Actor Nick Cannon has found himself embroiled in controversy. Cannon, an African American, appeared on Instagram made up entirely in whiteface. The picture depicted Cannon as his alter ego, a character named “Connor Smallnut”, who serves as the basis for Cannon’s upcoming album. The album is entitled….wait for it….”White People Party Music”, which will be available April 1.

Cannon also added a few hashtags like “dog kissing”, “good credit”, “beer pong”, and “farmers markets” along with the pictures of himself in whiteface. While Cannon admits that this is done without malicious intent against Caucasians, many people find Cannon’s efforts racist and disgusting.

I’m not one of them. I personally wouldn’t have donned whiteface to promote an album. However, I don’t condemn Cannon for donning whiteface. He noted that actor Robert Downey Jr. donned blackface for the role of Kirk Lazarus in the 2008 film “Tropic Thunder”. In fact, IMDB.com has Downey’s character in full blackface on the film’s promotional cover on the film’s IMDB page. That tells me that Hollywood doesn’t seem too concerned about the feelings of its African American consumers regarding the depiction of the Lazarus character.

Then again, Hollywood has a history of tolerating (and even embracing) white actors donning blackface. Actor Al Jolson made a career out of wearing blackface to portray black characters during the early 20^th century. The “Amos and Andy” television show featured the main characters in blackface, speaking with a supposed African American dialect. And spare me the “that was then, this is now” rhetoric. Hollywood embracing the Lazarus’ character further reaffirms my belief that Hollywood is perfectly fine with its portrayal of African Americans.

But I digress. Cannon’s whitefaced character isn’t uncommon. Comedian Martin Lawrence portrayed a whitefaced character named Bob on the television sitcom “Martin”. In addition, Shawn and Marlon Wayans portrayed white female socialites in the 2004 film “White Chicks”. Where was the outrage regarding those characters? Maybe those characters aren’t threatening to the Hollywood lexicon. The aforementioned statement takes into consideration that Lawrence and the Wayans’ brothers, have dressed in drag to portray female characters. Lawrence dressed in drag to portray Sheneneh, a loud, brash, obnoxious black woman on the show “Martin”. Where were the protests surrounding that character from people that are against Cannon’s Connor Smallnut character?

Cannon’s alter ego can’t be considered racist. Blackfaced characters portrayed by whites exacerbate the mythical belief that whites are superior to blacks. Connor Smallnut is a fictional character that will never destroy the American social and economic structure that has been established in America to empower Whites, while disenfranchising blacks. Connor Smallnut will not destroy an entertainment industry that currently portrays blacks as nothing more than drama seeking savages with no redeeming qualities designed to uplift the African American community (shows like “Love and Hip Hop” and “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” are perfect examples).

To my Caucasian readers that are anti Connor Smallnut, I respect how you feel about Cannon’s whitefaced character. I also ask how Connor Smallnut is making you feel less about yourself. Simply put, how is Connor Smallnut directly preventing you from enjoying the benefits of your existence before and after you’ve heard of him? I’ll be interested to hear your response.