Mummers Parade Racism - Essay Example

Proposal Topic: Mummers Parade Racism Background Mummers parade is a new years day festival held in Philadelphia USA every January to spread some cheer on New Year. It is one of the oldest folklore celebrations in United States and attracts over 10000 performers all decked out in colourful and elaborate attires (McQuade 23). From the outside, everyone looking in into this will tend to think that all Philadelphians were proud supporters of this glittering and feathered event referred to as New Years Day Mummer’s Parade, but they would be wrong.

The parade has, on several occasions featured acts that have been termed as racially insensitive. One of the most common racial insensitive acts has been use of Blackfaces despite its ban in the early 1960s (Early 90). Research Objective This paper aims at examining issues of racism in Mummers Parade. It will examine racism has in the festival and the efforts made to address this issue. The festival has been criticized by many as being racial insensitive as participants use attires associated with some races to portray offensive caricatures of these races (Guendelsberger 3).

The paper will focus on use of Blackface and other practices, which are irresponsible and unquestionably inappropriate for modern day audiences. This research will also examine some of today’s practices that performers have swapped black faces with, which overtly allude to the culture of Blackface. Generally, the main purpose of this paper is to examine some of the racial practices that have continued to be part of Mummer Parade held in Philadelphia every New Year day. Thesis Statement Racism is not new in Mummers parade and despite the ban of racial insensitive acts like use of Blackface; racism is still real in present day Mummer Parade in Philadelphia.

Works cited Early, Gerald. This is Where I Came in: Black America in the 1960s. Lincoln, Nebraska: U of Nebraska Press, 2003. Guendelsberger, Emily. Why blackface still Dogs the Mummers 50 Years After it was Banned. Philadelphia City Paper 19 December 2013: 3-4. Web. McQuade, Dan. Is This Mummers Routine Racist? Philadelphia Magazine 2 January 2013: 23-24. Print.