Yes it does. Mr.BNP & co. wouldn't admit to it though. It's a different history, of course, but the negative connotations are there.
Racially motivated violence in the UK is still pretty common.
I'm frankly surprised that the Brits in this thread seem to think saying that wearing black face paint is not ok means that American's are 'uptight.' I'm a dual national and don't think that any mature, straight thinking person would think it's ok on any side of the pond (aside from Mr.BNP& Co. and perhaps some of the Tory backbench). It really doesn't have anything to do with equivalences. The argument, "if a black guy dressed up like a white guy.." is an invalid argument. Whites dressing up as africans, indians, asians etc. was a symbol of repression for.. a long time. There is still a huge power differential in the US AND the UK between white and other races, thus to try to reduce this to a matter of moral equivalences is supremely moronic.
Incidentally, for Americans, waking Aussies and Kiwis who don't know: BNP=British National Party. They are the polite wing of British Nazi's.
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