Blackface - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Blackface in the narrow sense is a style of theatrical makeup that originated in the United States, used to take on the appearance of certain archetypes of American racism, especially those of the happy-go-lucky darky on the plantation or the dandified coon. Blackface in the broader sense includes similarly stereotyped performances even when they do not involve blackface makeup.
History · Authentic or counterfeit · "Darky" iconography Source: Wikepedia
The Minstrel Show gets nominated for an Oscar. Wow. We as a culture have so little memory or respect for historical madness as long as it can be called "just entertainment. Al Jolson, D.W Griffiths, The White Amos and Andy,Ted Danson at The Whoopi Goldberg roast, Old Jim Crow and all of the happy darky faces by White Men in cork, are all joined by Robert Downey Jr in the full circle of actors or entertainment that pokes fun at the idea of Blackness or Negritude.
Before I go on, I must qualify a few things
1- I don't hate when cultures blend to produce art. I truly believe that a good part of Rock and Roll's greatness is because of the Rhythm and Blues, Folk,and Country music all mixed and mashed to make new forms out of the sounds and stories of many cultures. Most musicians and groups that achieved greatness in the form acknowledge that they borrowed( stole?) from the architects like Chuck Berry,Bo Diddly, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, e.t.c. However, would any of us accept Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, The Beatles, Led Zepplin, e.t.c in Afro wigs. The same goes for hip hop. Although we all admire hip hops roots in communities that produced a whole culture in spite of the fact that the creators were without a whole lot of resources , would we admire or respect Emminim if he put shoe polish on his face in the name of "keeping it real" because he came from the same type of enviornment? I admit that it took me some years to acknowledge the universiality of Hip Hop culture. Slang coming out of the mouths of people who were living out their Black language fantasies was how I perceived the speakers. It's like they could have the fun without the pain of everyday, driving while black , suspected because of Black, or denied because of Black.
I know that we can learn from each other's cultures. It just seems to me that the old minstrel character gets resurrected every decade or so. American entertainment from very on used the childlike darky as a source for material. If you ever get a chance to see that cinematic shit Birth Of A Nation, you will see how destructive those images have been for the collective acknowledged full humanity of Black folks. That was a very popular movie during its time. Thank God for Marcus Garvey's Black Pride mantra in the early twentieth century. Most of the talented Black entertainers of that time period (1900 -the 1920's had to wear burnt cork to blacken their brown faces even more-so that they could work under the mask of the accepted racist ideas of who we were in this country. Al Jolson made a mint playing the opposite(White man-blackface) . The Character Jim Crow was actually created by a White actor around 1830He may have been the first to do it. He is certaintly not the last.
Where is the outrage about this Oscar nod? 1830 and 2009 are universes apart in terms of change. Or are they? Thank God for the nation's movement to elect President Obama. He and his beautiful family smash down some serious walls in terms of the stereotypes perpetuated by pop culture. Many of our past icons have done the same. Can we please bury this offensive idea? I hope that we make some noise about this. I have a pretty good sense of humor. Some stuff just isn't funny. Degradation through imagery is pretty serious business
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