Some People Really Think Al Roker’s And Gabrielle Union’s Halloween Costumes Are The Same As Blackface
By Yesha Callahan ·
It seems as though some people have taken issue with Halloween costumes worn by Al Roker and Gabrielle Union. On Wednesday, Roker dressed up as Doc Brown, a white character from Back To The Future, and Gabrielle Union paid homage to Gwen Stefani circa 1995 and No Doubt’s music video for  “Spiderwebs.” Neither Roker or Union painted their faces white to portray Brown or Stefani, because you know, we’re a little bit smarter than that. But unfortunately, there are people on the internet who aren’t. Just take a look at the reactions to both photos:
It feels a little dumb to even have to explain this, but apparently there are people out there who still don’t understand why blackface and their costumes are two totally different things. In both instances, whiteface wasn’t used by Black people. Whiteface isn’t even a thing. And yes, I’d like to say that Black people are smarter and more creative to even employ such a tactic. Roker even issued a statement about his costume and figuratively dropped his mic: “I’m going to say this one last time, but the folks who get it, understand and the ones who DON’T, won’t,” he tweeted. “I can be Doc Brown, and I wear the outfit and wig and not change my skin color if you’re white, you can be President Obama if you want. Just don’t color your skin!” Something tells me that some people will still need an explainer.