Blackface Minstrelsy
Blackface Minstrelsy
The Minstrel show presents a strange, fascinating and awful phenomenon. Between 1843, when the first organized troupe appeared, and the 1870's, the minstrel show was one of the most popular forms of entertainment in America. White performers wearing burnt cork or black shoe polish on their faces assumed the roles of African American men and women. A typical minstrel show would have songs, dances, jokes and grand hoe-downs. The minstrel show tried to capture the "happy-go-lucky" slave that ate watermelon and shuffled about. However, this idea of the "happy slave" was very wrong. Since this was before the civil rights movement, African Americans were caricatured and often stereotyped as the lazy, shuffling, hungry and ignorant "darkie." The dialect of the performances was inspired by the blacks on Southern plantations. Characteristics and hallmarks of the Minstrel show emerged from preindustrial European traditions of masking and carnival. Even though the minstrel show echoed racism, some people believe that it was a step in theater's history, especially American theater. It was the prerequisite to some of America's well known songs and dance styles. It also influenced writers such as Harriet Beecher Stow and Mark Twain. The earliest form of the minstrel show can be contributed to a man named Thomas D. Rice, or often called "Daddy Rice." While walking to a theater in Louisville, Kentucky, he came across a singing slave grooming a horse. The melody intrigued him so much that he wanted to learn it. The lyrics were "You wheel about and turn about and do just so, You wheel about and turn about and jump Jim Crow." Hence, the term "Jim Crow" was coined. The character of Jim Crow was an exaggerated stereotype, who in the
eyes of white people appeared as a naive, clumsy, devil-may-care southern plantation slave who dressed in rags. Also, Jim Crow was often used to refer to any black slave of the time. The slave Rice
The Minstrel show presents a strange, fascinating and awful phenomenon. Between 1843, when the first organized troupe appeared, and the 1870's, the minstrel show was one of the most popular forms of entertainment in America. White performers wearing burnt cork or black shoe polish on their faces assumed the roles of African American men and women. A typical minstrel show would have songs, dances, jokes and grand hoe-downs. The minstrel show tried to capture the "happy-go-lucky" slave that ate watermelon and shuffled about. However, this idea of the "happy slave" was very wrong. Since this was before the civil rights movement, African Americans were caricatured and often stereotyped as the lazy, shuffling, hungry and ignorant "darkie." The dialect of the performances was inspired by the blacks on Southern plantations. Characteristics and hallmarks of the Minstrel show emerged from preindustrial European traditions of masking and carnival. Even though the minstrel show echoed racism, some people believe that it was a step in theater's history, especially American theater. It was the prerequisite to some of America's well known songs and dance styles. It also influenced writers such as Harriet Beecher Stow and Mark Twain. The earliest form of the minstrel show can be contributed to a man named Thomas D. Rice, or often called "Daddy Rice." While walking to a theater in Louisville, Kentucky, he came across a singing slave grooming a horse. The melody intrigued him so much that he wanted to learn it. The lyrics were "You wheel about and turn about and do just so, You wheel about and turn about and jump Jim Crow." Hence, the term "Jim Crow" was coined. The character of Jim Crow was an exaggerated stereotype, who in the
eyes of white people appeared as a naive, clumsy, devil-may-care southern plantation slave who dressed in rags. Also, Jim Crow was often used to refer to any black slave of the time. The slave Rice
Bibliography: of Commedia dell 'Arte. Internet. Available: http//www.214b.com 7 April 2002. The Black and White Minstrel Show. Internet. Available: http://www.mbcnet.org/archives/htmlB/blackandwim.htm. 9 April 2002 Toll, Robert C. Blacking Up: The Minstrel Show in Nineteeth-Century America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1974.