Is Shirley Temple's Blackface as "The Littlest Rebel" ( where she danced with a black man ) demeaning and hurtful?
They were demeaning and hurtful because they mocked blacks, who were a hated underclass, as stupid fools. There were intended to be demeaning and hurtful. That was the whole joke from start to finish.
I was a foreign student in Japan on scholarship from the Japanese Minisitry of Education (Monbusho) in the 1980’s.
We had a Halloween party at a nearby University ( Osaka Gaidai ) with both Japanese and Foreign students attending.
One German guy came as “Shintaro the Samurai”, complete with his eyes looking chinky and wearing a samurai suit.
Guess what? Everyone applauded him ( including the Japanese students ) and he won the best costume that night.
The Japanese were not offended by a white man trying to look like a Japanese. Why are we suddenly so worked up over this?
As for putting on a blackface, why should it be interpreted today as MOCKERY? Why can’t it be seen as playful fun like the German wanting to look like a Samurai?
You are entitled to your interpretation, and I’m not trying to change it. I am pointing out that there are other interpretations and an intelligent, open minded person will recognize that.
I believe this is another situation where insensitivity or buffoonery or clowning to get paid for providing laughs gets weaponized into an instrument of attempted racial guilt infliction. I decline to participate as a victim or a member of the racial lynch mob.
You deserve a Social Justice Warrior medal with two stars for political correctness.