Thomas Dartmouth better known as”Daddy” Rice, a white performer came up with a song-and-dance routine where hewould mimic a crippled, old black slave by the name of Jim Crow. Audiences lovedit and as a result, the minstrel show was born into American culture.
As Jim Crow gained popularity,it was supposed to be synonymous with entertainment instead of oppression.That’s because it was introduced to the nation as just that — an act of sortsto entertain the masses.
A minstrel show was aperformance where white actors would imitate black slaves singing, dancing andprovide comic relief.
These white actors would portraythe stereotypical “nigger” on stage — a lazy, child-minded individual who lovednothing more than fried chicken and juicy watermelon. To increase the effect,the white actors would perform in “blackface,” a term used to personify blacksusing a mixture of burnt cork and water to blacken their faces and give theimpression that they had big lips and large eyes.
Starting in the early 19thcentury, minstrel shows grew in popularity. Since then, it has also created itsshare of controversy.
A popular question has becomewhether blackface minstrelsy has helped or hurt the black race. Some believe it benefited blacks.
Black author Mel Watkinsbelieves that minstrelsy helped blacks in getting their start on the stage.
“When the black performers didminstrel shows, they were doing the same acts that whites had done before, itwas necessary for them to do that to be on stage,” said Watkins, in StephenFoster, a documentary aired by the Public Broadcasting Service. “Otherwise,they would not have been allowed there.”
Michael Firven, a Southernhistory instructor, said blacks did not benefit from minstrelsy.
“There might have been a fewblacks who were able to eat good off of it,” he said. “But in terms ofminstrelsy helping blacks as a whole, it didn’t do the greatest good for thegreatest number.”
Prior to the Civil War, no blackactors had a part in the minstrel shows. After 1865, they became moreprevalent. According to www.About.com, minstrelsy gave a foundation for blacksto learn. Famous black names such as W.C. Handy, Bert Williams, Ma Rainey,Dizzy Gillespie and Jelly Roll Morton all started out in minstrelsy. As thecentury came to a close, minstrel shows began to decrease and the motionpicture revolution began.
At this time, silent films weregetting their start.
However, white actors continuedto be cast in these films and continued to imitate the stereotypicalblack.
The character identities mostcaptured was “Mammy,” the big black woman with a handkerchief on her head and askillet in her hand. There was also “Uncle Tom,” the old black man who cateredunconditionally to the whites. Finally, there was “Rufus,” a sly character whoattempted to steal chickens from the chicken house.
Firven said thatstereotypically, minstrelsy is something that blacks can never run from. “Blacks can’t escape the binds ofblackface — not in this country,” he said. “Minstrelsy was created by whites todehumanize blacks and that perpetuated a stereotype. Now the stereotype is fully ingrained in society and thereis no large scale effort to eliminate it out of our culture.”
The 20th century saw a declinein the popularity of minstrel shows, but media kept it alive as late as theearly 1950’s with the show “Amos and Andy.”
The show, played by whiteactors, chronicled the antics of two uneducated southern black men. “Amos andAndy” was one of the country’s highest rated radio shows at the time and didequally well when it debuted on television.
Today, a movie such as SpikeLee’s “Bamboozled,” gives the younger generation an idea of what the realitybehind minstrelsy and blackface was really like. There are also books and websites that talk about thehistory of the minstrel show and how it impacted America.
“It was a very specificphenomenon,” Firven said.