Back when I was attending medical school at St. Louis University in Missouri, the governor of the state was a man we called “Blackface” Mel Carnahan. Before he became Governor of Missouri, Blackface Mel used to participate in these “blackface” shows that satirized the alleged stupidity and laziness of black people. White actors including the governor would put black pigment on their faces and do obviously stupid and slothful things in order to ridicule black people. The saddest part about the whole story was that the St. Louis American, one of the top African-American newspapers in the country, endorsed Blackface Mel for governor and later for Senate. For the record, I voted for the other guy.
Please don’t confuse me with Blackface Mel. My skin is naturally very dark as a South Indian. Not one drop of black pigment came anywhere near my handsome face anytime when I was posing as black, hence it is factually inaccurate to call it “blackface.” Moreover, I was not an actor or a performer intent on spreading any message. I kept my actions private, and hoped that no one would find out about it. I didn’t publicize what I did until I learned that my alma mater UCLA might reinstate affirmative action 15 years later.
My goal was to get into medical school, not publicly humiliate or degrade anyone.
