White nurse gets fired after she and husband wear blackface for Beyoncé and Jay-Z costume

As shown in the images below, a white nurse and her husband got in trouble for wearing blackface as part of their Beyonce and Jay-Z costume this Halloween.

A former Saint Luke Hospital nurse found herself without a job after pictures of her from Halloween 2009 was brought to the hospital's attention. The woman and the man next to her in the images had dressed up as Beyonce and Jay-Z.

However, they took their costume a step too far. After the images were leaked from her Facebook page there was a massive public outcry.

The woman then wore a black curly wig, short skirt, black shirt, and tights. The man wore a beanie, chain around his neck, white t-shirt and blue jeans.

Unfortunately for the nurse, they went one step too far when they used dark makeup on their face and body to change their skin tone. The makeup resembled blackface which has deep racist roots.

WHY IS BLACKFACE OFFENSIVE?

Blackface started in the 1800's. It originated in American theatre before moving to film.

It involves white men donning blackface and performing exaggerated caricatures of African-American people. Blackface was intended to mock and publicly criticize black people and their culture.

According to experts, the continued usage of blackface diminished the struggles of an entire group of people. The message behind blackface was to show the low status of black people in society and often depicted them in a position of servitude.

THE DEBATE AROUND BLACKFACE:

The entire concept has often raised eyebrows but some people do not see anything wrong with Halloween outfits that utilize blackface. In the past, Megyn Kelly got into trouble after she shared her controversial views on her show.

She had said, "What's racist? Truly, you do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface for Halloween, or a black person who put on whiteface for Halloween. When I was a kid, it was OK as long as you were dressing up as, like, a character.

She went back to the point a number of times. She even defended a white reality star who had donned blackface as part of a Diana Ross outfit. She would later regret making the comments after losing her job at NBC Television.

Another Blackface Incident:

Three Australian football players from the Penguin Football Club got into major trouble after they were photographed in blackface. They dressed up as Serena and Venus Williams and soccer player Aliiir Aliir. They were reprimanded by the club for the images.

The continued use of blackface has caused many experts to demand that people be better educated on the implications of the racist trend.