Editor's note: Mark Sawyer is associate professor of African American Studies and Political Science at UCLA and the director of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Politics. His published work includes a book, "Racial Politics in Post-Revolutionary Cuba," which received the DuBois Award for the best book by the National Conference of Black Political Scientists and the Ralph Bunche Award from the American Political Science Association. Mark Sawyer says practitioners of blackface always try to justify it, but the defenses don't ring true. (CNN) -- Harry Connick Jr. almost got it right when he challenged the doctors who mocked the Jacksons in blackface on an Australian version of "the Gong Show."
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Mark Sawyer: Harry Connick Jr. was right to condemn Australian use of blackface
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He says blackface is always demeaning to people of color
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He says racial attitudes in U.S. are more progressive than in some nations
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Sawyer: Connick gave Australians too much credit for ignorance of the offense
In a message posted on his Web site, Connick wrote that "in the @placeholder culture, the blackface image is steeped in a negative history and considered offensive."