Hello! My partner is the Dorian cosplayer you’re questioning about brown face! That was never the intention at all. It is in fact, just the lighting and the black and white filter. His foundation is Urban Decay Naked Skin in shade 3.5. [1/2]
Whew…. ok, there’s a lot to unpack here. Because I gotta tell you, the fact that you came into my inbox with this nonsense is just. Ugh. Obviously it’s time for a teaching moment. And I’m tagging in your partner @therealfleekstersky because he’s a grown ass adult who contributed to racist behavior, even if you were the one who instigated it. The fact that you’re in my inbox trying to deny his accountability is already strike one of these messages.
And let me be very clear – what you did was racist. Whether you understand why or not is not really my issue, but I promise you it was. For those of you wondering why I’m picking on white folks again, here’s the original post I saw last night. There’s SO MUCH racism in the DA fandom that I immediately double check anyone cosplaying as a character of color to make sure they aren’t in brown face. Usually they are, and usually y’all keep reblogging them anyway because y’all are racist AF.
So, let’s break this “apology,” or whatever you’d like to call it, down, shall we?
First, let’s talk makeup. I’m not going to actually post his picture here because it’s not mine to post, but this is a link to a picture of your partner from Instagram (linked from his blog) where he isn’t wearing Dorian makeup. https://www.instagram.com/p/BLhzat4AGJk/?taken-by=fleekstersky
Now here’s the thing – I am a mixed race black woman and I happen to be a makeup nerd who wears Urban Decay. I wear a 4.0 in their foundation. There is no way on earth his natural skin color is only a shade lighter than mine. Just from this picture I’d say he needs shade 0.5 or 1, at the darkest. Meaning YOU DARKENED HIS SKIN FOR THE COSPLAY. That IS THE DEFINITION OF BROWNFACE. It wasn’t just lighting and the black and white filter because I specifically LOOKED AT THE COLORED PICS.
For reference, this woman, who’s skin looks like a decent match for your partner, is wearing the same foundation in 0.5:
You’re gonna tell me that the Urban Decay foundation in 3.5 is an accurate color match for his skin? PLEASE. You chose a darker foundation shade to use for this costume/photoshoot. Sure it was well done, but it was STILL BROWNFACE. Which means it was gross and racist and unnecessary.
Now, on to your partner’s user name (and honestly I cannot believe I have to address you about another grown human being’s behavior, that’s just fucking sad). White people using African American Vernacular English is harmful and appropriative. Our words are stolen, mangled, used by mainstream brands, and yet our patterns of speech are also used to dismiss us, to mark us as lesser: of lesser intelligence, of lesser value. Not to mention that that word was LITERALLY coined by a young black woman who saw not even a smidgeon of recognition for contributing that word to the masses, and the brands who used it for marketing.
“I promise we’re the furthest thing from being racists/bigoted in any way, shape or form.”
Yeah, except you REALLY FUCKING AREN’T. Do you know how often this is used to excuse racist behavior? “Oh sure he said the n word but it was just a joke, he’s not really racist!” Same excuse used by a bunch of white ass frat boys singing about how they’d never let “n*ggers” into their fraternity. You’re not putting yourself in good company.
You’re both white, and therefore receive the benefits of white supremacy, something you have to work at to break down and understand, which you’re OBVIOUSLY failing to do if this answer is anything to go by. As a white person you DO NOT get to declare yourself not racist, especially when a person of color questions you on racist behavior. You are inherently racist due to being raised in a white supremacist society, and you don’t understand that well enough to work on correcting it, which is why you perpetuate racist behavior.
“We just wanted to take pretty pictures!“
Well isn’t that just great for you! I want to not be called a n*gger and told to go back to Africa when I speak about racism online. I want the police to stop killing black people. I want black women to be celebrated as beautiful, vulnerable and lovable in mainstream media. I want doctors to stop misdiagnosing black people and dismissing our pain because they literally cannot understand how we fucking work, like we’re an alien species.
The fact that you can end this tepid, embarrassing, non-apology delivered FOR SOMEONE ELSE on this note just tells me that you have a lot to learn. Whether you will or not is entirely up to you, but I certainly hope that someone will read this and understand what you both did wrong, even if it isn’t you who learns.
For everyone reading this: SKIN COLOR IS NOT A COSTUME. Stop doing brown/black/yellow/red face and acting like it’s no big deal. Stop treating it as perfectly ok because it was “subtle” and wasn’t “intended as racist.” IT IS FUCKING RACIST, full stop, no exception. STOP BEING RACIST.
Yes, you are welcome to reblog this if you’d like. As I said, I hope SOMEONE will learn from it, if not OP and Casperella the Condescending White Apologist.
You know what? I’m reblogging this because Klandom keeps doing this over and over and over again, and I’m sick of it. So you all can get sick of seeing this post.
Overdressed & Underappreciated 