Minstrelsy In Today's Culture
In her essay Traylor shows evidence of minstrel shows being developed by black slaves and then taken by white people and adapted for the theatre. Traylor states, "When the lore, songs, dance and masking rituals of African slaves made their entrance on the stage, a native American dramatic form was born (Traylor 49). " This is showing us that African-Americans brought us our first "original" piece of American theatre. This was "burgled" from the Afro-American slaves by "white actors in corked-black-face (Traylor 49).
At first, the act was predominantly done by white people who wore black faces to depict how African-Americans spoke and acted, but eventually, there was a recorded increase in African-Americans themselves who too wore the black faces. The acts included a variety of comic acts, African-American music, comic skits, and dancing (Minstrel Show). However, with the shows’ popularity, it was also quite clear that the acts were highly depicted as racist towards the African Americans. This notion comes about from the fact that the acts portrayed African Americans as lazy, ignorant, and as those who loved music and dancing regardless of any other facet of life. Surprisingly, the history of the minstrel acts has over the time infatuated both black artists in the modern day and a clique of white artists locally referred to as “wiggers” which translates to white artists who want to act as black artists (Blacking Up: Hip-Hop 's Remix of Race and Identity).
A minstrel man is a member of a group of entertainers who use ‘blackface’ to portray themselves as a person of color. This was very common in the early 19th century and is now seen as racist, cultural appropriation, and generally
According to Traylor, the minstrel show is defined as "performance by white actors in corked-black-face, burlesquing what they perceived as the speech, behavior, artifacts, and masking rituals of Afro-American slaves from whom they burgled all aspects of the form they enacted" (49). In short, Traylor's argument is that white people attempted to mimic the lifestyles they observed around the cabins of slaves in the form of racist performances on stage. These white performers adopted what they perceived to be the amusing aspects of the slaves' performances—improvisation and masks. Unfortunately, although not surprisingly, these white performers merely created several caricatures of the slaves around them. Despite the oppression interwoven within this dramatic form, the minstrel show is, to this day, recognized as one of the original truly American theatrical
Although Lee’s text did not offer direct instructions on how to improve one’s stewardship, his story provoked critical thinking and learning by subtle means. Atticus, a widowed father, lawyer, and influential community member, was aware of the destructive thoughts and behaviors of others, yet he remained strong and mentored not only his children, but everyone who he interacted with. During difficult times, steadfast loyalty was upheld by only a few community members, while the others openly demonstrated discontent and chauvinism. Atticus Finch, Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson remained faithful to stewardship, regardless of what situation presented. With multiple teachings throughout his book, Lee demonstrated how one should behave when faced with
On the other hand, commercial radio delivered an audience of white consumers to white advertisers and it even denied black people as announcers, technicians, and journalist. There was a very popular comedy radio program in the early 1930s called the Amos ‘n’ Andy Show. On the radio station there where voices for Amos and Andy which belonged to Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll as a comedy duo. They were supposed to be co-experts of negro dialect and even perform routines. “Freeman Gosden joined his first blackface troupe, a fairly typical example of growing number of amateur and semiprofessional minstrel groups springing up not only in the South but all over the country”
Masks hide the truth and obscure the facts. They form a barrier between what is real and what is an illusion. Yet, during from the moment blacks were brought to this continent in chains, to the moment they were granted civil rights in the 1960’s, masks were a method of survival. Another way of life for African Americans was the practice of signifying. Signifying is mostly seen in the black literary tradition as a means for African Americans to take back power from the white through misinformation and deception.
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is the story of a small town named Maycomb Located in Alabama, highlighting the adventures of the finch children and many other people in the small town. The people in this town are very judgemental and of each other and it often leads to people being labeled with stereotypes and people think they know everything about that person however that is not reality. It is not possible to know the reality of a person 's life by placing a stereotype without seeing it through their own eyes and experiencing the things they experience. This happens often throughout the story with many people in the town. People are labeled as many things such a “monster” a “nigger” and many other things that seem to put them in their
This is not to say it is a morally upright practice, or even morally-laden at all, but it is entirely feasible. Context versus content is a key consideration in examining any media artifact. The use of blackface versus the consumption of blackface performances demonstrates two different ideas—especially when African-American performers and even black sympathizers engage in the production practice. The use itself became such a standard mode of presentation that, for the sake of commercial effectiveness, was adopted. The consumption, then, is something
In the 19th century, the minstrel show became the most prominent form of entertainment in America. Minstrelsy evolved from many different theatrical traditions such as the traveling circus, musical halls, and medicine shows (Taylor and Austen 4). As minstrelsy began to grow in popularity, so did the number of actors willing to paint their faces a different skin tone. Both Caucasian and African American actors portrayed African Americans and eventually, African Americans turned the tables by performing as Caucasian citizens. This information raises the question: “How did audiences in the nineteenth and twentieth century accept the performance of different ethnicities in the minstrel shows?”
Censorship is an extremely debated topic in America, with people saying it contradicts with what the Bill of Rights has allowed the American people and how it may deny people use the Freedom of Speech. Yet, the censorship of books in American public schools is one of the most controversial topics today because of the use of racial slurs in classic literature, this is the case with To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Opinions on this topic vary, with some of them being: schools should have the right to censor books because they have racial slurs in them, schools should have teachers open up a conversation about race and the use of racial slurs with these books, or schools should not have the right to censor any book. I firmly believe that schools
African Americans were depicted with makeup (theatrical makeup). The image of African Americans was
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place in the town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. The author Lee demonstrates some major themes such as social inequality, intolerance, education, legal justice and bravery through this character. The title To Kill a Mockingbird symbolises innocence where Lee explores this through the eyes of Jem and Scout who are kids of Atticus Finch. He is one of the most honest, patient, kind, fair, respected and admired men in Maycomb during the Great Depression. Atticus is known for his moral character throughout the book.
In Japanese culture, blackening the teeth was considered good-looking, and white teeth was perceived as not being beautiful. Japanese people were judged based on how they looked and their style and elegance. Women would grow their hair very long, which was longer than their height, and would wear multiple layers of silk clothing. Women would also use white face powder to make themselves look pale, and have their cheeks decorated with red touches. Plucking out eyebrows and painting new ones that were higher up the head was also common, and women also painted a tiny, red mouth.
In Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”, the issue of Southern Womanhood is brought up many times throughout the novel. Lee uses many different characters to help show how she viewed Southern Womanhood. Specifically she uses, Scout, Mayella Ewell, and Scout’s Aunt Alexandra. In "To Kill A Mockingbird", Harper Lee uses specific characters to show how negative of an impact Southern Womanhood used to have. Harper Lee uses Scout in many cases to show how she thought Southern Womanhood used to have a negative impact.
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