blackface

Examples of blackface in the following topics:

• Minstrel Shows

  • Blackface minstrelsy, which portrayed African Americans in stereotyped, troubling ways, was the first distinctly American theatrical form.
  • Blackface minstrelsy was the first distinctly American theatrical form, influencing theater and popular music throughout the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth century.
  • The shows typically involved African instruments and dance and featured performers with their faces blackened—a technique called "blackface."
  • An illustration from the playbill for a minstrel show, highlighting singing and dancing by actors in blackface.

• The Spread of Segregation

  • Rice in blackface.
  • Rice is pictured in his blackface role; he was performing at the Bowery Theatre (also known as the "American Theatre") at the time.

• Popular Culture

  • Two well-known blackface comedians were Thomas "Daddy" Rice and Edwin Christy.
  • This reproduction of a 1900 minstrel show poster, originally published by the Strobridge Litho Co., shows the blackface transformation from white to "black. "

• Conclusion: The State of Slavery before the War

  • For instance, blackface minstrelsy, which portrayed African Americans in stereotyped, troubling ways, is considered by many to be the first distinctly American theatrical art form.
  • White actors often performed minstrel shows while wearing "blackface," or exaggerated black makeup.

• The "Nadir of Race Relations" and the Great Migration

  • Blackface performances—in which white people donned costumes and extensive makeup to appear black and portrayed African Americans as ignorant clowns—were still just as popular in the North as in the South.

• Disenfranchising African Americans

  • Rice in blackface.

• The Harlem Renaissance

  • They rejected the stereotypes of the blackface and minstrel show traditions.