Blackface Minstrelsy Essay

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Blackface: Minstrelsy and the negative images of Black Americans Blackface minstrelsy show were quit popular in the 19th century, when white, mostly male performers would blacked their skin with burnt cork, and later greasepaint or shoe polish, however, blacks themselves started to participate in the minstrel shows later on. By the middle of the 1930 these images were the most popular depiction of African Americans. With charters such as: Mammy, Uncle Tom, Pickaninny, Coon, and the more famous Jim Crow. Blackface, were some of the most popular depictions of black Americans, know not only for its lively song, dance, dialect, but also for its historical components, inspired by the black slaves in the South on plantations and free blacks. …show more content…

Rice, who blackened his face and colored his lips blood red surrounded by white paint. Rice performed song and dance a jig called “Jump Jim Crow”, this act was his attempt to depict the realities of African American life. Jim Crow was used for comic relief, which play on the stereotypes that blacks were lazy, sometimes menacing, ignorant, and crass in behavior and disturb whites in their otherwise peaceful environment. The violence of slavery became a joke, in reality black Americans were not only seen and perceived that way, but even in terms of public policy. Jim Crow performance sent a message about the dangers of free blacks, so much so that in the 1850s, northern states segregated spaces were called “Jim Crow Cars”. Jim Crow laws has we know it day, symbolize the desires of whites to keep blacks out of white spaces. There is no doubt that blackface minstrelsy show were racist, however, there was some benefit for black Americans, by 1860 black performers were on stage themselves playing the roles that were previously played by white performers, this was the only way blacks would be allowed to perform on stage. Two of the most famous black minstrelsy performers were James Bland, who became the first successful African American songwriter and William Henry Lane a talented dancer, who was praised by Charles Dickens for his dance routines. Overtime black minstrelsy performers would change and make modifications to these

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