jan 1, 1830 - The Origin of Blackface

Description:

Blackface is just another example of a racist stereotype. The National Museum of African American History and Culture depicts the racism behind this stereotype, "Historian Dale Cockrell once noted that poor and working-class whites who felt 'squeezed politically, economically, and socially from the top, but also from the bottom, invented minstrelsy' as a way of expressing the oppression that marked being members of the majority, but outside of the white norm. Minstrelsy, comedic performances of “blackness” by whites in exaggerated costumes and make-up, cannot be separated fully from the racial derision and stereotyping at its core. By distorting the features and culture of African Americans—including their looks, language, dance, deportment, and character—white Americans were able to codify whiteness across class and geopolitical lines as its antithesis," (National Museum of African American History and Culture 1). Blackface is simply describing how the racist part of the White population viewed the African American slaves at the time. It is also just another example of racism taking place during slavery.

(11) The National Museum of African American History and Culture is an a museum that was established by the Smithsonian Institution in 2003.