The History of African Americans in Film Essay - 2066 Words

Minstrel shows were developed in the 1840s and reached its peak after the Civil War. They managed to remain popular into the early 1900s. The Minstrel shows were shows in which white performers would paint their faces black and act the role of an African American. This was called black facing. The minstrel show evolved from two types of entertainment popular in America before 1830: the impersonation of blacks given by white actors between acts of plays or during circuses, and the performances of black musicians who sang, with banjo accompaniment, in city streets. The father of American minstrelsy was Thomas Dartmouth Daddy Rice, who between 1828 and 1831 developed a song-and-dance routine in which he impersonated an old, crippled†¦show more content†¦Tambo) at one end and a performer on the bone castanets (Mr. Bones) at the other, the singing of songs with harmonized choruses, the exchange of jokes between the endmen and the performer in the center seat (Mr. Interlocutor), a nd the introduction of special variety acts at the conclusion of the bill. Though many of these shows claimed that these were true African American songs that had been brought back by people who had observed plantation slaves, this wasn?t necessarily true. For example one of the more common songs such as ?Jim Crow?by Thomas Rice was simply inspired by a crippled African American that Rice had seen dancing and singing a song with the chorus of ?Wheel about, an turn about, an do jis so, Ebry time I wheel about, I jump Jim Crow.? Many people were lead to believe that this was how every African American sang and danced and failed to realize that this was simply the way one man did it. Actual African American actors were rare at the time. There were only a few African Americans that actually appeared on stage and those who did only had minor roles such as servants or shoe shiners. This was mainly because the world was used to African Americans being slaves doing jobs such as these and pe ople weren?t ready to accept African Americans as equals yet. There had however been several attempts of African American stage performance such as New York?s African Grove theater. This theater was foundedShow MoreRelatedAfrican-American History Since 1877 Film Analysis1165 Words   |  5 PagesFilm Analysis Gregory Hamlin HIST 222. 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