From Blackface to ‘Genuine Negroes’: Nineteenth-Century Minstrelsy and the Icon of the ‘Negro’

Abstract

In 1855, the first ‘coloured’ minstrel troupe, the Mocking Bird Minstrels, appeared on a Philadelphia stage. While this company did not stay together long, it heralded a change in the ‘face’ of minstrelsy in the United States. Many other black minstrel troupes would quickly follow, drawing attention away from the white minstrels who had until then dominated the scene. However, the white minstrel show had already iconized a particular representation of the ‘Negro’, which ultimately paved the way for black anti-minstrel attitudes at the end of the nineteenth century. The minstrel show existed in two guises: the white-in-blackface, and the black-in-blackface. The form and content of the minstrel shows changed over time, as well as audience perception of the two different types of performance. The black minstrel show has come to be regarded as a ‘reclaiming’ of slave dance and performance. It differs from white minstrelsy in that it gave theatrical form to ‘signifyin” on white minstrelsy in the manner in which slaves practised ‘signifyin” on whites in real life.

Book Reviews

“…In M ammies N o M ore : T he Changing Image of Black Women on Stage and Screen, Anderson works to move beyond discussions of stereotype-thus leaving behind even her own original research agenda that centered on racist theatrical images ( Anderson, 1996 )-by turning our attention toward the representational choices African-American female playwrights make when creating female characters. Anderson's hope, it seems, is to reveal the greater potential for whole and full Black female characters when African Americans are at the image-making helm rather than Whites.…”