[chuff me dizzy]

Originally Posted by Livia

All this just throws up more questions for me.

Lawrence Olivier blacked up to play Othello. Was that wrong?

I saw Adrian Lester - a black actor - play King Henry V - who was most definitely a white man. Was that okay?

I've seen Eddie Murphy whited up playing a Jew. Is that wrong? If it had been a white man blacked up... people would have twisted themselves out of shape with rage but despite the various plights the Jews have faced, it's okay for a black man to white up to play one.

I see stuff on TV that depicts black people during [for instance] Victorian times in positions of power... Guardsmen, policemen... it wouldn't have happened. Now, is it okay to pretend the Victorians were all inclusive, or does that damage the truth, that at the time black people were thought of as less then the British working class?

A West End star - a white woman - was refused permission to sing a some from Dream Girls because the song is for a black woman and she is white. Dear God... can you imagine the uproar that would kick off if a black woman was refused permission to sing a song because of the colour of her skin?

Excellent !!