Before the 1830s, when blackface minstrelsy begins formally, African Americans, people whom we today would call African Americans, have been involved in local entertainment. They are the fiddlers at ...

As co-authors Yuval Taylor and Jake Austen explore in their exhaustively researched book, Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy From Slavery to Hip-Hop, the once hugely popular form of entertainment has a ...

The American minstrel show at once humanized and stereotyped African-Americans. By the early 20th century, the form had become racist and objectionable. Jason Christophe White's "The Dance: The ...

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Of all the uncomfortable episodes in American history, that of minstrelsy is one that many people would like to forget. It consisted largely of white performers dressed in black-face, employing ...

It’s hard to match the conniption fits flying in the wake of VH1’s outrageously popular “Flavor of Love,” in which our unlikely hero, Flavor Flav — tacky, lumpen, gargoylesque — searches mightily for ...

Taylor (coauthor of Faking It) and Austen (editor of Roctober magazine) provide a comprehensive and perceptive history and critique of black minstrelsy—a tradition that began in the 1840s, where black ...

MinnPost’s reporters work hard to bring you news about what’s happening in MN. Your tax-deductible donation today will show your support of our journalists and keep our stories paywall-free. The ...

Among the many hot-button topics that dot the minefield called race in America, few trigger more instant and heated response than that of blackface and minstrelsy. Even so, that didn't deter authors ...

“There have been two ways to look at things like minstrelsy. One way is to say: ‘Let’s forget it and look forward,’ and the other way is to say: ‘We will never forget,’” Louis Chude-Sokei said at the ...

Minstrel shows emerged in the first half of the 19th century, but their influence in the United States wasn’t just confined to the stage. According to film scholar Allyson Nadia Field, those same ...