Controversy rose up to the occasion once again as actress Julianne Hough, famous for her roles in ‘Rock of Ages’ and ‘Footloose’ went as character Crazy Eyes from the TV show Orange is the new Black. It wasn’t the choice of costume that had feathers ruffled, it was the makeup choice. Hough dressed the part, including changing her skin from white to black. 

Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in shows in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person.

So, is it okay to portray a different race on Halloween, or is it racist? 

Blackface first showed up in 1830, characterizing the plantation slaves during the era of minstrel shows. It took such a hold on the audiences that any person with dark skin was automatically a white person in makeup. 

After seeing Hough in her Halloween costume, Twitter overflowed with criticism and hate for the actress. She recognized her mistake immediately over Twitter to her fans.“I am a huge fan of the show Orange is the New black, actress Uzo Aduba and the character she has created. It certainly was never my intention to be disrespectful or demeaning to anyone in any way. I realize my costume hurt and offended people and I truly apologize.”

Fans came to her rescue, including her brother Derek Hough, saying that the costume was harmless, like KayCee, an internet blogger and fan. “I think people are seriously overreacting to this.. Only people with closed minds can consider this to be racism in any way, shape, or form. It is a Halloween costume, that is all. And you would think that in a world where we strive for equality, that this costume would be accepted and encouraged. She clearly did not choose this costume based on color, she chose this because she enjoys the show and the character.”

Yaba Blay, co-director of Africana Studies agrees with the fact that this kind of thing is never okay, “The painful history of minstrelsy is not that long ago for us to think that now, somehow, we can do it differently or do it better.”

I admit that this kind of thing is uncalled for on a regular basis, but should it be considered racism on Halloween? When Michael Jackson changed his skin from black to white, many people for Halloween put on white makeup over their dark faces to portray the change in the famous singer. Yet, no controversy over that. 

Boys dress as girls, young dresses like the old, humans dress as animals and others dress as inanimate objects. Should this not be okay? Halloween is a time where we dress up as a type of alter-ego, and yet we can get flack for it.

Since I’m dressing up as a penguin, does that mean I am making fun of the way penguins look, walk, or sound? Or does it show that I’m being a creative individual on the one day of the year where we get to dress as something or someone different than our regular selves?