Tyra Banks Uses Blackface on Models in Photo Shoot

The term " Blackface " refers to using black makeup on a model to impersonate someone of another race, usually African American. According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary the term means " makeup applied to a performer playing a black person especially in a minstrel show;also : a performer wearing such makeup.

Read the following news article and post a comment .

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerindex?id=6585495

'America's Next Top Model' Creates Stir After 'Bi-Racial' Photo Shoot

Thu Oct 29, 12:28 PM PDT

Weeks after an Australian variety show made headlines around the world after a group of white performers donned blackface to perform as the Jackson brothers, Tyra Banks is making headlines herself for turning her latest "America's Next Top Model" candidates bi-racial for a photo shoot.

During Wednesday night's "ANTM" episode on The CW, Tyra took the remaining six young women of Cycle 13 to Hawaii, where she took pictures of the models after they were transformed into different races.

Tyra told bleach blonde Erin Wagner she was going to be "Tibetan, like the Dali Lama, and Egyptian"; Southern belle Laura Kirkpatrick was put into makeup to look "Mexican and Greek"; Jennifer An, who is Korean, was told she was going to be "Botswanan and Polynesian"; African-American Sundai Love was made to look "Moroccan and Russian"; redheaded Nicole Fox was "Malagasy and Japanese," while blonde Brittany Markert was put into makeup to look "Native American and East Indian."

While the only things that seemed to confuse the lithe models on the show were particulars about the countries, nationalities and races they were representing, some members of the press are calling foul.

E! News asked whether the shoot was "Racy or Racist?" noting the girls were "coated in creams to darken their skin tone." Over at Entertainment Weekly, a writer noted that the models acted "like there's nothing socially charged at all about race-as-costume." And AOL TV, ran a recap under the headline "Tyra Banks Puts 'Top Models' In Blackface. When Did This Become OK?"

But while the current controversy is new, "America's Next Top Model" has changed the skin tone of their models before, back during Season 4.

A rep for "American's Next Top Mode" had no comment when contacted by Access about the controversy.

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This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:http://tv.yahoo.com/news/article/tv.accesshollywood.com/americas-next-top-model-creates-stir-after-biracial-photo-shoot-20091029

ABC NEWS What Would You Do? Series "Up Close With Racism"

Please access the following website and watch the experiment on racial prejudice as seen on ABC News' What Would You Do? "Up Close With Racism". Wait a few moments for the video to upload. Then, watch the video and post a comment.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/popular-test-gauges-racial-gender-weight-age-bias/story?id=8938513&partner=yahoo

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/popular-test-gauges-racial-gender-weight-age-bias/story?id=8938513&partner=yahoo

Comment on the article about prejudice.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor

The Logan family saga continues in this novel about the trials that as an African American family they face during the 1930s , a time of racial discrimination and economic depression.

As the main character, Cassie, again witnesses the racism that the white men inflict on her own family and their African American community of men and women. This time , though, the men are more threatening than Mr. Andersen is in "Song of the Trees". Now the reader gets a glimpse of the Ku Klux Klan, a racial suppremacist group that even includes the town sheriff and the wealthy landowner, Mr. Harland Granger.

Does the reader perceive any positive elements in Cassie's world despite the prejudice set against her and her family?

Short story- "Song of the Trees" by Mildred Taylor

Cassie Logan ,along with her three brothers, parents and grandmother, lives in a Mississippi farm inherited from her late grandfather,Paul Edward Logan.

Seh shares her love for the forest with her father,David.

Both father and daughter consider the land as a legacy that must be passed on from generation to generation.

They are proud to be the owners of such a magnificent expanse of land and are willing to defend their legacy from people like Mr. Andersen.

What legacy inherited from your ancestors do you treasure the same way ?

Summer Reading The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

" Dickon, Mary and Colin's Friendships :Everyone Wins"

Mary , Dickon and Colin's friendship benefits them in different ways.

First, Mary becomes healthy both physically and emotionally. Second, Dickon's self-confidence grows when he teaches Mary how to plant seeds and how to distinguish the flowers. Finally, Colin learns how to walk, makes new friends and reconciles with his father. Having friends gives the children a new outlook on life and makes them dream of a bright future.

Welcome to the English class blog. The purpose of this blog is to give students the opportunity to blog about short stories, novels, poems and other material done in class.

Some of the assigments require that you blog about a specific question regarding the reading, but you can blog on any particular topic whenever you like.

On our first week, we will discuss the novel The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnet.

Two of the elements of the novel that we will focus on in the blog are : Characterization and Conflict.
Characterization helps the reader understand the character and his motives better.There are six ways to achieve characterization:

1. by the things the character says : "You daughter of a pig! " Mary tells Martha .

With these words, we can tell that Mary is rude and spoiled.

from The Secret Graden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

2. by the things that other character say about the main character:

" If Papa was here,them ole white men wouldn't be messing with our trees."

from "Song of the Trees"

3. by describing how the character looks and dresses

" Yollie's mother, Mrs. Moreno, was a large woman who wore a muumuu and

butterfly-shaped glasses."

from "Mother and Daughter" by Gary Soto

4. by letting you listen to the character's thoughts and feelings

"Roger watched, horrified, as Miss Orville's figure proceeded among the aisles

inspecting notebook."

from " Miss Awful " by Arthur Cavanaugh

5. by showing you what the character does

" The female triceratops smelled something. Her sense of sight was very poor, so

she turned to face what was causing the strange odor.Wisps of smoke sailed

through the trees."

from " The Last Dinosaur " by Jim Murphy

6. by telling you directly what the character's personality is like ( cruel, kind,sneaky,

brave and so no )

" He was brown like us, a plump kid with shiny black hair combed straight back,

neat, cool and faintly obnoxious."

from " Barrio Boy" by Ernesto Galarza