Nothing Wrong With Ryan Clark Belichick Costume
Today is October 31, which means that today is Halloween. Offices around the country are allowing employees to dress up (if they are a fun place to work), so don't be surprised if you are serviced today by Thor, Han Solo, or Freddy Krueger. One costume that has drawn a bit of ire today, is ESPN talking head Ryan Clark, dressing in "white face" as Bill Belichick.
There are two trains of thought on why this is bad (neither of which I agree with), and they are as follows: Firstly, people will say it's wrong because it's disrespectful and distasteful to pretend to be someone of a race other than your own. Secondly, people have a problem with the costume because they think there's a double standard.
The latter of the two false ways of thinking, refers to the outrage over white people wearing makeup to look African-American, or, doing "black face". Historically, black face has been used for deplorable reasons. It was a way to avoid casting actors and actresses of color in shows, and it has also been used to perpetuate a hurtful and racist stereotype.
In both of those instances, the people in makeup were dead wrong, and should have been punished for their actions. It is not the action itself that is wrong though, it is the intent behind the action. If there is no harmful intent, much is the case on this date, there should be no outrage or hurt feelings about changing one's skin color.
In the movie Tropic Thunder, actor Robert Downey Jr wore black face for much of the film. He is applauded for the role and the character. This is because he was not wearing the makeup to play a black person in the film (costing others their jobs), he was playing a white guy in the film. A white guy, pretending to be black for a fictional film. He was using the role to mock those who do it maliciously.
On Halloween, we all get to be actors. He can play our favorite fictional characters, or real life people we admire. This may mean wearing a helmet, dressing as the opposite sex (I was Judge Judy on Halloween one year), or changing your skin color. It could be a fictional color like green (if you want to play Gamora), blue (if you want to be Smurfette), or even real-life skin colors.
If Zach Braff wants to dress as Falcon, and Donald Faison wants to dress like the Winter Soldier for Halloween, they should do it. If there is no ill will intended behind changing your skin color today, you should do it and not be ashamed to do it. It's Halloween and it's supposed to be fun. If you are someone who has a problem with it, maybe you should lighten up and have a little fun yourself.