MINSTREL SHOWS
The history of Minstrel Shows is an interesting one. Becoming popular before and after the Civil War, Minstrel Shows were put on by white people, pretending to be black. Whites would paint their face and any exposed skin, black, creating the now controversial “black face”. White people couldn’t fathom enjoying entertainment from Black people, but jumped at the chance to watch Whites portray Blacks.
The shows were over exaggerated representations of Blacks, their home life and their music. Blacks were typically shown as low-level country bumpkins that could barely speak in full coherent sentences. Black folk music was all over the place and upbeat and fun to listen to, but once again, only when Whites played it. Whites flocked to Minstrel Shows and thoroughly enjoyed the cultural appropriation of their former slaves. Black culture was disgusting to the average White person, but if Whites portrayed Black people and their culture, everything was okay. Whites had the power and only became interested in the Black culture once they were the ones creating it.
In the present day, Black-face is a highly controversial topic, with many celebrities being called out for their actions, even on holidays such as Halloween. Cultural appropriation is no longer acceptable and I think it’s great that we have come this far, even if it has taken this long. I think it’s very interesting how uncomfortable people are talking about race, from every perspective. It’s been a touchy subject since the beginning of time and I don’t think people will ever be comfortable conversing about it. I look around in this class and various others and just watch people and their expressions and their body language when race is brought up, by a peer or professor. People have been and I think always will be uncomfortable talking about race relations.