November 3, 2009 6:30 AM

Controversy: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Whitney Isleib Allegedly Does Black-Face Lil' Wayne Costume

By
Edecio Martinez
Topics
Daily Blotter
(Facebook Photo)
(CBS/KTVT)
Photo: Whitney Isleib dressed as rapper Lil' Wayne for Halloween.

ARLINGTON, Texas (CBS/CBS11) Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Whitney Isleib has inadvertently stepped into a Halloween controversy by reportedly dressing up as soon-to-be incarcerated rapper Lil' Wayne in black-face.

PICTURES: Cheerleader Black Face Controversy

Photos of the blonde-haired cheerleader turned hip-hop impresario were posted to Facebook and eventually made their way to sports blog Deadspin.com.

Photo: Dallas Cheerleader Whitney Isleib.

PICTURES: Cheerleader Black Face Controversy

Offensive or just plain fun? Dallas fans are split.

"If she wasn't a Dallas cheerleader would it really matter? It's Halloween, you know. You get to go how you want to go" Cowboys fan Laura Pyhrr told CBS 11 Dallas at Sunday's game.

Another fan was less sure.

VIDEO COURTESY OF CBS AFFILIATE CBS 11 DALLAS

PICTURES: Cheerleader Black Face Controversy

"I'm assuming you would hold yourself up to a higher standard - especially if you're playing for the Cowboys. But wow, not much I can say about that - it speaks for itself" said fan Richard Vasquez.

No one from the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders or the team would officially comment, but a team spokesman told us the team is aware of the situation and addressing it internally.

Isleib was not available for comment following Sunday's game.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? All in good fun or totally tasteless?

Reporting Contributed by CBS Affiliate CBS 11


Add a Comment See all 507 Comments
by Mk_evans December 7, 2009 1:05 PM EST
Black face has 'racist' origins, there is no way around that, it was invented as a WEAPON used by whites to demonize black Americans and to justify slavery and perpetual second class status of American blacks, thus when a white person does BF even today, it will be at best SUSPECT.

Did this poor sheltered white girl know what she was doing? Probably not, therefore she should be given a pass, and let's face it, a certain amount of good came from this, she has reminded the world that black face (((STILL))) is ALWAYS a BAD idea.
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by moonzip December 16, 2009 10:18 PM EST
OH, good Lord. T-H-A-T W-A-S N-O-T B-L-A-C-K-F-A-C-E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Can it be that you can't even tell the difference?!?!?!?Besides, IMO,everyone already knows that only non-whites can be openly racist w/o issue, so I know she didn't mean anything other than what was intended. Why anyone would want to emulate him, EVEN on Halloween, is beyond me, but, whatever, that's another story.
by Alysmith13 November 18, 2009 6:38 PM EST
I personally know Whitney. Went to school with her and dance with since before I can remember. She is a wondeful person, not at all racist. She meant no offense to this. I think that little girls who look up to the cheerleaders should not see a problem with her dressing up like that. Who would get mad if she dressed up like Michael Jackson? Or Oprah? Just for Halloween. Most girls would have gone as something ******, but I think she pulled this off. Most definately not her best look, but not at all offensive.
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by sweetkissesangie November 18, 2009 4:26 PM EST
I am black woman, and I do not think this cheerleader meant anything racist by dressing up a lil wayne. I however have been to a Halloween party before where there was a guy that was dressed in "black face" with over-alls and a plaid shirt on. On his neck was a ring painted in red as if a rope had cut him. Now that is hurtful because you could obviously tell that was a racist act and very mean. I understand some people celebrate Halloween but it doesn't give them the right to hurt others. But in regards to this girl, I think she was having fun, I've seen this before actually from another professional cheerleader dressing up as a basketball player of the team she danced for.
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by Dle0055 November 15, 2009 5:31 PM EST
The reason this is so wrong is because of the history behind White people dressing in black face.... Hello....Minstrel shows.

If you don?t know about Minstrel shows here's a little history...

The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface.

Minstrel shows lampooned black people in mostly disparaging ways: as ignorant, lazy, buffoonish, superstitious, joyous, and musical. The minstrel show began with brief burlesques and comic entr'actes in the early 1830s and emerged as a full-fledged form in the next decade. By the turn of the century, the minstrel show enjoyed but a shadow of its former popularity, having been replaced for the most part by vaudeville. It survived as professional entertainment until about 1910; amateur performances continued until the 1960s in high schools, fraternities, and local theaters. As blacks began to score legal and social victories against racism and to successfully assert political power, minstrelsy lost popularity.
(Wikipedia)

While these shows no longer exist, their legacy remains. Racism is passed through generations, and even though people might think they are being funny, they are being hurtful. Unless you are black, you will never understand what it means to be black. I don't like to pull the race card, but it still exists. I went to the symphony on Sunday and an old white lady actually refused to use the bathroom stall she saw my mother come out of. So yeah things like blackface are hurtful, so don't do it.

I am black and I personally would not put on white makeup to be a white person. I dressed up as Madonna one year and I certainly did not paint my face white. Even if I did, there is not a history of racism like there is behind black face. People didn?t see a problem then, and clearly don't see a problem now, so what have we learned? Most of this is ignorance of the subject matter. Fact of the matter is that NO ONE should do it Cowboys cheerleader or not. Movies like Tropic Thunder and plain ignorance have made things like this socially acceptable. Yes I am guilty of laughing at that movie. But you know what, it was a movie, and in the movie they were being satirical. I do not feel that they were supporting blackface as something that is right to do. I would not tell a white friend of mine that it was ok to dress in Black face. Yeah, I joked about it with a friend of mine, but we did not go through with it, because it is in bad taste, it?s disrespectful, it?s hurtful and it?s ignorant. I feel that there has been a really big deal made out of it because the girl is a cowboy?s cheerleader. Now, a big deal should be made about anybody. I honestly don't think she understood why it?s not ok, and I don?t think it helped that there were black girls in the picture with her. Let?s just all be aware that there is a hurtful history behind black face and it shouldn't be done.
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by megan121313 December 2, 2009 12:13 PM EST
I'm going to have to disagree with you. The fact that you say that a black person could dress up like a white person and put on a 'white face' and it's not bad, shouldnt even come to mind if you're against this. I understand that the traditional 'black face' is a racial thing that we would all like to put behind us. But if this woman would have dressed up as Michael Jackson, like so many people, black, white, hispanic, asian, did this last Halloween it would not be an issue. Is this because he was fair complected? Sure. Sure it is. But that shouldnt make a difference if you're against her dressing up like lil wayne. She didnt mean any harm by it. Please. She wasnt being racist or doing the original 'black face' look with the exagerrated lips and messed up hair. She was being lil wayne. Give me a break. We can all laugh if someone pokes a joke at a white person regardless of their color, but unless you're black and you poke a joke at a black person it's blasphame. It was all in good fun. She wasnt trying to be disrespectful or hurtful. I would say that 90% of Americans arent racist. Many of my best friends are black. You want to get rid of racism, well it starts with ALL of us. White people, black people or otherwise. Get rid of things like BET, and other things geared towards a specific racial group. It just adds fuel to the fire. Chances are, you werent a slave or have ever been one. I think everyone would like to put this behind us and move on. It wasnt 'black face'.
by lwaxana November 12, 2009 1:58 PM EST
I don't see what the problem is. It's halloween. People dress up as witches and you don't see witches getting upset. I mean really, we are going to create controversy out of this? It's a costume. She went as Lil' Wayne, to party where a couple of the blurred faces are men dressed as a baby girl and a mom carrying the baby. Really? Why is no one pointing fingers there and saying something about men wearing costumes like women? I'm more concerned about the innaproriate costumes being provided to our children. Sexy pirates, sexy vampires, sexy ____....They're tweens! Not adults...
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by southernlady92660 November 11, 2009 2:14 AM EST
I also would like to add that there is Black Entertainment Telivision (BET). Some white people might consider this offensive; we don't have White Entertainment Television. That would cause an uproar!! Minorities need to understand that you can't have it both ways. Reverend Jesse Jackson is a prime example. He is always the first one to start screaming "racism", but yet he spit in white people's food when he worked in a restaurant. Look at the pot calling the kettle black! Oh my, that quote will be considered racist because it has the work black in it.
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by icanseeyou November 10, 2009 7:56 PM EST
by quotelawrence November 9, 2009 11:11 PM EST
"I once dressed up as a black person, and ran into the same double standard black people can dress up as anyone white or black and they can merely claim it is a joke, you know like calling their girl friend Ho's, & *******, but if a white person dresses up like a black person it is racist and bigotry. the cowardice of our courts and our legislative bodies uphold racial promotion, when it comes to minorities but what does it say when the majority or democracy speaks it says no, Minorities are running America because we as Americans have become so shameful of our past histories, think about belonging to a race that was so weak that anyone could take slaves, that still to this day have so many children that they starve rather than practice birth control, ignorance is a problem but it is also a way of life, and to adopt ignorance one merely says I will stop honoring my Mother and Father and their heritage and wish for my children to be a mixed creed ignorance and selfishness, America."

Finally a voice of reason. i.e, KKK reason. Cheerleader Whitney is innocent, but, you, quotalawrence, are a racist. Your post is drenched with it.
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by oleseven November 10, 2009 6:13 PM EST
As painful as it is to admit it, racism is still a serious problem in this society. Black and brown people are 25 percent of the drug users in this country but make up 90 percent of those in prison for drug possession. White people are 70 percent of the drug users yet are only ten percent of the persons in prison for such a crime. A 2001 report from the Department of Justice found that black women were 9 times more likely than white women to be stopped at airports and searched for contraband but white women were 2 times more likely than black women to actually have drugs on them. More blacks than whites are pulled over by police on suspicion of having contraband but white people are actually more likely to have contraband in these incidents. Studies show that at least a third of businesses have discriminated in hiring based on race. A National Opinion research survey in the early 90's found that 50 to 60 percent of whites were willing to admit to holding the view that blacks are generally lazier, more prone to violence, etc. than whites. In a September 2008 AP poll, 60 percent of likely Democratic voters admitted to having negative views about blacks in general but still planned to vote for Obama. A big stereotype that polling among whites has revealed is that whites associate blacks with welfare dependency, even though 5 of 6 blacks have never received welfare and the vast majority of people receiving welfare are white. A Wall Street Journal article in 1995 showed that around 70 percent of whites with bad credit could still get a mortgage but only 16 percent of blacks with bad credit could do so. Does this mean that Whitney is racist for wearing the costume? No, but it does address the fact that we still have serious challenges to overcome concerning skin color in our country.
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by southernlady92660 November 11, 2009 2:08 AM EST
First of all, where did you get your statistics from? Not sure they are from a reliable source. Yes it is true that racism exists; but that goes both ways. It does not only come from white people. My sister was a sergeant with a police department in the south, and when she passed all her tests to become a leiutenant, she was passed over, not by people who scored better that her, but by black people, because of the color of their skin. Most businesses are required to hire a certain percentage of minorities, which has nothing to do with their qualifications. Was my sister discriminated against? You bet she was!! Her scores were much higher, but the police department didn't want to appear racist. Maybe if some (not all) minorities would quit pulling the race card every time something happens to them, white people might stop looking at them like they were second-class citizens.
by oleseven November 11, 2009 9:07 AM EST
If you really want to know about statistics I can only invite you to investigate for yourself. I don't think it would be productive for us to get into a debate about the validity of stats and sources. I totally agree that racism does not only come from white people. There are a very few situations in America where black people have the power to have a real effect on peoples lives. Let me be clear, what happened to your sister is dead wrong and must be confronted. At the same time we must confront all of the systemic injustice that exist in our society. We need to get out of our denial about race in America. I believe that if we acknowledged our challenges and then developed real solutions, we (Americans) could truly lead the world, spiritually, morally and econimically.
by HatrPruf November 10, 2009 2:59 PM EST
Here's the thing, MOST OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY DOESNT CARE ABOUT THIS PICTURE AND WE SHOULDNT. Its the media. I'm sorry but the few of us that have taken the time to even look at this picture all laughed. Please stop taking the quotes of a few 'angry black men/women' and making them the voice of all blacks. None of them speak for me. I didnt hire Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson or any of those other blacks who call themselves speaking up for 'our people'. The only person that should be doing things on behalf of me is my President. Stop allowing the media to make you all think that this issue is as big as they make it seem. I think she was hilarious and I wish I would've come up with that idea for a costume.
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by Mk_evans December 7, 2009 1:23 PM EST
But that does not mean that whites is black face is fine today, it is not and will not be for quite some time to come.
by Chandranicole November 10, 2009 1:39 AM EST
This kind of crap makes me SOOOO MAD!!! It was a Halloween Costume for crying out loud and they're trying to make this sound RACIAL!?! WTH?? That racial thing is seriously a one way street for us whites!! I'll have to tune into CNN's "BLACK IN AMERICA" to watch the details.. I mean not that that's a Racial show or anything against whites... OH WAIT I gotta run... A rerun of 'WHITE CHICKS' with the Black Waynes Brothers is coming on!!!! I love the part where they dress up as ditzy white girls! Excellent movie that's totally not racial towards whites! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
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