Politics & Crime International Ignorance: A Recent History of Foreign Blackface

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery—except when it’s an insidious form of racist fuckery. Case in point? Blackface, the American theater tradition that portrayed African-Americans as stupid, lazy, and buffoon-like. Blackface had an undisputed detrimental impact on the country’s perception of black people, and, as a result, its existence today in America is limited mostly to history books and satirical works a la Spike Lee’s 2000 film Bamboozled (and probably Rush Limbaugh’s community theater group).

In other countries, however, blackface still has contemporary cultural relevancy. Korean recording artists “Bubble Sisters” released an album which showcased the group with their faces painted in black on the cover, and Japanese toy maker Sanrio at one point produced Bibinba, a small action figure with features easily attributable to blackface. And most recently, a group of white Australian performers performed a sketch mimicking/mocking the Jackson 5. Shake.Our.Heads. Complex looks at some of the other controversial foreign blackface moments…