A charter school  in Atlanta, Georgia, held a production with second graders wearing blackface masks.  The production was the idea of an African-American teacher who thought it would be a good educational experience, a way to illuminate a dark part of the history of blacks in this country.  We will ignore that this was a Black History Month production held in March.

I find it difficult to understand why this teacher and her superiors thought this was a good idea for a production with seven and eight year olds.  I question her superiors because I’m certain that her idea had to have been approved before she could move forward.

In this production, the children were reciting  “We Wear the Mask”, a figurative poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) about blacks putting on brave, happy faces in spite of their daily ordeals.  It speaks of masking their true feelings and not giving the world the benefit of seeing their tears and frustrations.  This poem had absolutely nothing to do with the minstrel makeup known as blackface, which was used to make fun of black people.

It would be interesting to know how she intended to teach the children that blackface was offensive after having them wear the masks and after tying the meaning of the mask to the poem, which gave blackface a whole new meaning to these kids.

I agree that for generations black people have had to wear smiles outwardly while dealing with the continuous insults and bad treatment from whites.

The blackface was primarily worn by white minstrel actors, and some black actors, but the stories were always the same.  They parodied black lives, upholding an image of poor black people perpetually happy in spite of their financial, social, and economic positions, and the unfair treatment by their white neighbors and the government.  The minstrel performances was the establishment’s way of promoting an image and idea of black complacency and acceptance of the status quo.  Entertainment is a powerful tool.  Many people actually take how people are portrayed as reality.

I wonder if she thought that if the idea came from a black person that it would be seen as non-offensive.  That is the same attitude used by many black people who continue to use the n-word, as if by virtue of being black it negates the negative connotation and etymology of the word.  However, if a white person were to say n—-r, these same black people would be up in arms demanding that person’s head on a platter.

The fact that this event occurred is a double-edged sword.  We are tires of seeing things like this happen, but at the same time you cannot heal a wound by saying it’s not there. We need to continue having conversations about these topics in order to find the necessary solutions.  We have come a long way but we still have far to go.  It’s not just white people who have to be educated in terms of race relations and sensitivities; there is also a large number of black people who have to be reconditioned to begin seeing themselves and the black community as a whole in a higher and more positive light.  We need to hold ourselves accountable in order to effect the positive changes that we demand in and outside of our communities.