How Blackface Aided Cultural/Racial Appropriation
In this minstrel show performance of "Mr. Bones",with Glen Turnbull(1952), we can see how these shows bring about cultural and racial appropriation. In this film, there is one character who is very ditzy and idiotic, and all the characters speak with poor grammar. The one character is instructed by Mr. Bones to dance, he dances in a way where we seems to fling his body around and is very animated. Some of the dancing is more accurate than most in depicting how African cultures dance. However, this is insulting and the dance is made to look foolish.
In the film, the dancing is described as a "leg-straddlin', foot-flappin' fantasy"(Turnbull, 1952). The way this dance has been turned into a comedic bit is insulting to African cultures, and it takes this from them. For if they continue to dance like this, they are subject to ridiule and instead of it being something sacred for them to remember their tranditions and ancesters. The actors are also wearing clothing that has been sewn together in patches, which was a pull at African Americans not being able to afford nicer clothes.
In this film from Cinegraphic Studios(1950), we can see two white men in the first seconds of the clip. Slowly, the two men begin to rave able minstrel shows, meanwhile applying blackface. As they are transitioning, yet begin to talk with a bit less sophistication, as if they are being turned into a child. They are trying to be insultive to African Americans for not being educated, when whites are withholding resources which would help educate them. When they have fully changed, and their makeup is done, they begin to dance around in a way that mimics African dancing.
The men in this skit acted as though people of color are naturally crazy, when in reality, they took something sacred to their community and made a mockery out of it. They would make fun of the way they talked, lived, danced, and much more. They would dress up and pretend to have dark skin and then would make jokes about it. They would adopt their customs, in this case dancing, and take away the sacred value it has. We need to recognize when people are insulting someone elses background and still up for our values.
The image above is of actor John McCullough. He is dressed for the role of Orthello, also using blackface. This photo is from 1878, so this was a very common thing. On his head, he is wearing a sort of head dress, which is much more popular in African culture than in the United States. Most Africans would not have been wearing clothing that was this nice at the time however. Images like this created racist images and attitudes and this was some of the earlier work which shaped the rest.
From the class, we have learned much about cultural appropriation. We can understand how someone pretending to be of your race or background could be offensive. In this time, the 1800s, whites were still elites, so to have them go and act as a person of color, that would be very insulting and would feel as if a part of you has been stolen. Not only this, but the way in which people would talk or move would be insulting to African Americans, and they were not able to stick up for themselves.
References
Cinegraphic Studios. (2020, October 26). 1950 blackface performance Vernon & Ryan. Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3QaLNsWW9M&t=5s
Turnbull, G. (2010, March 23). Glen Turnbull - blackface minstrel song and dance. Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJg_BapfRhU