Al Roker Tweets About His Halloween Costume To Explain That Blackface Can Be Avoided

Al Roker just added to the ongoing public conversation about why blackface is never acceptable, days after NBC canceled Megyn Kelly’s morning show following her on-air defense of blackface for Halloween.

The “Today” show Twitter account shared photos of Roker dressed up as “Back to the Future” character Doc Brown for Halloween on Wednesday. Roker’s fellow “Today” anchors also dressed up in iconic looks from the ’80s. 

Roker tweeted some photos of himself as Doc, a white character, and said he’d explain “one last time” that it’s possible to dress up as someone of another race without being offensive ― but you can’t change your skin color.

“I can be Doc Brown, and I wear the outfit and wig and not change my skin color if you’re white, you can be President Obama if you want,” he wrote. “Just don’t color your skin!”

Kelly received swift and widespread backlash after she defended Halloween costumes that involve blackface during a segment featuring an all-white panel on “Megyn Kelly Today” last week. 

Roker subsequently criticized Kelly on the “Today” show, saying she owed a “bigger apology to folks of color around the country” after she apologized to colleagues.  

Even after Roker’s explanation, some Twitter users still didn’t get it and continued to ignore the racist, dehumanizing and degrading history of blackface. 

But others threw their support behind Roker’s message that it’s possible to portray a character for Halloween without changing your skin tone.

“Not sure why this is so difficult for people to understand,” one person wrote.