Thursday, January 28, 2010
First blog - Minstrelsy
When we began talking about minstrelsy the first week of class, I was immediately reminded of Harry Connick Jr. and the controversy that he was involved in recently. He was a judge on a Australian TV show when a group of performers called the "Jackson Jive" appeared in black face. Harry Connick Jr. was visibly uncomfortable and gave the group a score of zero out of ten before walking off the set and telling an interviewer that he never would have done the show if he knew about the act. However, the Australian judges seemed unfazed by the group, calling their act "cute" and giving them a score of seven. This was very shocking to me because we learned in class that minstrelsy was a form of black oppression. Knowing the history of minstrelsy makes the "Jackson Jive" performance very offensive. White performers used the minstrel shows to combat economic competition with the newly freed slaves. Performers used what they believed were stereotypes to portray African Americans. Minstrelsy also gave the impression that newly freed slaves missed the comforts of the plantations and wanted to be slaves again. Therefore, it was very shocking to me that still today, even in the 21st century, there are forms of racism in the world. Why would a group of performers think that it would be OK to perform in black face, knowing the history of minstrelsy? And why would a panel of judges be entertained and undisturbed by this?
Interesting questions Sara. Anyone have any responses to them?
ReplyDeleteIn the United States, we receive a very refined view of World History and most of the news that trickle down is national, not from the rest of the world. I'm not sure what it is like in Austrailia, and if there is a history of slavery and an oppression of an entire race and this leads me to wonder if they are aware of everything that has happened to the African Americans in the United States. Obviously, they know slavery existed, but sometimes people don't understand exactly what that entails, including in our own history classes. Race is still a huge problem we are still trying to overcome and obviously black face doesn't help.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the performers intended to stir up a controversy for publicity? Controversy after all is a very effective way to gain attention from everyone.
ReplyDeleteI don't think entertainers nowadays have much integrity as they care more about the fame than music.