Black Vaudeville Performers Wore Blackface?

Back in the Before Times, I saw footage of Black vaudeville star Bert Williams performing in blackface at The Museum of Modern Art (more info on that here). Seeing a Black Man in blackface, I had a lot of questions. I found answers and context in Staging Race: Black Performers in Turn of the Century America by Professor Karen Sotiropoulos. In this episode, we discuss why, at the turn of the century, even Black performers who did not utilize blackface still played heavily exaggerated Black characters on stage.

For one thing, Black actors could only gain mainstream visibility and popularity when playing into White stereotypes.

Another important aspect is that Black actors hoped to be seen as great actors, not realistic images of Black life. When that failed, they still worked messages into their work tailored towards the Black audiences segregated in the balconies.

Through playing into White stereotypes, Black actors broke the Broadway color barrier, ushered in the Harlem Renaissance, and met with cultural appropriation.

Grab your ticket and let's get into Staging Race!

Music Credit

PeaceLoveSoul by Jeris (c) copyright 2012 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/VJ_Memes/35859 Ft: KungFu (KungFuFrijters)