Black Like You
Subtitle: Blackface, Whiteface, Insult & Imitation in American Popular Culture
Contributors: Darius James (Afterword)
Publisher: Tarcher; Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin
Published: June 15, 2006
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 384
ISBN-13: 9781585424986
Subjects: Race And Ethnic Relations; Sociology; Popular Culture - General; Popular Culture; Social Science; Pop Arts / Pop Culture; Racism in popular culture; Public Policy - Cultural Policy; Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General; Social Science / Popular Culture; Blackface entertainers; United States; African Americans in popular culture
First sentence: It was brutally cold on the streets of lower Manhattan the night of February 14, 2004.
Description: An exploration of race relations in American popular culture, focusing particularly on blackface--strange, often scandalous, and now taboo entertainment. Although blackface performance came to be denounced as purely racist mockery, and shamefacedly erased from most modern accounts of American cultural history, Strausbaugh shows that, nevertheless, its impact has been deep and longlasting. Strausbaugh illuminates truths about race rarely discussed in public, including: --American culture conforms neither to knee-jerk racism nor to political correctness. It is neither Black nor White nor Other, but a mix. --No history is best forgotten--however uncomfortable it may be to remember. The power of blackface to enrage and mortify Americans to this day is reason enough to examine what it still tells us about our culture and ourselves. --Blackface is still alive. Its impact and derivations--including Black performers in "whiteface"--Can be seen all around us.--From publisher description.