What the Hell Were They Thinking? - February 6, 2009

On February 6, 1843, an era began in American entertainment that seems baffling today, but which was wildly popular for most of the 19th century. On that date, the Virginia Minstrels took the stage in New York City to present the first performance in what would become a long line of minstrel shows. Minstrel shows go back centuries, at least as far as their elemental parts are concerned. Musical parodies and terrible jokes ("An uncle of mine was killed by hard drink." "Is that so?" "Yeah; a block of ice fell on his head") are as old as music and humor -- and the unfortunate practice of blackface goes back to at least 1441 -- but it was Dan Emmett who got the idea to combine them all into a single evening. Minstrel shows and troupes differed in their content and material, but all followed the same basic structure, using wisecracks, sentimental songs, puns, and stock characters to entertain audiences. Unfortunately, a good portion of those shows was dedicated to confirming the prejudices of white audiences that African-Americans were lazy and ignorant -- a bias reinforced by using white performers in burnt cork makeup who "imitated" the way blacks supposedly acted. Minstrelsy pretty much vanished with the advent of vaudeville in the late 19th century, (though it continues even now), but blackface remained popular into the 1950s. Such beloved white entertainers as Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor used blackface as a major part of their acts, and even Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, and even Bugs Bunny tried it out. Bert Williams, a superstar who was the first black actor to appear on Broadway with an otherwise white cast, never appeared on stage without "blacking up." Though mocking ethnic groups and wearing blackface are thankfully things of the past (well, for the most part, anyway), the trend hasn’t been entirely eliminated. Recently, protesters have been fighting director M. Night Shyamalan's plans to film Avatar: The Last Airbender using white actors rather than Asians, but we can't imagine anyone is dumb enough to black up today -- or can we? Suggested Sites... Blackface on Stage: The Complicated History of Minstrel Shows - photos, videos, and memorabilia from the 19th century. Musicals 101: Minstrel Shows - history of the art form. Turner Classic Movies: Blackface and Hollywood - an in-depth look at a pretty shameful practice. First-Ever Sound Film of a Minstrel Show - from 1913. Edison didn't have better things to film? The Legacy of Blackface - NPR report on the roots of minstrelsy, and how it still haunts some forms of black popular entertainment.