So… I’m going to go ahead and let this video speak for itself, for the most part, but here’s a little bit of context to get you started: This video was created by a stand-up comedian named Dave Ackerman, and the school he’s visiting is Brigham Young University.

One German party leader, Martin Sonneborn, is sure to make an impression on voters. In anticipation of this weekend’s state elections in Berlin, Sonneborn erected a billboard featuring himself dressed as U.S. President Barack Obama. In blackface. The billboard includes an unusual slogan: “I am an Obama.”

While his decision is making waves here in the U.S. — a country that includes minstrel shows in its recent history, and a place where blackface continues to have racist and uncomfortable implications — and among anti-racism groups in Germany, Sonneborn says he was merely trying to poke fun at the global hype surrounding Obama. It’s worth noting that he holds a rather unique place in German politics, having founded both a satirical magazine and a satirical political party, “Die PARTEI.” The party’s claim to fame? Its goal of someday rebuilding the Berlin Wall. (Laugh track.)

Yesterday’s conclusion to the two-part South Park (in which the show’s creators dealt with issues of censorship) was already being talked about before it even aired. But amidst the censorship issues, show creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker decided to take on race relations in America by having Cartman’s hand (supposedly possessed by Mitch Connor) in blackface. Cue outrage?

Boo-la-la: The French magazine industry certainly isn’t learning anything from the controversy created around French Vogue last October, when the title featured model Lara Stone in blackface and subsequently saw huge backlash from people around the world whose jaws just…dropped. But hey, maybe any publicity is good publicity, considering that the French menswear mag L’Officiel Hommes just did the same exact shoot, only with male models in a fashion spread called “Keep It Goin’ Louder.” So not only is it racist, it’s unoriginal.

So it’s the day before Halloween, and you don’t have a costume. What to do? Fortunately, Mediaite has come up with some costume suggestions for you. Pulled straight from the headlines, these are guaranteed to be hits:

There’s a Barack Obama/Joker poster that’s spreading around the interweb like wildfire. It first surfaced back in April, but is catching on, now, in a big way.

The April Bedlam article noted a “Jim Crow quality” to the poster, and at least one writer has pegged it as being more than kinda racist. But might that be overstating it a little? Either way its existence seems to have achieved its primary goal of being provocative.