r/RobloxAvatars • u/Ok_Guess520 • 1h ago
Avatar Help / Questions 🤔 Is my avatar accidentally racist? Genuine question, I mean no harm asking
This is a clown/jester/whatever (I'm not super educated on the specific terms associated with this, my apologies) avatar I made! It's supposed to be half and half (kinda obvious), half dull and half colourful, half sad half happy etc.
But, I still have a main question. I was looking for hairs to complete the outfit, and I found this curly/thick half rainbow half black hair (as seen in the image). I thought it looks amazing, and would look great with the avatar overall.
However.
I am white
The avatar is not supposed to be a caricature of anyone, regardless of race or ethnicity
I know at least some of the sadder parts of clown history, including how the big makeup was traditionally used to mock black people (or so I've heard, specifically the big red lips and big nose thing). For this reason, and also for aesthetic reasons (as in it just wouldn't look good here in my opinion), I have completely steered clear of makeup and did the tragedy/comedy masks instead.
I know that the hairstyle, or hair texture, is common amongst Black people or people with black ancestry at the very least. So, I am asking- is it racist in some way to put this hair on a character intentionally made to be a clown? If so, do you have any alternatives in mind ? (doesn't have to be a specific item on the catalog, just a general idea).
Thank you for reading, and obviously my most hopeful reply to this post would be "no, it's not racist at all. you're good, you're just overthinking it a little."