So let's see. Blacking up up can't qualify as a morally reprehensible thing to do unless actual black people complain about it. White people who share those exact same sentiments, though, have no voice. They may think the same thoughts but their complaints are contrived, bogus, condescending middle-class offence-taking.

Well strike me down. I've fought racism, as a teacher and trade unionist, both the deliberate and undeliberate kinds of racism, all my life. Blacking up doesn't directly affect me because I'm not a black man and I've never seen it done. It's not a question of my taking some kind of sanctimonious offence over it (of all the things on Mudcat I could take offence over, this is the least of my worries). This is the 21st century. We live in a global village in which racism is a big issue that is much aired. There's been progress. It is not sixties Britain in which you could run a successful election campaign with the slogan "If you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Labour" (Smethwick). You don't see postcards in landladies' windows any more that say "no coloureds." You can't kick black people out of bus seats any more. The world has moved on. Every tradition worth its salt moves on. Here's something: if you black up you just MAY offend someone - and you know it. You'd have to be pig-ignorant not to in this day and age. So just don't do it. You don't have to. Use blue and no-one will notice. I would never ban blacking up, but I would go out of my way to make its practitioners feel bloody uncomfortable if I came across them.