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AFRICAN AMERICAN THEATRE HISTORY

  • From It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
  • Did not make fun of black culture in the episode
  • Merely blackfaced to portray Lethal Weapon franchise
  • Paula Deen’s new show advertisement
  • Her brother has brown sugar on his face

Is It Racist?

  • Snoop Dogg’s character “Todd”
  • Advertised whiteguysconnect.com
  • Mocked White people
  • Halloween costume
  • Depicting “gangsters”
  • Halloween Costume
  • Imitating Kanye West

By: Curt Baroussse, Z'Noah Broyard, Jordan Scott, Christianne Windfield

African American History

  • The Harlem Renaissance was a phase of a larger New Negro movement that had emerged in the early 20th century and in some ways ushered in the civil rights movement of the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Mulatto

  • The first black Broadway hit play
  • Written by one of the most successful black authors of the time, Langston Hughes
  • It is about a white plantation owner, Colonel Thomas Norwood, and his mulatto son, Robert.
  • It looks at America racism and used the rise Hitler as a backdrop to depict worldwide racism.
  • It is often cited by critics for it's autobiographical influence
  • Hughes received backlash for his use of black stereotypes in the play and hks others.

A Raisin in the Sun

  • Inspired by Hughes’s poem “Harlem”
  • The first play by a black women to be on Broadway
  • Tells the story of a black family and their experiences living in Chicago
  • They seek to better themselves and the father, Walter, sees wealth as a way to ascend
  • He also feels he needs to get rid of his African heritage which he associates with poverty and assimilate to into white culture to gain wealth
  • The play received critical acclaim and was named best play of 1960

Blackface

  • A racist form of theatre aimed and centered around black culture
  • This “artform” showed ignorance and depicted pure stereotypes of black culture
  • These shows endured for over 100 years and insured a unique longevity of black stereotypes in America
  • All these performers did was stand on stage mocking the black community depicting the “happy-go-lucky darky on the plantation” and the “dandified coon”

Minstrel Shows

  • Often considered to be the first true form of America theatre
  • Incorporated many aspects of blackface performance
  • Black people used for humor and often made to be childlike and foolish
  • Made for the common people who would not attend Broadway Performance

Costumes

  • Included over-exaggerated and flashy outfits
  • These would include large clothing, flashy colors, and of course the unforgettable makeup
  • Costumes were often made by the actors
  • They would include clothing for the time and specific clothes for the role
  • There were no customary costumes as were seen in the minstrel shows

Make up

  • Exaggerated features such as large lips, extremely dark faces, and very bright eyes

Is Blackface over?

  • The Civil Rights Movement put an official end to this “artform” in the 1960s
  • Popular use of this theatre type has gone almost completely out of style
  • There are a surprising amount of instances that take place to this day
  • Television shows, costumes, and even seemingly innocent pictures still offend many people with the subtle use of blackface

Historical Moment

In Black History

Harlem Renaissance: 1920's-1930

-Also known as "The New Negro Movement"

-A cultural movement

-Harlem became home to many middle class African Americans and continued to grow rapidly.

-The rapid growth of African Americans allowed for white theatre producers to recognize the talent they had to offer.

-This was the time when African American theatre flourished.

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