Donald Trump Jr threw Joy’s blackface episode in her face last year when she asked him about his father’s scandals, today Kim Klacik did the same thing when Behar asked about Trump’s handling of the pandemic.
Righty guests who end up being invited on this sh*show should treat it as a game going forward. Whatever Behar asks you, you have to work a reference to blackface into the answer. The further afield the topic is from racial issues, the more “points” you get for degree of difficulty.
If you smuggle the photo of her in her old blackface get-up onto the set and flash it at the camera while she’s questioning you, you win. I bet Meghan would even help you do it if you approached her before the show.
Behar’s defense here is the old argument that intent counts when it comes to blackface. If you darken your skin as part of a get-up that insults blacks by playing off racial stereotypes, that’s obviously racist. If you darken your skin as part of a get-up to make you look black but without any stereotypical intent (e.g., dressing up as a black celebrity on Halloween), that’s … ill-advised and should be avoided, even if it’s not malicious. It’s like calling a black friend “my nigga.” Your heart might be in the right place but there’s enough historical baggage around the term that others will conclude you’re being deliberately transgressive by choosing it.
A certain TV news superstar lost her career for failing to grasp that last point, as I recall. She noticed the Klacik/Behar segment today:
Kelly’s a podcaster now, like 95 percent of the rest of America. Behar’s still co-host of a popular TV show. How come?
Here’s the segment. Exit question: Who’ll be the first righty to surprise Joy by displaying the photo of her in blackface during an argument on the show? My money’s on McCain herself, during one of their intermittent blow-ups.
In a combative exchange w/ @kimKBaltimore, @JoyVBehar defends wearing blackface: "They know that that was not blackface. That was an homage. Oh, please." pic.twitter.com/jQg2jDu8fv
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 18, 2020
