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Blackface Minstrelsy

The Minstrel show presents a strange, fascinating and awful phenomenon. Between 1843, when the first organized troupe
appeared, and the 1870's, the minstrel show was one of the most popular forms of entertainment in America. White performers wearing burnt cork or black shoe polish on their faces assumed the roles of African American men and women. A typical minstrel show would have songs, dances, jokes and grand hoe-downs. The minstrel show tried to capture the "happy-go-lucky" slave that ate watermelon and shuffled about. However, this idea of the "happy slave" was very wrong. Since this was before the civil rights movement, African Americans were caricatured and often stereotyped as the lazy, shuffling, hungry and ignorant "darkie." The dialect of the performances was inspired by the blacks on Southern plantations. Characteristics and hallmarks of the Minstrel show emerged from preindustrial European traditions of masking and carnival. Even......

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Approximate Word Count: 2388
Approximate Pages: 10 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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