Yes, blackface is offensive. And no, ignorance is not an excuse.

IF YOU don’t understand the problem with blackface, you need to read this story. There are very good reasons why it’s unacceptable.

There is no justification for blackface.

LET’S get one thing straight: whether you’re intending to cause offence or not, there is no justification for blackface. Ignorance is no excuse.

Not in 2016. Not after scandal upon scandal, where everybody from Delta Goodrem to Alice Kunek has come under fire over photos of white people painting their skin dark.

And certainly not in an age where – thanks to the internet – we have more access to knowledge of its historical meaning than ever before.

If the message still isn’t getting through, here it is again.

WHAT IS BLACKFACE?

At its core, blackface has and always will be about the mockery and vilification of black people. It originated in the 1800s in the form of Minstrel shows - a crude but prevalent form of theatre where white actors would paint their skin black, exaggerate the size of their lips and put on ragged clothes.

They would take to the stage to play up crude stereotypes of black people, acting in a loud, dimwitted and uncouth manner, reinforcing the dominant viewpoint at the time that they were a lower class of people.

Don’t forget that black people were still slaves during these earlier performances, and continued to face social discrimination and a lack of privilege from their liberation in 1863 to... well, really, the present day.

Blackface “performances” continued right up until the 1960s. It wasn’t until the success of the Civil Rights Movement that these depictions were finally deemed unacceptable, and accepted as a social taboo.

No, it doesn’t matter if the person in blackface is only paying tribute to an African-American idol. It will always have its roots in an ugly, discriminatory form of theatre, of which the sole purpose was to perpetuate stereotypes which still largely affect the community today.

‘THERE IS NO DEBATE’

Earlier this year, indigenous writer Nakkiah Lui succinctly tackled the issue on Triple J.

“When it comes to blackface there isn’t a debate,” she said.

“If a group of people who are the marginalised group, who are still facing racism, who are still facing inequality because of their race, who have to carry the burden of history on their skin and their culture every single day, if they’re telling you that ‘hey, this is offensive to me, it has a loaded history, it’s making me feel uncomfortable, it’s making me feel like a second-class citizen’, it’s not up to the dominant culture — and in this situation that’s white people — to say ‘Why? Why is this making you feel uncomfortable? Because it doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable’.”

That’s why there was a public backlash this past weekend, when Aussie Rules club Frankston Bombers held an “iPod Shuffle” themed costume party which saw numerous players dress in blackface.

That’s why Liz Cambage slammed Alice Kunek for painting her face brown back in February, even though her teammate was just trying to dress like her favourite rapper Kanye West. (Kunek later apologised in a series of tweets.)

That’s why people made it clear to Delta Goodrem that it wasn’t acceptable to endorse a photo of a fan dressed as her fellow The Voice judge Seal, even though she initially saw no harm in it.

That’s why Hey Hey It’s Saturday’s second reunion special in 2009 drew international condemnation, after five men essentially performed a Minstrel show to reenact their skit The Jackson Jive. That’s also why Harry Connick Jr gave it a score of zero.

Most people have finally realised it’s not acceptable – regardless of intent or circumstance. And ignorance is no excuse.