Outside the world of film and TV, few had probably ever heard the term “painting down” u

Outside the world of film and TV, few had probably ever heard the term “painting down” until earlier this month, when Warner Bros. Television apologized for wanting to use a white stuntwoman in dark-skinned makeup in its Fox TV show Gotham. The embarrassed production company said it would hire an African-American stuntwoman instead. Yet any way you color it, “painting down” is just another term for “blackface.” And it’s been happening for decades.

Read: Hollywood’s Dirty Little Secret of Putting White Stunt Doubles in Blackface