Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Drag, Blackface and the Catholic League’s Perpetual Victimhood

Drag, Blackface and the Catholic League’s Perpetual Victimhood

Last updated on: February 9, 2019 at 3:50 pm by Mary Pezzulo

Drag, Blackface and the Catholic League’s Perpetual Victimhood 2019-02-09T15:50:19-04:00 Mary Pezzulo

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I didn’t really want to talk about blackface again this month, or at all.

Still, the news runs in cycles and so do bloggers. Everyone’s talking about blackface now, so I’ll stay on the topic.

Today, my attention was drawn to a very short op ed put out by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights on their website. It’s penned by the inimitable grouch Bill Donohue, whom I called a boiled ham a couple of years ago and have also criticized for mocking the dead. There was a time in my life when I admired Donohue, but I formed my conscience.

I particularly don’t admire him today.

Today’s piece is a fallacious comparison between blackface and drag shows, and I’m going to respond to it in its entirety, one bit at a time. There’s plenty to unpack. It’s a prime example of where Donohue often goes so horribly wrong. Yes, Catholics have been persecuted in history and sometimes are today, even sometimes right here in America. Yes, that needs to be addressed as all injustice needs to be addressed. No, no one deserves to be persecuted for their religion. I do think it can be problematic, depending on the context, if someone who isn’t Catholic dresses up like a nun to mock Catholicism– sometimes it might well be incisive critique, but a lot of the time it’s just plain mockery. But Donohue’s signature touch is to rope every single issue in the news cycle into his own ideological bubble and use it to whine about how Catholics, more than anyone else, are a suffering persecuted minority. In doing so he tramples on every other minority and makes himself sound like a whiny child. It’s a poor witness for anyone leading an organization with the word “Catholic” in its name to give to the world.

Donohue begins:

What’s wrong with blackface? What ethical rule is broken by those who think it is funny? Surely not a rule which finds it morally objectionable to mimic another racial, ethnic, or religious group.

In the Arts section of the February 7 edition of the New York Times, there was an article, “Singer Begins New Phase ‘Stripping Off the Veil,’” that featured drag artist Charles Busch. A photo captures him dancing in his new cabaret show, “Native New Yorker.” He is wearing a nun’s habit, pulling his garb well above his knees so he can display his black stockings. The caption below notes he is wearing his “drag costume.”

I have never heard of Charles Busch until now, but that’s because I don’t go to homosexual events. To be blunt, his immature antics are not my concern. The New York Times is.

I’m sure “homosexual events” in general are extremely grateful you lost their invitation, Bill. You don’t exactly sound like the life of the party. And this is not getting into the issue that drag shows aren’t just a generic “homosexual event,” and that the work of Charles Busch is a lot more than”immature antics.” He’s a notable actor and playwright who’s been involved with film, Broadway and television for decades.

The New York Times objects to blackface stunts but finds it entirely acceptable to publish a photo of a man in drag mocking nuns.

Bluntly, that’s because “nun” isn’t a race. I’m sure that if Mr. Busch had been in drag and blackface, as an African-American nun, the Times wouldn’t have published the photo except to condemn him. That’s not a double standard. The Times considers blackface offensive in a way that drag isn’t. And for the record, as a Catholic, so do I.

Similarly, this same newspaper never objects to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a tax-exempt organization based in San Francisco that features homosexual men dressed in a nun’s habit; they mock them in several ways. Those who defend this group say the Sisters give to charity.

Maybe we need an Al Jolson Society to test the moral compass of the Times. Imagine white guys with blackface who mock blacks while donating money to fight sickle cell anemia. What would the Times say about that?

I don’t care for the costumes of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence either, because I think it’s tacky and rude to make fun of other people’s faith. But it’s certainly not an issue that occupies a great deal of my time. When two of their members received Communion at a Catholic church in their tacky costumes? I call that extremely offensive. The costumes themselves aren’t horrendously so, to me.

America

art

catholic conspiracy alarmism

Catholic Oppositional Disorder

Public face of Catholicism

Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights

sisters of perpetual indulgence

slavery

stereotype

whiny

Previous Post

February 6, 2019

Babies, Bombs and the State of the Union

Next Post

February 13, 2019 February is Gray on Gray

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion Abuse Advent America American Christianity angel angels Annunciation Appalachia apparition apparition chaser apparition chasers apparition culture art art review babies baby baby Jesus Bad Lip Reading bad statue contest bath beauty Bible story blog blogkeeping blood book review Brandon Sanderson breastfeeding bus Catholic catholic conspiracy alarmism Catholic Oppositional Disorder Charismatic Renewal Charlie the Cat chastity Christ Christian idenitity Christianity and Judaism Chronic Illness clean clothing COD piece comedy compassion conscience conspiracy theory conversion cop-on-black violence Crucifixion cry of the poor culture Daesh Daily Saints death death penalty devotional diaconate diaper diapers dirty disability Donald Trump Dorothy Day dream drugs Eastern Catholicism Eastern Christianity education election election update Elsewhere on Patheos empathy environment Fear feminism film review fish flashback fluffy buns food Franciscan University of Steubenville Friendship Room fun Gabriel gardening gospel hair-splitting Heaven hell heresy Hillary Clinton history Holly the Witch Holy Spirit holy war Homeschooling homosexuality horror human dignity humor Icon idol immigrants infection inter-religious dialogue Interpretation of Scripture Islam Jesus Jihad Joseph joy laity and lay vocations lamb dinner laundry lent lgbtq literature love manners Mary Medicine and Science Meditation mercy mess milk misogyny Missouri monasticism monster motherhood mourn with those mourn movies movis music mystery nature neurodiversity New Pro-Life Movement news nonsense nostalgia O antiphons obituary objectification Ohio Valley Ordinary Time ordination Ordo Amoris parable paradox Passover peanut butter personal beliefs pets philosophy Planet Charismatic poetry politics polls poop Pope Francis Pope Leo power in the Church prayer prayer request prayers preferential option for non-violence president presidential election priest primary private revelation pro-life prophecy Public face of Catholicism Pure Flix Q and A race racism random rape rape. sexuality reader's request Reckoners refugee religious trauma ressurrection Right to life Saints saints and celebrations same-sex same-sex marriage satire scandal secular feasts seder Seven Joys Seven Last Words sex sexual ethics sexuality silencing six months skid row slavery social justice Speculative fiction spiritual abuse spoon stain story suffering suffrage suffragette Sunday Gospel temple Tenebrae Responsories Terror the exorcist The Friendship Room The New Pro-Life Movement Things I Learned on the Internet tin cup traffic true story tv review Uncategorized USCCB vice and temptation violence Virtue virtue and vice war Way of the Cross whimsy whole life women's ordination work of mercy Year A

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was Boaz's mother?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Naomi Rahab Ruth Sarah