It’s safe to agree that Blackface is not a good look. Thanks to Black Lives Matter, several shows, including 30 Rock, The Office and Community, have pulled episodes featuring characters in Blackface, and celebs, including Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon, have apologized for performing in it.
But now many are saying Hulu jumped the gun in pulling a Golden Girls episode from 1988, showing Blanche (Rue McClanahan) and Rose (Betty White) were wearing mud masks.
"This is mud on our faces," White says in the episode. "We’re not really black."
Twitter is not having it. Writer Roxane Gay tweeted: "That Golden Girls episode isn’t blackface. What the hell ? ... Removing this episode is weird, counterproductive and stupid. It diminishes the effort to actually end racism. It’s just so dumb."
Another wrote: "First of all, they were in mud masks not blackface. And second of all, in what world does 'Stop killing us.' sound like 'Please remove episodes of Golden Girls'? I didn't see that ask on anyone's protest sign..."