Blackface facts for kids

This reproduction of a 1900 William H. West minstrel show poster, originally published by the Strobridge Litho Co., shows the racist transformation from white to "black".

Blackface is a kind of costume or make up. Non-Black performers wear blackface so that they can represent racist images of a Black or Afrcan American person. Blackface became popular in the 19th century especially during Reconstruction after the American Civil War. It made racist stereotypes like the happy-go-lucky darky on a plantation more common.

By the mid 19th century, blackface minstrel shows became a distinctive artform. It translated formal works, like opera, into popular terms for general audiences.

Early in the 20th century, blackface came off the minstrel show. It became a form in its own right.

In the United States, blackface became less popular after the civil right movement.

It is generally considered highly offensive, disrespectful, and racist.

Images for kids

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  FLIT advertisement by Dr. Seuss depicting blackface

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  The Dreadnought hoaxers in Abyssinian costume

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  The white American actor John McCullough as Othello, 1878

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  Singer and actor Al Jolson wearing blackface in the musical film Mammy (1930)

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  Poster for Spike Lee's movie Bamboozled (2000)

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  A poster for the 1939 Broadway show The Hot Mikado using blackface imagery

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  Florence Kate Upton's "Golliwog" in 1895, described as "a horrid sight, the blackest gnome." Note the formal minstrel attire.

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  Grocery list pegboard with a blackface graphic

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  The "Mama Negra" at the festival in Latacunga, Ecuador

See also

In Spanish: Blackface para niños