How Does Blackface Affect African Americans

179 Words1 Page
As a result, the genre played an important role in shaping perceptions of and prejudices about blacks generally and African Americans in particular. Some social commentators have stated that blackface provided an outlet for whites' fear of the unknown and the unfamiliar, and a socially acceptable way of expressing their feelings and fears about race and control. Writes Eric Lott in Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class, "The black mask offered a way to play with the collective fears of a degraded and threatening—and male—Other while at the same time maintaining some symbolic control over them."[38] However, at least initially, blackface could also give voice to an oppositional dynamic that was prohibited by society.
Show More
Related

  • Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

    1666 Words  | 7 Pages

    minstrelsy mask the true identity of African Americans in the novel. Blackface minstrelsy was an established nineteenth-century theatrical play in which white men caricatured blacks for sport and profit. Minstrel shows have been around for almost 200 years, originating in the 1820’s and 1830’s. Minstrelsy planted the seeds of racism by providing a backbone of how white people should see African Americans. Throughout the narrator's journey he claims to be invisible and does not reveal his name to the reader

    Read More

More about How Does Blackface Affect African Americans

Open Document