November 2, 2011 | 10:57 AM | By

Andre Agassi Darkens Skin for Mr. T Halloween Costume

Dressing up in a Halloween costume meant to represent an ethnic group is one thing, but what about dressing as a specific person of a race different than yours? And what if skin paint is part of the get-up? Retired tennis player Andre Agassi dressed up as Mr. T for Halloween and darkened his skin as part of the costume. He’s not the only athlete to wear such a costume this Halloween; hockey player Raffi Torres also darkened his skin for his Jay-Z costume.

There’s a long, painful history behind blackface, beginning in the 19th century when white actors painted their faces and depicted caricatures of African Americans in minstrel shows. Characters such as the mammy were shown to enjoy being slaves or couldn’t be trusted to be free. Sometimes black actors wore blackface and also played these caricatures. These stereotypes evolved and persisted through Reconstruction and well into the 20th century, and many scholars argue they served as the main representation of African Americans in mainstream media for decades.

Now, these athletes’ costumes are a far cry from the history of blackface; Agassi and Torres weren’t depicting stereotypes of black people, but were dressing up as specific people. A comic doing an impersonation would probably do the same. On the other hand, Mr. T and Jay-Z are quite iconic; perhaps these athletes could have pulled off their costumes without having to alter their skin color. And what if Agassi wanted to be famous white person – would he have felt the need to lighten his skin then? What’s your take? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.


To those of you who want to make a big deal out of the fact that Agassi used makeup to darken his skin: This picture was taken two days after Agassi raised $26.1 million for his charter school; the one that aims to represent underserved communities and gives college scholarships every year to deserving students, most of whom happen to be African-American. If Andre Agassi is racist, then I’m Steffi Graf.

Read more at: sports.yahoo.com

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=5738101 Bakari Kamau

    Not racist. He’s legitimately trying to get as close to Mr. T’s look as possible. If I were to dress as Bill Clinton for Halloween and money or effort were of no concern, I would go whiteface.

    Agassi is light enough to pass as most white people, excluding Conan O’Brien. Just like I wouldn’t darken my skin to impersonate Don Cheadle.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7JGJ7K3R4G534S5SOZ27D2FOOI Lynn

    Not racist at all. Nor would a man dressing as a woman personality be sexist, right? I don’t have to detail women’s right’s struggles in this country over the years, do I?
    By the way what was your take on Dwayne Wade lightening his skin to be Justin Timberlake for a Halloween party last year. Anyone accuse him of trying to “pass”?
    Of course not.
    Isn’t it about time for people to stop filtering the world through racial lens.
     

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7JGJ7K3R4G534S5SOZ27D2FOOI Lynn

    Not racist at all. Nor would a man dressing as a woman personality be sexist, right? I don’t have to detail women’s right’s struggles in this country over the years, do I?
    By the way what was your take on Dwayne Wade lightening his skin to be Justin Timberlake for a Halloween party last year. Anyone accuse him of trying to “pass”?
    Of course not.
    Isn’t it about time for people to stop filtering the world through racial lens.
     

  • Kbrundage

    It is ridiculous to think that a white person can only dress up as another white person and that a black person can only dress up as a black person.  Andre Agassi is a classy guy.  He was getting into the spirit of Halloween with his friends and family.  NOT a racist!