Story Archive

What’s on Your Face?

“We had no intentions of offending anybody or anything,” said one University of Wisconsin-Whitewater student. The reason they posted a picture to Snapchat that appeared to show them in blackface: “I just thought it looked funny,” said another student. The students weren’t wearing blackface, they were wearing exfoliating masks. They won’t be punished, but Chancellor Beverly Copper said, “If there are issues, we need to deal with those.” There have been racial incidents recently at the university. “Somebody can walk into a classroom and say ‘I hate all of you black people,’ (and) there’s no consequences,” claims Reginald Kirby of the Black Student Union, noting that the university mandates classes for students caught in dorms with alcohol. “It’s that lack of respect for the diversity, and that’s what we’re going to change.” (AC/WISN Milwaukee, WITI Milwaukee) ...“You’ve got to be taught to be afraid/of...people whose skin is a diff’rent shade./You’ve got to be carefully taught.” —Oscar Hammerstein II