Blackface+Minstrelsy+Cornell+Notes

Blackface Minstrelsy Cornell Notes http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/foster/sfeature/sf_minstrelsy.html 1. How did blackface minstrelsy begin?
 * Question

2. Why did it spread in the 1830s?

3. What was a blackface minstrel show?

4. Who went to the shows?

5. How were the minstrel shows racist?

6. Was blackface minstrelsy only about caricaturing blacks?

7. How did class frictions relate to blackface minstrelsy?

8. How did class issues relate to the race issues?

9. Although blackface minstrelsy was racist, did it have any benefit for African Americans?

10. What's the connection between blackface minstrelsy and rock and roll?

11. What legacy did blackface minstrelsy create for American culture today?

12. Should we change Foster's songs to remove their racist aspects, or not perform them? No, because by censoring and "cleaning up" Foster's work, we are not only destroying the work of an artist, however racist he may be, and altering historical information. Do we really want to change something that has a historical message and connection to the past? -Lindsey || Answer They were entertainers in saloons, restaurants, etc.. They began entertainment by a small number of people. It was created by a small number of people touring the country. - Sara and Ashley

It spread because the issues of slavery and abolition began. There was also an increase in new technology and methods of printing allowed local elements of culture to spread. -Sara and Ashley 3) Presented black character as being stupid, comical, and frivolous. It was what people thought of blacks all along. Difference wasnt because of music - it was more the style of performance and the kinds of words being used. 4)localized and working class. Also lower middle class men. IT was a mad house, people congegated around and shouted out their favorite songs to be played. 5). They characterized blacks as being stupid and ignorantly funny. It disregarded any aspect of their culture that was meaningful or intelligent. It also gave whites another opportunity to assert their superiority over blacks and make fun of them. -- someone awesome.

6. At this period of history the African American culture was veiwed as niave and foolish, and by making fun of them through the minstrel show it made the white culture feel superior.

7. disrupts middle-class value system because it gave "expression to life energy through the body"-middle-class was trying to repress these things through "worship of the mind"

8.minstresly allowed one to speak to the oppression he or she was feeling-can give expression of identity "without fear of repression"; those higher up viewed blacks in a negative stereotype

9. The main benefit the shows offered was that it gained acceptance for black music and behavior, eventually allowing blacks to replace whites on stage.

10) When it started, it wasnt accepted because it was different from the conservative music that they were used to. Also, it was a mixture of black and white culture.

11) The black face left a negative and stereotypical legacy. Though it did have its positives of helping people better accept African Americans; the theatre was so sterotypical on the negatives of the balck culture it brainwashed the viewers into believe the negative stereotypes were acutally true. ||