So here's a little information for you then:

The Morris who blacken their faces are called Border or Silurian Morris - not to be confused with Cotswold Morris, who are the one's who wave hankies around ,or any of the several other variations like Clog Morris etc.

Border Morris is a much 'darker' (in the spiritual sense) form of Morris and generally originated (and is still danced in earnest) on the borders of Wales and England and is a winter dance form in origin.

Generally it is only the main part of the face that is blackened for the dance, not the neck or hands (although the BBC seem to have found a photo of one dancer who has blackened his neck- trust the BBC!), which, quite correctly implies that it is not a 'minstrel' type attempt to look black.

Way back in the early middle ages, during the winter months, when times were hardest for the farm labourers and peasants, survival often depended on begging - but this was against the law and would result in a worker and his family being turned out of their home and off the land. In order to get round this (and survive) they blackened their faces to disguise their identities (by candlelight or lamplight in winter this would have been easily done)and danced for whatever they could earn around the taverns and posting houses.

So, basically nothing more sinister or racist than say a soldier blacking up his face as part of his operational camouflage - or will that be next on the racially unacceptable list?

Michael Fabricant was on The Daily Politics today sticking up for the right of morris dancers to blacken their faces as they have done for centuries

This story goes to the heart of the issue.

This is about the effects if immigration on our culture.

Here we have reverse racism if you please. We all know the cliche of skin head yobs abusing Asians and Black people, there has been plenty of that sort of behavior in the past. Now we have Black/Asian "gentlemen" having a go at aging Morris Dancers for wearing traditional black make up. A tradition that has nothing to do with black people apparently. Now this might genuinely offend some people, I don't know, but having a go at the old fellas is just bullying for me and I doubt those young men really give a dam. It's just a way for them to assert themselves just like the aforementioned skin head. Now the question of black face has been well covered and we all accept that impersonating black people in a condescending, insulting manner is in poor taste and just plain rude. However this story goes beyond that for me and must be seen in a broader context.
I see this story as a metaphor for what is to come in Britain. Now Morris dancing of any kind is totally silly to me but it is British culture. The politicians will be queuing up to be all PC about it I'm sure but I bet the same politicians won't say a word when women walk down the street covered from head to foot because their oppressive patriarchal religion demands it. Now that really offends me. Should I confront their husbands about it? Confronting people who offend you seems to be OK today.

Sadly this is just the tip of the iceberg and we can expect to see loads more of our culture eroded when it "offends" someone as migration reaches insane levels in the future.

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Edited by Hrolf The Ganger (10 Jan 2017 1.25pm)

This is proper racism...

That US couple who left their waitress a note saying "good service but we don't tip black people"