Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class - Essay Example

Blackface Introduction: Blackface had its origins in the United s and was used to portray racism in America through the “darky” or the “coon”. It was an art that made use of a specific style of makeup used extensively in theatre in the minstrel performances in the United States and later spread to Britain and other countries. Though the popularity of gimmicks and ethnic lyrics placated the rural masses, yet it didn’t appeal in any way to the senses of the upper classes. Traditionally, in the past, Blackface performers who were actually white –skinned used burnt cork, shoe – polish or grease paint to darken their skin. They wore woolly wigs on their heads, gloves for their hands and painted their lips in exaggeration. They also made use of either tail – coats or ragged clothes to highlight their totally transformed looks. Much later on, actual black artists took to the same art. Blackface minstrelsy played a very important and significant role in promoting racism worldwide through their racist perceptions and attitudes towards it. The greatest impact of Blackface on the community was “the precedent it established in the introduction of African American culture to an international audience, albeit through a distorted lens.” (Lott 1993, Watkins 1999) From a National level point of view, minstrelsy was the most popular form of art which was used to express themselves. There are multiple differences of opinions between scholars as to the authenticity leading to the social and cultural creations related to the Blackface practice. In this capacity, historian Robert Toll develops a perspective that reflects a relative ambivalence toward the institution of slavery in the North prior to the Civil War. The historian Eric Lott complicates the issue further by suggesting that Blackface minstrelsy were motivated by both “love and theft” of black culture. According to popular culture the North was regarded as being abolitionist and a champion of social justice during the Civil War; but contrary to this fact as demonstrated through the popularity of Blackface minstrel shows, there was clear evidence of the element of inferiority associated with individuals of African descent. What the Blackface minstrelsy shows reflected was the perceived unsophisticated nature of the entire African race compared to their European counterparts; the practice emphasized blacks falling short of white standards (67). Blackface minstrelsy made extensive use of malapropisms and puns and conducted their musical concerts while sitting in a wide semi – circle accentuating a poor attempt at realism. The focal point of lyrical delivery rested on the broken speech pattern of the Africans. For example, in the popular minstrel song “Old Uncle Ned” (1848) with the lyrics and music by Stephen Foster, we recognize the broken pattern speech through lyrics that go like this – Oh there was an old darky, and the called him Uncle Ned, and he died long ago, long ago. And he had no wool on the top of his head, in the place where the wool ought to grow. Chorus: Then lay down the shovel and the hoe, and hang up the fiddle and the bow. No more hard work for poor old Ned, hes gone where the good darkies go. No more hard work for poor old Ned, hes gone where the good darkies go….. The Blackface repertory soon had “plantation songs” such as this one which were sung with a lot of nostalgia for a rural paradise that was long lost. The lyrics kindle the white audiences empathy towards them because they too very often experience the same situation as experienced by Uncle Ned. They too dream of redemption for a better tomorrow after having worked so hard at their job. In yet another minstrel song titled “Kingdom Coming” (1862) By the American Composer and songwriter Henry Clay Work which he wrote around the time of the Emancipation Proclamation of the Civil War. Say, darkeys, hab you seen de massa, Wid de muffstash on his face, Go long de road some time dis mornin, Like he gwine to leab de place? He seen a smoke, way up de ribber, Whar de Linkum gunboats lay; He took his hat, an lef berry sudden An I spec hes run away! Chorus: De massa run? ha ha! De darkeys stay? ho ho! It mus be now de kingdom comin An de year ob Jubilo!...... These lyrics are an African American dialect, very ethnic and stereotypical in nature and celebrate the slave’s new found freedom after their master had been frightened away by the military. The title “Kingdom Coming” is taken from the “Lord’s Prayer” which has a line that reads, “They Kingdom Come”. Fig. 1 shows the pattern in which the musicians sat which was taken from the Virginia Minstrel sheet music cover. Figure 1: (Lott 26) [The semi-circle was the standard formula for blackface minstrel shows (Toll 51-52).] The minstrel shows were categorized into three parts. The first part had all of them singing and dancing to a popular song in a dance called “walkaround”. In the next part they sat in a semi –circle such as one shown above in Fig. 1. All of them sat in their own respective places while they performed several humorous songs while exchanging jokes among themselves. The finale consisted of a vibrant plantation song and dance that brought the act to a close. However, when the growth of the abolitionist movement and public sentiment towards slavery in the North began to reflect a different perspective, the ambivalence that surrounded the institution of slavery opinion before the Civil War also shifted. As expressed by Toll “when public opinion shifted, the content of minstrelsy shifted (Toll 65-66).Lott gives us his opinion about Blackface minstrelsy when he suggests that, the motivation surrounding white performers dressing up in Blackface was part “love and theft.” “To perform blackface was to become black, to inherit the cool, virility, humility, abandon, or gaite de Coeur that were the prime components of white ideologies about black manhood” (52). In Lott’s opinion, the performers were stealing “elements of black culture” and using them in entertainment. If there were not a degree of love, admiration or self-loathing, there would have been no need to assimilate exaggerated forms of another culture for entertainment purposes. According to Lott, Blacks had already "invented and commodified Black performance practices for their own gain" (pg43) --- it is just that “Police stopped them from having their own institutional performance” (pg 44) Discussing the subject of Love and Theft, Lott stated that it represented "an anxiety over the fact of cultural "borrowing" (pg 57) This anxiety stemmed from the fact of social contradiction of expropriation which was essentially – miscegenation and slavery. The ridicule exhibited by the group of minstrels widened the gap between the whites and the blacks. The 20th century saw the flourishing of the Bohemian culture of the White Negro which had a great impact on the musical scene. Lott has this to say of the performing White Negro that "these artists immersed themselves in blackness to indulge their felt sense of difference" (pg 51) The White Negro was primarily and essentially attracted to Black masculinity and sexuality. Speaking about the Black man Lott says that he "could rarely afford the sophisticated inhibitions of civilization, and so he kept for his survival the art of the primitive….”(Lott) The complexity of the Blackface minstrel era of the United States warrants critical focus and discussion especially to help us understand how black culture was assimilated into entertainment industry during and after the Civil War. Both Robert Toll and Eric Lott gave us a clear picture of this by choosing conflicting paths to illustrate their analysis. While Toll clarifies the ambivalence toward the institution of slavery in the pre-Civil War in the North, Lott, on the other hand, obscures this notion by reflecting a deeper psychological attachment to black culture and a desire to assimilate it based on love through theft. Both authors provide an equally deep reflection of the overall condition of racial relations in the United States and, thus, making the issue of Blackface minstrelsy even more obscure. Works Cited Lott, Eric. Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Lott, Eric. White Minstrels as Bohemians. Pg 51. Lott, Eric. Mailer’s Formulation of the White Negro and its Resonance in the 20th Century. Pg. 55. Toll, Robert. Blacking Up: the Minstrel Show in 19th Century. New York: Oxford University Press, 1974. Rice, Thomas. “I Jump Jim Crow.” New York: Firth and Hall, 1832. Whitlock, William. “Oh Wake Up in De Morning.” Whitlock’s Collection of Ethiopian Melodies. New York: Horrace Waters. References: Lott 1993, pgs. 17 – 18, Watkins 1999, pg. 82. Read More