A History of Blackface in American Entertainment

This episode of All of It on WNYC explores the deeply entrenched history of blackface and minstrelsy in American entertainment through the lens of historian Raelynn Barnes' groundbreaking book, *Darkology: Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment*. Barnes, an assistant professor at Princeton, reveals how blackface was not a relic of the distant past but a pervasive, federally funded, and commercially driven cultural force from the mid-1800s through the 1970s. She details how amateur minstrelsy infiltrated schools, fraternal organizations, political events, and even Japanese-American internment camps, with the federal government under FDR actively promoting it through the Works Progress Administration. The episode exposes the shocking normalization of racial caricatures, the psychological toll on Black performers, and the quiet resistance by Black mothers and civil rights activists who framed blackface as a cultural hate crime akin to Nazi atrocities. Barnes emphasizes the importance of confronting this painful history unflinchingly to dismantle enduring anti-Black stereotypes. Key takeaways include the realization that blackface was not just a Southern phenomenon but a national, industrialized entertainment machine rooted in New York City and driven by mass media like Tin Pan Alley and player pianos. The episode also highlights how FDR’s personal affinity for minstrel songs helped embed them in American culture, even as they were used to justify segregation. The resistance movement led by Black women like Betty Reed Soskin, who used international human rights frameworks to challenge these performances, underscores the long struggle for cultural dignity. Ultimately, the episode calls for honest, unvarnished education about this history as a necessary step toward healing and justice.