Discovering Blackface Minstrelsy Analysis
Discovering Blackface Minstrelsy and its Relation to Music Today
Jocelyn Labombarde
Word Count: 1,996
9/19/2013
When I first came into this class, I knew very little about blackface minstrelsy beyond the basic concept that it included white men blackening their faces and putting on shows to mock African Americans. I had heard of Stephen Foster and some of the more famous minstrel composers and knew the general time period in which minstrelsy was common. Much of what I learned about blackface minstrelsy in class surprised me and differed from the ideas I had of blackface was. I didn’t realize the wide variety of black stereotypes portrayed, that blacks performed in the shows as well, and just how …show more content…
After the Civil War, a number of minstrel troupes had managers or owners who were black. The first reason this surprised me is that I didn’t think blacks were widely accepted on the stage at that time. Next, I found it extremely ironic that blacks were playing caricatures which were meant to mock their own race. They were essentially imitating themselves and not in a positive perspective. I didn’t understand why they would want to perform blackface and enforce the negative racial stereotypes that already existed in society. As I did more research and thought deeper into the idea of blacks performing in blackface minstrelsy, I realized that it was simply a way for them to make a living. For black musicians, minstrelsy performance was a necessary way to financial safety. This made their participation in the shows more understandable but still I doubt that they got paid very much and I can’t imagine going on stage and making fun of my race in such a crude and unrealistic …show more content…
I didn’t see how anyone living during that time could possibly believe that slaves were content with their work. By the 1850s, the main theme behind minstrel shows was that the plantation was the blacks’ rightful home and the only place they could be truly happy and cared for. Reading this confused me because the majority of slaves were anything but cared for. They worked long hours, were fed poorly, slept crowded on the floor, and were subject to brutality on a daily basis. Matthew Shaftel quotes writer Herbert Holl’s summary of this unrealistic picture of slave life in minstrel shows that “Northerners imagined an idealized landscape combined with relaxation, simple, rustic pleasures and the nobility of honest, rewarding labor; all culminating in an enviable and glorified lifestyle. Slave life was actually seen as an ideal one, by viewing the slave as an uncomplicated, child-like creature, happy and lovable, enjoying life’s simple pleasures while reaping the satisfactions of honest toil for a beloved ‘Massa,’ whose kindness swept away all sorrow and care.”2 It seemed as if society was trying to avoid facing the reality of how wrongly blacks were being treated. A minstrel show by Christy and Wood used the book
Jocelyn Labombarde
Word Count: 1,996
9/19/2013
When I first came into this class, I knew very little about blackface minstrelsy beyond the basic concept that it included white men blackening their faces and putting on shows to mock African Americans. I had heard of Stephen Foster and some of the more famous minstrel composers and knew the general time period in which minstrelsy was common. Much of what I learned about blackface minstrelsy in class surprised me and differed from the ideas I had of blackface was. I didn’t realize the wide variety of black stereotypes portrayed, that blacks performed in the shows as well, and just how …show more content…
After the Civil War, a number of minstrel troupes had managers or owners who were black. The first reason this surprised me is that I didn’t think blacks were widely accepted on the stage at that time. Next, I found it extremely ironic that blacks were playing caricatures which were meant to mock their own race. They were essentially imitating themselves and not in a positive perspective. I didn’t understand why they would want to perform blackface and enforce the negative racial stereotypes that already existed in society. As I did more research and thought deeper into the idea of blacks performing in blackface minstrelsy, I realized that it was simply a way for them to make a living. For black musicians, minstrelsy performance was a necessary way to financial safety. This made their participation in the shows more understandable but still I doubt that they got paid very much and I can’t imagine going on stage and making fun of my race in such a crude and unrealistic …show more content…
I didn’t see how anyone living during that time could possibly believe that slaves were content with their work. By the 1850s, the main theme behind minstrel shows was that the plantation was the blacks’ rightful home and the only place they could be truly happy and cared for. Reading this confused me because the majority of slaves were anything but cared for. They worked long hours, were fed poorly, slept crowded on the floor, and were subject to brutality on a daily basis. Matthew Shaftel quotes writer Herbert Holl’s summary of this unrealistic picture of slave life in minstrel shows that “Northerners imagined an idealized landscape combined with relaxation, simple, rustic pleasures and the nobility of honest, rewarding labor; all culminating in an enviable and glorified lifestyle. Slave life was actually seen as an ideal one, by viewing the slave as an uncomplicated, child-like creature, happy and lovable, enjoying life’s simple pleasures while reaping the satisfactions of honest toil for a beloved ‘Massa,’ whose kindness swept away all sorrow and care.”2 It seemed as if society was trying to avoid facing the reality of how wrongly blacks were being treated. A minstrel show by Christy and Wood used the book