Minstrel: The Blackface Movement

208 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: American racism history

During the 19th century in America, white actors used to paint their faces black and would ridicule black people in Minstrel shows. Norm Sheehan stated that the blackface movement began as a popular movement that made fun of black people leading up to the American civil war. One of the common forms of racism during the 19th Century was The Blackface concept, which has been used over the years to perpetuate humiliating stereotypes of people of color. This showed that people who are not white are represented as “the other kinds” or “Lower class”. In reality, the true source of “Blackface” all has to do about “Power”. The white were mocking the African Americans by taking something important from them and using it for entertainment purposes.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Negrogroland: A Memoir By Margo Jefferson

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    Based on the title of the book alone, it is easy to say that racism is one of the many social issues this book will address. Unlike the normal racism of Caucasians versus African Americans, this book focuses on racism of the black elite versus African Americans, also known as colorism. Colorism is the discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically by others of the same racial group. Margo Jefferson says, “Negroland is my name for a small region of Negro America where residents were sheltered by a certain amount of privilege and plenty” (p. 1).

    Read More

  • The History of African Americans in Film

    2062 Words  | 5 Pages

    Minstrel shows were developed in the 1840's and reached its peak after the Civil War. They managed to remain popular into the early 1900s. The Minstrel shows were shows in which white performers would paint their faces black and act the role of an African American. This was called black facing. The minstrel show evolved from two types of entertainment popular in America before 1830: the impersonation of blacks given by white actors between acts of plays or during circuses, and the performances of black musicians who sang, with banjo accompaniment, in city streets. The 'father of American minstrelsy' was Thomas Dartmouth 'Daddy' Rice, who between 1828 and 1831 developed a song-and-dance routine in which he impersonated an old, crippled black slave, dubbed Jim Crow. Jim Crow was a fool who just spent his whole day slacking off, dancing the day away with an occasional mischievous prank such as stealing a watermelon from a farm. Most of the skits performed on the Minstrel shows symbolized the life of the African American plantations slaves. This routine achieved immediate popularity, and Rice performed it with great success in the United States and Britain, where he introduced it in 1836. Throughout the 1830s, up to the founding of the minstrel show proper, Rice had many imitators.

    Read More

  • Black Culture Appropriation Essay

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    The costumes of the Halloween have intensely portrayed the black community in an upsetting manner. The costumes have often depicted the black community as superstitious and often compared them to zombies, vampires, and animals. The concepts appropriated are the superstitious nature of the blacks their depiction as less intelligent creatures. In contrast, the costumes depict the whites as knowledgeable, intelligent and upright. According to Savan, the media has greatly exploited the back culture with a mass advertisement from the corporations who get huge profits from the celebrations in the sale of costumes. Although an effort is made in connecting with the blacks, the idea behind it is not in understanding the backs and their culture but rather is an exploitative one. It had an adverse impact on the black community by degrading their esteem and status in the community. For many years, the political process also had been influenced by the same ideas and had ignored the black population in the political process (Belk,

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Film Ethnic Notions

    1034 Words  | 3 Pages

    In class, we watched a film called Ethnic Notions. In this film, it brought to light how devastating and powerful images can be. Due to exaggerated images and caricatures created pre-civil war era of black men and women, stereotypes were created and have negatively affected the black race in society. Caricatures, such as the Sambo, Zip Coon, Mammy, and Brute, have unfortunately been engrained in the minds of generations. So much so their stereotypes still persist today.

    Read More

  • Essay On Racism By Brent Staples

    1694 Words  | 4 Pages

    Racism is not only a crime against humanity, but a daily burden that weighs down many shoulders. Racism has haunted America ever since the founding of the United States, and has eerily followed us to this very day. As an intimidating looking black man living in a country composed of mostly white people, Brent Staples is a classic victim of prejudice. The typical effect of racism on an African American man such as Staples, is a growing feeling of alienation and inferiority; the typical effect of racism on a white person is fear and a feeling of superiority. While Brent Staples could be seen as a victim of prejudice because of the discrimination he suffers, he claims that the victim and the perpetrator are both harmed in the vicious cycle that is racism. Staples employs his reader to recognize the value of his thesis through his stylistic use of anecdotes, repetition and the contrast of his characterization.

    Read More

  • Caricatures: Tools of Stereotyping and Subjugation

    1794 Words  | 4 Pages

    These caricatures made it so that African Americans actually began to see themselves as the very caricatures that whites used to make fun and bring them down. The Mammy caricature was used by whites as a way to make it seem as if African American women were happy to be slaves and very loyal to their master and mistress. It also was a way for whites to “lowkey” say that black women were only meant for domestic servitude. Whites used this in the intention of creating a justification for slavery. You can almost compare this to the Hamitic Myth which was another white justification for slavery. The media has the responsibility of portraying every race as equal in their articles, websites, newspapers, etc. What they put out their has a huge impact on the quality and discrimination of the people in this country. Things such as the three black men with mug shots versus the three white men with school yearbook photos when arrested for the same crime serves as a perfect example of discrimination within the media. The media has a way of either bringing a people together or pulling them apart when events such as this happen. The media can be used to support things such as “Black Lives Matter” or “Black History Month”. By showing this and their support of such things, the media can spread their beliefs and support throughout the

    Read More

  • Birth Of A Nation Analysis

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    The protagonist and hero of our film Colonel Ben Cameron is portrayed as the honest and star struck lover who wants nothing but the love of his life by his side. Yet, this proves impossible with the newly corrupt and hate filled south created by the freed blacks, so Colonel Cameron devises the idea of the KKK on the stereotypical belief that all blacks are superstitious. Dressing as ghosts was an attempt to simply scare the blacks out of the south. Beliefs such as that of all blacks being highly superstitious and use of black face are some of the many racist aspects in “The Birth of a Nation”. The film even breaks down African Americans into a few categories The tom as the loyal slave who is always harassed and beat, the coon a black man who is viewed as lousy and good for nothing, pickanninies are the presentation of black children who were easily moved and had overly expressed features, the tragic mulatto from the one drop rule was a mixed black who was always angry because she had “corrupt” black blood, the mammy was the sexless, overweight female who cared for the kids, and the brutal black back who was centered around nothing but the desire for white women (Bogle 4-10). Each of these roles played a significant role in discriminately dividing the African American community into categories and expressing false differences between African Americans and

    Read More

  • Stuart Hall's What Is This Black In Black Popular Culture?

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Stuart Hall’s “What is This “Black” in Black Popular Culture?” the historical implication of popular culture in the U.S is examined and the influence that blackness has in it is deconstructed. According to the text, the departure of European concepts of culture after WWII sparked a hegemonic shift as the United States emerged as a world power. Due to this, the U.S. became the epicenter of global culture production. However, since America has always had a large ethnic population due to slavery, the true face of American popular culture was black American vernacular traditions. Even today, slang that emerge from black ghettos and communities become highly popular with people of other races. In fact, much of black culture is not just our culture,

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Birth Of A Nation

    1278 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is not surprising that all depictions of black characters were done by white actors with the help of black faces.

    Read More

  • African American Theater

    1967 Words  | 4 Pages

    Although the black performing arts population had to take the road of survival to gain self satisfaction in the theater, it was not painless. For a long time, black people were not allowed on the stage; instead black actors were mocked by white actors in "black face." Black face was a technique where white actors would physically cover their face with black paint and act as a black character. It was from this misrepresentation of the "black actor" that the names tom, coon, mulatto, mammy and buck derived. According to Donald Bogle, none of the types were meant to do great harm, although...

    Read More

  • Ridicule And Wonder Womack Summary

    225 Words  | 1 Pages

    The general argument made by Andrew Womack in his work, “Ridicule and wonder: the beginnings of minstrelsy and New York”, is that minstrelsy played a major role in creating an American identity. More specifically, Womack argues that minstrelsy is actually embedded in the American culture. He writes, “From TV shows to Hollywood movies, cartoons to comedies sketches, popular music to the jargon and dress of what is known as American culture, minstrelsy fomented a process that still affects our society today.” In this passage, Womack is suggesting that minstrelsy has left its legacy in the American culture. In conclusion, Womack’s belief is that the impact of the minstrel show has been so deep in the core of American life that its influence is

    Read More

  • Racism Within The Black Community

    1138 Words  | 3 Pages

    Racism within the black community is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. In the black community, African-Americans are discriminating against each other, putting those with lighter skin complexions against those whose skin is darker. In the African American community, it’s like a battle of the skin tones. This type of racism is also known as colorism, the belief that those with lighter, fairer skin are treated with a higher respect than those with darker skin, this issue has been happening for a long time within the African American community. This form of racism is more offensive, severe, and different than the common traditional racism.

    Read More

  • We Wear the Mask

    1260 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, back in Dunbar's time, slavery prohibited black people from being ordinary members of society. Although they prayed heavily and persevered, they wore the mask for the time being, in the hopes of living in a world where the color of one's skin would not determine their character. No changes needed as this is a Works Cited section and should not be edited.

    Read More

  • We Wear the Mask

    579 Words  | 2 Pages

    It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes.” My first thought was this poem was written by an avid actor. I believed he was explaining the difference between himself on and off stage. It turns out I was totally wrong after reading through the rest of the poem. The mask is a symbol. It is a symbol of the heartache each African-American faced in the 19th century. The heartache they rarely displayed because of the fear of what would happen to them if they began an uprising against the white culture.

    Read More

  • The White Negro Analysis

    2120 Words  | 5 Pages

    Although the concept is off-limits and offensive in culture today, he defends this significant part of American history throughout his book. The impression given to us of the White Negro by Mailer can help us look at it as a form of blackface that has found its was in American society. Although artists like Al Bernard and Bert Williams were performers of physical blackface on stage in the 20th century, the hipster has shown to become a form of non-physical blackface. A type of blackface that isn’t ridiculed or criticized by society, but accepted or sometimes even ignored as a grand section of American Popular

    Read More

More about Minstrel: The Blackface Movement

Open Document