Chapter 12: White Fascination with and Appropriation of Black Culture





The following activities accompany the Legacy for a People and a Nation on "Fascination with and Appropriation of Black Culture" in Chapter 12. Refer to page 329 of Norton, A People and a Nation, Sixth Edition for the complete text of this Legacy. There are three parts to this web page: Questions to Consider, Investigation, and Further Exploration.




Questions to Consider
1. Why have historians generally not looked at blackface minstrelsy and other appropriations of black culture in their studies?

2. What were the relationships like between nineteenth century black and white entertainers?

3. What popular images and popular cultural values emerged as a result of minstrelsy and blackface?

4. Do you see any parallels between the religious Second Great Awakening and the secular entertainment world of that era?




Investigation
After reading the Africana.com web site entry on Minstrelsy, search through the Library of Congress's African American Sheet Music collection to analyze nineteenth and early twentieth century images of African Americans. What are the most common scenes and themes associated with this music? Do these images appear to reflect the nineteenth century America you know or do they represent some foreign, constructed society? Be sure to view the LOC’s Special Presentation on The Development of African American Musical Theatre, 1865-1910.





Further Exploration
1. Read how the Black Rock Coalition encourages black performers and wishes to acknowledge that black artists are originators of hip-hop, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll and encourages black performers. The organization's 1985 manifesto states that blacks are the originators and heirs of Rock and Roll.

2. For a good entry into hip-hop sites and discussion, see the Hip Hop Webliography from Simmons College.

3. The ISAM Newsletter (Institute for Studies in American Music) reviewed recent work on blackface and suggests that blackface minstrelsy analyses should go beyond comments about race and stereotypes.