mood: “magnolia” by young & sick
Twitter erupted Thursday when Paige Shoemaker, a senior at Kansas State University, thought it funny to document her adventures in exfoliation, moisturization and blemish removerization. Her method? A mud mask that “happened” to be black. If you’re like me, you know that black facial masks and white skin have the potential to escalate into a race thing really quickly. Keep reading.
This photo of Paige Shoemaker and her friend Sadie Meier is the center of the controversy surrounding Kansas State University.
Shoemaker was a pre-med student and let me learn you something so you know how scary that is. A study by researchers at the University of Virginia, and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that white patients are more likely than black patients to be prescribed strong pain medications for the same illnesses.
As a black person, I'm afraid that any health care professionals whose provision of treatment I may be under will hold similar views to Shoemaker's or the white medical students in the UVA study. Racism is not something to joke about and race should not determine what kind of care a person receives.
At this point in the millennium I shouldn’t have to explain what blackface is, why it’s offensive or how it was woven into the fabric of our country, so I’m not. Fire up the Google machine if you’re fuzzy. Just know that blackface is never OK and anyone who tries to make a convincing argument that it is can go step on Legos. And we’re walking.
KSU student Desmund posted this photo to Twitter Thursday and identified Shoemaker as the original poster. It has since been retweeted more than 16,000 times.
Shout out to @JustDesmund who posted this photo on Twitter for posterity. Did you know the Library of Congress has acquired all of Twitter’s archived tweets for its archives? That means anything that is tweeted goes on record IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Now, future generations will know of the embarrassment and shame Shoemaker brought upon herself, although I wonder how much embarrassment and shame she actually feels.
In a statement she wrote on her Facebook profile, she says, “I did want to inform everyone that it was NOT ‘black face,’ but it was a L’Oreal clay facial mask,” to which I must respond, is not the mask on your face black? Did you not claim to finally be a n-----? Is not a pig’s tail curly?
I’m sure the answers to any questions about their understanding of the historical context of blackface and the n-word and how they are offensive are clearly laid out in her facement (Facebook statement). Let’s see:
- “We never intended for the picture to offend anyone. We had only meant for it to be taken in a funny way.” Nope.
- “I mean, not that this is a good thing, that word just happens in our friend group.” What.
- “We’re a big family. That word doesn’t offend anyone in our group.” I’m guessing the group’s stage name is Basket of Deplorables.
- “Ask anyone who knows us, we are the most accepting and least racist people.” Saying that doesn’t make it so.
To Shoemaker, her friend and anyone who argues that this act can only be considered racist or offensive if there is malicious intent behind it, you should know that it isn’t up to you to make that call. We do things day in and day out that might offend people, and just because that wasn’t our purpose doesn't make it any less offensive.
Listen to what people are saying – unless they’re telling you you’re not wrong, in which case, block them – and don’t try to make excuses for these actions. Also, if you’re going to argue that you’re the least racist person, please give us context. Are we talking, like, least racist among KKK recruits? Least racist among angels, both earthly and heavenly? Where on the racism scale do you register?
So, guys, this was her apology. What do you think? Should she have been expelled from the university? Was she wrong at all? Leave your comments!