.; 11/1/18, 10:46 AM
Paul Zrimsek said...: Rough luck on the kids who want to be Hulk.; 11/1/18, 10:47 AM
PM said...: He's a weatherman for chrissakes. His value is raincoat or not.; 11/1/18, 10:49 AM
bleh said...: So I can be a Native American warrior if I don't color my skin?; 11/1/18, 10:49 AM
Michael McNeil said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/1/18, 10:49 AM
Molly said...: I went to a Halloween party dressed in a business suit and tie, and it looked like I had just come from work. I said, "I'm Barack Obama". I did not win the prize for best costume. It's art if the performer intends the performance as art. It's offensive if the performer intends the actions to be offensive. But you can't really judge anything in the modern world without knowing the intentions of the actor.; 11/1/18, 10:50 AM
Michael McNeil said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/1/18, 10:51 AM
PM said...: Frank Gorshin.; 11/1/18, 10:51 AM
Michael McNeil said...: So, if a couple of people (of whatever color) wished to go as the principal characters in the Star Trek: the original series episode “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” — where two aliens, each split down the middle half black, half white, and battling each other to the death over that vital racial difference — where every participant in costuming themselves would have to apply “blackface” and/or “whiteface” to at least one-half of their (visible) bodies — that's now completely verboten, right? Indeed, it would seem that that episode could never be remade, nor could those kind(s) of aliens ever appear again in a Star Trek movie or episode — ’cause anybody playing those parts would have to wear black- or whiteface to do so! We'll be lucky if the episode isn't banned…. Better get your DVD's of it now.; 11/1/18, 10:53 AM
CJinPA said...: "....Jupiter said...
CJinPA said...
"If one makes fun of blacks, one generally get fired by whites, not blacks."...."

To clarify, the quote was from Fernandistein.

LSOCs are Law Students of Color?

So the rule is, no POCs, no foul.

Although I could see white folks turning her in for wearing blackface. (I would have pulled her aside and advised her to wash it off. She put the reputations of not only herself but everyone at the party in jeopardy. Even if the rules aren't popular, they are clearly the rules.); 11/1/18, 10:54 AM
gilbar said...: bagoh20 said... anything that black people should just not do because of their skin color?

Oh, HELL YEAH
Study Hard
Work Hard
Vote Republican; 11/1/18, 10:57 AM
gilbar said...: Molly said...
I went to a Halloween party dressed in a business suit and tie, and it looked like I had just come from work. I said, "I'm Barack Obama". I did not win the prize for best costume.

Barry O'Bama never wears a tie.; 11/1/18, 10:59 AM
SeanF said...: Leland: Thanks Ignorance. I thought it might have happened in the third movie, but now I recall Doc Brown demonstrating the vehicle to Marty. I couldn't remember that as much as when he drives back with the terrorist chancing him. But isn't the test run a plot hole, since the dog couldn't manipulate the time to come back nor would Doc Brown's RC remote work across time?

The destination time was set on the equipment beforehand. All Doc had to do with the RC was accelerate the car up to 88mph, at which point the flux capacitor automatically kicked in and the car disappeared.

One minute later the car reappeared (it was set to travel one minute into the future), and Doc could use the RC to stop it.; 11/1/18, 10:59 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: We should be glad to get these handy-dandy cultural mandates from a TV weatherman.; 11/1/18, 11:01 AM
gilbar said...: gahrie said...
Look you racists, it's not that hard. We're all equally free to wear halloween costumes of people of different races,
Wanna bet? If I showed up in a dashiki or a serape, some woke son of a bitch would attack me for cultural appropriation.

Wear a sombrero with the serape; and watch yourself get expelled from school; 11/1/18, 11:02 AM
Anne in Rockwall, TX said...: bagoh20 said...
Is there anything that black people should never say or risk immediate and definite ruining of their careers?

Support Donald Trump.; 11/1/18, 11:02 AM
looseweb said...: What about an Obama mask? Is a mask a kind of blackface?; 11/1/18, 11:02 AM
rhhardin said...: The new 737 plunged into the ocean killing all 189 souls on board, says the radio.

The point of souls is that they don't get killed.

The phrase is used in reporting to the airport how many people are on board, without possible confusion about passengers and crew. The news picked it up and added killed.; 11/1/18, 11:05 AM
gilbar said...: Ha Annie! I beat you! I beat you! And i was tying flies as I was posting
nah nah nah na nan nan!; 11/1/18, 11:07 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Yeah, Al I promise you this- any white guy playing Obama without black face loses his job and the ability to get another one ASAP.; 11/1/18, 11:16 AM
Kevin Walsh said...: Bull. Lester Holt painted his face white and went as Susan Boyle one year.; 11/1/18, 11:17 AM
Anne in Rockwall, TX said...: LMAO gilbar, you win!!!

In my defense, I was supposed to be working when I posted.; 11/1/18, 11:17 AM
Big Mike said...: Just a note. Halloween is descended from the Celtic ceremonies called Samhain and the Roman feast of Feralia. Consequently is cultural appropriation for Asians and Blacks and Native Americans to celebrate Halloween in any form.; 11/1/18, 11:18 AM
Rosalyn C. said...: Different rules of behavior for black people. OK? You either get it or you don't.; 11/1/18, 11:20 AM
Leland said...: The destination time was set on the equipment beforehand. All Doc had to do with the RC was accelerate the car up to 88mph, at which point the flux capacitor automatically kicked in and the car disappeared.

One minute later the car reappeared (it was set to travel one minute into the future), and Doc could use the RC to stop it.

I accept that explanation and went to YouTube to rewatched the scene which confirms it. I do think the DeLorean should have reappeared a mile further down the road, as later we see it only travels through time but within the same space. Alas, we are way off topic.

Back on topic; who dressed up like the dog for the Today Show? Is that ok by Roker?; 11/1/18, 11:22 AM
Breezy said...: Heidi Klum’s skin was green as part of her Fiona costume. Skin color matters in depicting characters!

Al and his ilk think they’re doing us all a favor. In reality they would suck the creativity out of us.; 11/1/18, 11:23 AM
becauseIdbefired said...: > They walk around fearful of offending people and validate their good intentions by pointing out potential issues to others.

Yes, that's the point of political correctness. To get people to police their own thoughts, and to be silent about their ideas. Only accepted ideas are OK.; 11/1/18, 11:25 AM
President-Mom-Jeans said...: "I just learned that Al Roker dropped some weight."

Cancer? A guy can hope.; 11/1/18, 11:33 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Hey this reminds me -didn't a bunch of non-white people act in the Hamilton play?; 11/1/18, 11:34 AM
walter said...: Then there's "Hamilton"...; 11/1/18, 11:35 AM
n.n said...: Diversity theory.; 11/1/18, 11:35 AM
Darkisland said...: The Hell with Doc Brown. I went last night as Doc Sarvis.

They wouldn't let me in. I don't know why, either the oxy-acetylene torch or the chainsaw, I suppose.

Next year I am going as a white hispanic and save money on the costume.

John Henry; 11/1/18, 11:36 AM
Rosalyn C. said...: I was in the supermarket yesterday and waiting on the "15 items or less" check out line. A black couple, aged about fifty, was online inf front of me. A young black guy came up to the check out area with a couple of items and the couple invited him to enter the line behind them. No one said a word to me to ask if this was OK or even to acknowledge my existence. I thought, maybe he's their son? As soon as he put his items on the conveyer belt the woman put a separating barrier down, so no, they were not together. The whole time they never talked to him or even said goodbye when they left. He was a total stranger and the only reason they invited him to butt in line was he was black.

They had no idea how rude they were being and that white people around here don't behave that way. Or maybe they did. Either way I kept my mouth shut because of "racism" and they weren't worth the trouble.; 11/1/18, 11:37 AM
CJinPA said...: Lester Holt painted his face white and went as Susan Boyle one year.

Google Images says....TRUE:

https://tinyurl.com/yb79rrwa

Looks like everyone had fun with it.

One year later, Holt was somberly reporting the story on Megyn Kelly's dismissal over her comments:

https://tinyurl.com/y9lraj23; 11/1/18, 11:40 AM
Fernandinande said...: Is it OK for a gorilla to wear an Obama mask if he's gay? The gorilla, I mean.; 11/1/18, 11:42 AM
walter said...: R.J. Chatt,
That's "Micro-Reparations".
I mean..after the horrors YOU unleashed? Pffft ;); 11/1/18, 11:46 AM
SweatBee said...: "I wear the outfit and wig and not change my skin color"

Heads up--Al Roker is now on record claiming that wearing the outfit and wig is NOT appropriation. Now let's find out what happens when a white person tries it.; 11/1/18, 11:59 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: What happened to being monsters?; 11/1/18, 12:09 PM
RK said...: I thought Al Roker was just a weatherman, but I was wrong.

You know, you never see light-skinned black people putting on blackface to impersonate dark-skinned black people.; 11/1/18, 12:17 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: "What happened to being monsters?"

That's a good question. Halloween isn't just a masquerade ball. It's supposed to be about monsters, witches, ghosts, etc. Maybe that stuff is too real for New Age folks.; 11/1/18, 12:18 PM
CWJ said...: "So I can be a Native American warrior if I don't color my skin?"

Until recently, it worked for Elizabeth Warren.; 11/1/18, 12:26 PM
William said...: Al Roker has won the argument. No more blackface costumes. Still, Megyn Kelly wasn't wearing blackface but rather defending some hypothetical little girl who dresses up as Diana Ross (although Beyoncé would be more likely, you aging, Trump hating cunt)....I think the criticism and dismissal of Kelly for this offense is excessive. I take note that there are no people in the news business who are defending her. Many of these people were cognizant and tolerant of Matt Lauer's behavior. These people don't seem to realize how bad they look in this contretemps.; 11/1/18, 12:33 PM
Leland said...: You know, you never see light-skinned black people putting on blackface to impersonate dark-skinned black people.

They just claim the status, like Obama did and, before Obama, like Bill Clinton did as the first Black President. Just make the claim, as a Democrat and without black face, and it is all ok.; 11/1/18, 12:45 PM
Jupiter said...: Molly said...
"But you can't really judge anything in the modern world without knowing the intentions of the actor."

I think you've got that backwards. The little old law professor they crucified at the University of Oregon had blacked her face and hands to resemble a black doctor, whom she said she greatly admired. The LSOCs were well aware of this, but they just could not pass up the opportunity to blow up a white person in a position of authority. Or perhaps I should say "privilege".; 11/1/18, 12:49 PM
bagoh20 said...: "What happened to being monsters?"

I dressed up as a blue-eyed devil, and was very convincing.; 11/1/18, 1:09 PM
RB Glennie said...: yet, Meghan Kelly didn't even dress as someone from another race... she wondered if it was offensive to dress as someone in particular from another race (or `race'). Which is what Al Roker did... after he savagely criticized her for her *question* about that...; 11/1/18, 1:14 PM
rhhardin said...: It's lucky Crayola got rid of the Indian Red crayon, used for coloring the faces of indians.; 11/1/18, 1:34 PM
Big Mike said...: It's lucky Crayola got rid of the Indian Red crayon, used for coloring the faces of indians.

Interesting factoid. Iron Eyes Cody, famous for portraying Indians in Westerns and as an iconic Native America with s tear running down his cheek in a famous public service “Keep America Beautiful” commercial, was actually an Italian-American naked Espera Oscar de Corti. He had no more Native American DNA than Elizabeth Warren.; 11/1/18, 2:24 PM
William said...: Can you dress up as Al Jolson? No blackface, but the white gloves and the rest of the outfit. Asking for Eminem who wants to revisit some of Jolson's greatest hits.; 11/1/18, 2:41 PM
DanTheMan said...: >>He is certainly not brown, nor one of the Seven Dwarfs.

I suspect he went to the same medical school as Dr. Pepper. Unless he's just a PhD. I asked at McDonald's once what kind of doctor he was, but they wouldn't tell me. I guess it's some sort of secret.; 11/1/18, 3:15 PM
320Busdriver said...: I'm sure someone has covered it, but what about the overt racism of "moron" Don Lemon of CNN saying:

"We have to stop demonizing people and realize the biggest terror threat in this country is white men, most of them radicalized to the right, and we have to start doing something about them.’

And

"There is no travel ban on them,” Lemon said during the handoff between shows. “There is no ban on — you know, they had the Muslim ban. There is no ‘white guy ban.’ So what do we do about that?”

I wonder what Don wants to start doing about me?

How does this guy still have a job?; 11/1/18, 3:50 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: "I wonder what Don wants to start doing about me?

How does this guy still have a job?"

He's black and gay, so it would be almost impossible to fire him. The best hope for getting rid of him is AIDS.; 11/1/18, 4:19 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: the Left are allowed to be chameleons inside and out; 11/1/18, 5:47 PM
ccscientist said...: Sure, but will Al Roker get your job back when you get fired?; 11/1/18, 5:54 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Skin color matters so much more to the Republiclones than it does to the normal people here on the left.; 11/1/18, 6:34 PM
Dave64 said...: Roker just wants to make sure that everyone knows he's down with the whole protected class thing. Back in my day he would have been a major Uncle Tom. I'll give him credit though, he knowswhich side his bread is buttered on!; 11/1/18, 7:11 PM
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