Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy from Slavery to Hip-Hop
Minstrelsy, the American art form with a solid racist core, was adopted by blacks pursuing survival and accommodationist strategies. Yet the adoption often included a subversive embracing of caricature. White minstrelsy, historically done in blackface, varied from North to South was yet so popular that black participation in blackface became accepted, if not preferred. Black performers also entertained black audiences in blackface, using the same demeaning story lines. Taylor and Austen examine the tensions between black entertainers’ use and the communities’ embrace of minstrelsy for their own amusement versus its use to appeal to white audiences. While the embrace appears to be self-hating,Taylor and Austen also take the reader on a journey connecting the roots of many contemporary expressions via Dave Chappell to the Good Times character JJ to Amos and Andy radio and television shows. They note that Cosby’s sitcom and other shows were counterpoints to contemporary minstrel shows. Yet, Cosby in his earlier cartoon show presented characters that appeared to embrace the old time minstrels. --Vernon Ford