Quote Originally Posted by MrJeff View Post
My dad is a big fat guy, or at least he used to be. Lost a bunch of weight. But when I was a kid he used to dress up every year as Aunt Jemimah. Black face, kerchief, long dress, the whole nine yards. Was that racist? I don't think so. He did it because it was fucking hilarious that he looked just like the lady on the pancake box in the cupboard. There was nothing mean about it. In my mind it is no different than if he dressed up as the Quaker Oats guy, Chef Boyardee, or Tony the Tiger.

While Al Jolson may have made a career out of wearing black face, I'd venture to say there would be some serious mixed reaction to playing Al Jolson or Aunt Jemima in black face today. To my point - if I were to send your dad to a "club" down on the South Side of Chicago dressed as Aunt Jemima, do you think he'd come out in one piece?

Call me conservative, but I would not be so foolish as to do something that brash for fear I'd become the party's pinata.