Megyn Kelly thinks 'Blackface' is acceptable because it was when she was young

Halloween is right around the corner, and every year seems to bring new problems related to costume choice and cultural appropriation. On her show this past Tuesday, Megyn Kelly defends blackface and was visibly confused when asking why it was racist. “But what is racist?” Kelly said. “Because you do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface on Halloween, or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween. Back when I was a kid that was OK, as long as you were dressing up as, like, a character.” The following day, NBC aired a previously recorded show, hinting that Kelly’s time may have come to an end. Kelly apologized to her colleagues hours after making the comments and to her viewers the following morning in the first minute of her show. A New York Times article reported Al Roker said that Kelly, "owes a bigger apology to folks of color around the country."

Kirsten Powers wrote an opinion piece in USA Today where she claimed Kelly was making racist comments way before this. Whether it was calling Michelle Obama, Obama’s “Baby Mama,” or denying Department of Justice reports about the racism in Ferguson, Missouri, Kelly has been in this position before. Were her comments to far? I don’t think the diction was highly offensive. What I do think was highly offensive, was her blatant ignorance to the problem of blackface and her racism. She seems completely unaware of hegemony and the hierarchy of power existing in this country, and cannot even see the flagrant racism here. The fact that she said “character,” is baffling, and only serves to solidify my point further. At least she probably lost her job.