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For the annual game, which will be held on Saturday at Sun
Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona State University players will
wear their all-black uniform and fans are encouraged to arrive
similarly dressed.
The team adopted black as one of its color schemes in 2011, and
the blackout event is tied to that.
In a statement on Monday, university officials said fans should
continue to wear black, but asked them not to paint their faces
any color.
"As an inclusive and forward-thinking university, it is
important for us to foster an environment in which everyone
feels safe and accepted," the officials said in a posting on the
school's athletic department website.
Fans with their faces painted black drew widespread attention
during last year's game at Arizona State, a multi-campus
university based in Tempe that has more than 64,000
undergraduate students. African-Americans account for nearly 5
percent of the university's undergraduates.
Blackface was often used in minstrel shows in the 19th and early
20th centuries featuring white performers portraying
African-Americans, often in a degrading manner. Many people
consider it to be offensive.
The Black and African Coalition at Arizona State University had
called for a complete ban on any face-painting at the team's
football games. But university officials did not go beyond
asking fans to voluntarily stop the practice.
Saturday's game will pit the Sun Devils against the University
of Colorado Buffaloes.
(Reporting by David Schwartz; Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and
Mohammad Zargham)
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