Hadn't realised that the 3 wise men came all the way from somewhere like Africa. I'm not saying this is racist but there was no need in this case. Coming as Samuel L Jackson, yes there may be a need to do so. Coming as a wise man (basically the costume) doesn't need anything but the costume.
I have no doubt that some people will be absolutely desperate to be offended by this ................... or at the very least be mortally offended on someone elses behalf.
No it's a picture !!! I'm sick of this **** There's more wrong in plastic money than in this type of trivial bullshit.
Could not give one single, solitary **** what is or isn't racist anymore, utterly sick of hearing that word now.
Definitely not. Racism is all about intent. There’s no intent here! Some people will be offended by this though.
I think its racist to assume that Iniesta wouldn't have any black family members or friends so these two must be blacked up.
I think you've got to bear in mind that they're Spanish. The three wise men (Reyes Magicos) are much more important in Spain than they are here. Traditionally, they bring children their presents on 6 January. Every child has their favourite wise man. For centuries, the youngest of the three kings has been portrayed as black with the other two being more Arabic. Looking black while portraying him has as much to do with race as wearing a beard does when portraying Santa Claus. Blacking up generally places you on dodgy ground but there is nothing in wearing black make up which is inherently racist. Here, it isn't.
To be fair whereas I am not offended by this at all, I think regardless of which country etc, this is going to be considered racist in this day and age. It doesn't matter to the offended if that is an accurate portrayal. Blackface is much more than just dark makeup used to enhance a costume. Its American origins can be traced to minstrel shows. In the mid to late nineteenth century, white actors would routinely use black grease paint on their faces when depicting plantation slaves and free blacks on stage. These weren't flattering representations. Blackface and minstrel shows were against a backdrop of a society that systematically mistreated and dehumanised black people. These were mocking portrayals that reinforced the idea that African-Americans were inferior in every way. The question is whether historical issues with something should guide how it is viewed now. There would appear to be no racist intent by Iniesta afterall. How many of those offended were around at the time when the minstrel shows were popular? Not many. However many of them may have educated themselves on historical background to blackface. They may think that is something best consigned to the past. Personally I don't really see an issue with blackface or whiteface if it is simply to portray someone of that race which cannot be achieved by natural means. I personally think many of the issues come from attaching significance to elements of something like this. The act of blacking your face up to portray something is very different to blacking someones face up to then deliberately mock that person/race. Like it or lump it though, many can't dissociate one from the other.
Back in the 1900s the English took over China and made us their slaves. They used horrible English words to systematically dehumanise us chinese as we didn't know any English. I suggest the use of English is racist and should put a ban on this horrid language once and for all...... (i may have made up some of these facts). Essentially what you are saying is that it was racist in america, so now we cannot do something that wasn't racist in any other part of the world (i haven't properly fact checked this). More PC established rubbish imo. Might as well ban bananas from the country as it was used to throw it at black people in the past.
