“Black face” has a history in American entertainment from the days of slavery and vaudeville. Basically it is the act of someone, who is not of African descent, darkening their face (often for comedic purposes) as a way to portray someone of color. However, it isn’t the only occasion of filmers making actors look like another race.. There have been instances of white actors having makeup to make their eyes more “oriental” or black actors dressing up as white woman (“White Chicks”) or putting an actor in a lead role as a Native American, when they aren’t (“Twilight”). A fraternity at UC Irvine is being hit with a lot of backlash about a promotional video that they made where a student has colored his face brown, in an attempt to be Jay-Z. Students are calling for administrative action to punish these students. However, while it is rude and offensive, should it be punishable? Or were they just attempting to be silly? For more about the story, I’ve provided a link: http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/asian-fraternity-causes-uproar-after-wearing-blackface-to-dr
