Why ‘brownface’ hurts

Reading about the recent ‘brownface’ controversy in Singapore brought back some painful memories from my childhood. I remember how some of my Chinese classmates took something innate to me, the colour of my skin, and used it to amuse themselves. For instance, they would switch off the light in the classroom and pretend I had become invisible. They would then ask me to smile so that my white teeth would allow them to locate me. It was rather humiliating but I didn’t for a second think they were racists. They were, after all, my friends. But they were ignorant and oblivious to their casual racism. <a href="https://medium.com/the-long-and-short-of-it/why-brownface-hurts-2024b34ff646">Website</a>