Phoenix Coyotes forward Raffi Torres attended his team's annual Halloween party as Jay-Z, while his wife was done up as Beyonce. Oh, and by the way, he's not black and neither is she.
As one of my favorite hockey blogs Puck Daddy pointed out, Torres was "immediately criticized and demonized" as a knee-jerk reaction for going in what some felt was blackface. Believe it or not, Torres is the NHL's first Mexican / Peruvian player, and dealt with racial conflict as he grew up while he played youth hockey in Toronto (his mother was told that Raffi "should be selling tacos" and his father once tacked another hockey parent because of taunts).
Similarly in 2009, players Adam Burish and Patrick Kane went to a Halloween party dressed as Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls, with darkened skin. Despite the backlash, neither player offered an apology, and neither should Torres, who is nothing more than a huge Jay-Z fan.
Adds Puck Daddy, "The offensive nature of "blackface" is rooted in its representation of a racist archetype. Clearly, the...players were dressed and made up as real people rather than a stereotype manifested through exaggerated appearance. Other than the color of their skin, there's nothing stereotypical or embellished about their appearance as black men. It could be argued that their skin tone is as relevant as the jersey or fake tattoos."
Perhaps it's the sensitivity spawned from a recent Ohio University ad campaign dealing with costumes that focus on different cultures, but as a costume alone, what's really offensive about it? We'll wait for you to come up with something...
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