Black Face in America

We've heard a lot about Black Face recently, as the governor of Virginia has been accused of appearing in Black Face or a KKK outfit 35 years ago.  Most people feel he should resign because of this.  Is it enough to say that times were different and he was young?  I don't think so.  The history of Black Face is long, beginning in the mid 1800's, peaking in the early part of the 20th century in the form of minstrel shows, and continuing to this day.  For lots of information about Black Face, go to www.black-face.com.  That website will tell you all you need to know.

It's so hard to compare actions taken years ago and now.  The culture has changed.  In the early 20th century, actions that we now consider abhorrent were common place.  Shows like Amos and Andy would never be allowed to air today, yet in their time they were the most popular show on the air.  Language and behavior that was once acceptable, is not any longer.  Stereotypical portrayals of blacks that used to exist, are not acceptable.  NBC took one of its shows off the air because of the negative stereotypes it exhibited.  Characters like Uncle Tom and Zip Coon, Jim Crow, Jezebel and Pickanny were staples during the minstrel era and carried over into vaudeville, film and television.

Animators at Warner Brothers, Walt Disney, MGM, and many others produced thousands of cartoons that perpetuated the same old racist stereotypes.  Eventually the worst of the racist cartoons were removed from television or heavily edited, but many are available on the internet, if you know where to look.  These cartoons are shocking to 21st century audiences, but they illustrate how pervasive and institutionalized racism was in our culture (and still is) just a short time ago.

By the way, racism wasn't just reserved for the blacks, although that accounted for most of it.  Jews, Asians, Mexicans and Arabs were all shown as stereotypes.

When I started writing this blog, the point I wanted to make was that our culture and language has changed regarding race.  What was acceptable in 1950 is not acceptable now.  Personally, I've never found it acceptable to make fun of or ridicule anyone for the way they look, talk, or where they come from.  We are much more in tune with people that are different than us today.  Thank goodness.

Character counts.  Whether you're 25 or 50, disparaging others is unacceptable, and if you're a public figure, it should not be tolerated.