Mayoral Candidate Gives Non-Apology For Performing In Black Face
Any politician who doesn’t know that performing in black face is obscenely racist, is not fit for office. It’s amazing that someone with this sense of judgment would even attract enough of a following to win an election.
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[su_right_ad]A white mayoral candidate in Oklahoma is apologizing to voters after videos surfaced of him wearing black face and performing in drag as a black woman named “Pollyester Kotton.”
Bill Helton, who is currently serving as Elk City’s commissioner and works as a hair dresser, claims that the character was inspired by one of his African American clients. He has been hosting fundraisers and community events across the state as the “Pollyster Kotton” character since 2005.
“It’s just satire, she’s a character,” Helton told KFOR, NewsChannel 4. “Anyone that’s offended, I would sit down and talk to them. Because my heart is, I would never do that and want to help whoever I can help,” Helton said.
whatthe46 March 21st, 2015 at 10:12 pm
just when i thought…
bluejayray March 22nd, 2015 at 12:58 am
…racism in the United States was over…
Somebody should send the Supreme Court a truckload of examples like this and the many other ways that racism is so NOT over in the U.S.
rg9rts March 22nd, 2015 at 2:24 am
They wouldn’t get it
bpollen March 21st, 2015 at 10:37 pm
“He has been hosting fundraisers and community events across the state as the “Pollyster Kotton” character since 2005.”
It may play in Muskogee, but would he pretend to be Medea in Harlem?
fancypants March 21st, 2015 at 11:03 pm
“It’s just satire, she’s a character,” Helton told KFOR, NewsChannel 4. “Anyone that’s offended, I would sit down and talk to them
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good idea
stand up comedy would never buy it
jstsmlbrlcnsrvtvguy March 21st, 2015 at 11:12 pm
Maybe time to lighten up a bit. The guy was playing a character (who happens to be a black woman). Probably hard enough running for mayor as a gay (seeming, anyway) hairdresser in a place like Oklahoma without being tarred as being a racist (or maybe that would get him votes(?)). Was it “obscenely racist” for Eddie Murphy to play an elderly Jewish guy on SNL?
bluejayray March 22nd, 2015 at 12:55 am
You’d have to have been living under a moss-covered rock for the last 40-50 years to think that this was in any way OK. And if he’s trying to conceal the fact that he’s gay–well I could think of better ways.
As to your question–no.
jstsmlbrlcnsrvtvguy March 22nd, 2015 at 12:17 pm
Maybe you’re right… Eddie Murphy is an artist who’s done cutting edge stuff… (I don’t think he did any Anne Frank jokes… that would be over the line)… some guy in Oklahoma doing schtick in a dress… could be racist… hard to judge, having only seen a couple seconds of it.
tracey marie March 22nd, 2015 at 4:58 pm
in black face, that is the issue not the dress
jstsmlbrlcnsrvtvguy March 22nd, 2015 at 9:06 pm
Maybe Gene Wilder was engaging in obscene racism when he did that thing (w/Richard Pryor) in Silver Streak (?) with the shoe polish, and maybe that John Howard Griffin guy (author of ‘Black Like Me’) was being a total racist when he did “blackface” (with UV light and chemicals which may have killed him)… it’s racist if you decide it’s racist…for you. Maybe this guy doesn’t have a racist bone in his body, and is running against someone too savvy and crafty to do something like that, but who excels at using racist (or other) dogwhistles… (like many in the GOP/Tea Party crowd).
bpollen March 22nd, 2015 at 9:22 pm
You’re really working this shtick… As your mother would tell you, we aren’t talking about those other people. And whether or not THEIR behavior is over the top really is NOT pertinent to this instance. He either is or is not acting inappropriately. What other people do doesn’t change what he did. Should your behavior be based on your neighbor’s?
Really gotta wonder about someone who wants to be known as the defender of blackface…
jstsmlbrlcnsrvtvguy March 22nd, 2015 at 10:48 pm
I really don’t know if I’d think that whatever it was that he was doing was “appropriate” or not. only saw a couple of seconds worth… maybe you saw more, or don’t have to.
not sure why you’d think I’d want to be known as “the defender of blackface” instead of maybe a supporter of freedom of expression and one who doesn’t much care for knee-jerk condemnations and the tyranny of political correctness.
bpollen March 22nd, 2015 at 10:56 pm
Dress it up however you want. You’re the one defending his use of blackface.
jstsmlbrlcnsrvtvguy March 22nd, 2015 at 10:58 pm
if you say so…
tracey marie March 22nd, 2015 at 9:59 pm
wow, you are either extremely stupid or intentionally ignorant, neither makes you look good
bluejayray March 22nd, 2015 at 12:50 am
I’ll bet one of his best friends is black, and one other is a drag queen, so this can’t POSSIBLY be offensive because derp…
rg9rts March 22nd, 2015 at 2:22 am
Maybe someone should show him a calendar ….its 2015 not 1915