Tbf, if you think that at no point during the presumably lengthy amount of time it’d take you to smear boot polish makeup all over your body, you’d not at least once consider that it might not be such a great idea, especially in such a politically sensitive climate, then I doubt any explanation as to why it’s a bad thing would satisfy you.
It’s amazing to me that we’re still seriously discussing why blackface is inherently different from general fancy dress, or “That one Wayans Bros film from the 00s where they white up”... After years of wearing down the trolling claims that the N-word is no worse than Cracker or Honkey, the exact same argument refuses to die, just changes form.
It’s so fecking simple. Blackface, like the hook-nosed Jew trope (or the N-word) has a long and horrid history of malign influence and subjugation by parody that clearly isn’t there for “the Wayans dressing up as privilaged valley girls” or “Eddie Murphy pretending to be a stuffy businessman on SNL once”
Offense is as much about context as it is intent. If you absentmindedly told a crude “your mum” joke to a recently bereaved child, your lack of malicious intent doesnt erase their right to take offense, or the reasonable reason they did. And if you’re a normal, air breathing human being, you’d still feel bad, and likely apologise (or at best take care to not do it again) rather than stubbornly argue that you wouldn’t be upset by it, so they shouldn’t, and that your healthy happy family life has no bearing on that difference of opinion.
And for all the disingenuously argumentative Whattaboutism, there are still plenty of people blacking or browning up in today’s apparent “PC GONE MAD!!” World, far more so than minorities whitefacing. It’s not like it’s gone away. The difference these days is that it’s often used with the intention of ridiculing the person blacking up (like in say Tropic Thunder or Always Sunny) - where the joke is how stupid and offensive blacking up is to begin with, rather than how hilarious the stereotype. Its still fair game if you’re smart and thoughtful. Because context. And punching up. And obviousness.
As for this, it’s clearly so spectacularly misjudged in every conceivable way that it’s near impossible to be anything but an innocent faux pas. And I’m sure a few of his team mates will come out and defend him and that’ll be that. Doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be called out though. If only ‘cos letting it slide just gives license to others to excuse more malicious examples. Or to continue arguing that context doesn’t exist because they bought one of those Rasta hats with the dreds in on a beach once, and that’s basically the same. Also did you see that film White Chicks?