The Long Shadow of Blackface

Nina Yeboah was a freshman at Georgia State University in 2004 when she heard about a pair of white fraternity brothers who had shown up at a rap-themed party in blackface.

Fifteen years later, she says, it’s still hard to talk about what would become a moment of embarrassment and pain on the Atlanta campus. As a student of color, says Yeboah, “it kind of wakes you up to what racism is like in the community that you’re in.”

Blackface—the use of makeup, shoe polish, or something else to darken one’s face to caricature a black person—has a long, painful history in the U.S., and as Yeboah’s story makes clear, it’s never quite gone away. Now it’s at the center of a political scandal in Virginia. In February, a racist photo surfaced from the 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook page of Governor Ralph Northam, a white Democrat, showing a man in blackface next to someone dressed as a Ku Klux Klan (K.K.K.) member.

In 2004, Nina Yeboah was a freshman at Georgia State University in Atlanta. It was then that she heard a pair of white fraternity brothers had shown up at a rap-themed party in blackface.

It’s been 15 years since the incident. But she says it’s still hard to talk about what would become a moment of embarrassment and pain. As a student of color, says Yeboah, “it kind of wakes you up to what racism is like in the community that you’re in.”

Blackface is the use of makeup, shoe polish, or something else to darken one’s face to caricature a black person. The practice has a long, painful history in the U.S., and as Yeboah’s story makes clear, it’s never quite gone away. Now it’s at the center of a political scandal in Virginia. In February, a racist photo surfaced from the 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook page of Governor Ralph Northam, a white Democrat. The photo shows a man in blackface next to someone dressed as a Ku Klux Klan (K.K.K.) member.

Northam first acknowledged, then denied, being one of the people in the photo, but he admitted to wearing blackface during a Michael Jackson-themed dance contest in 1984, for which he apologized. While some people said he shouldn’t be punished for something he did more than 30 years ago, many others called for Northam’s resignation. Then soon after, Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring, who is white and third in line to take over as governor, acknowledged that he too had worn blackface at a party, as a college student at the University of Virginia in 1980.

The revelations have many people wondering: Why does blackface keep showing up—and what makes it so offensive?

Northam first acknowledged, then denied, being one of the people in the photo. But he admitted to wearing blackface during a Michael Jackson-themed dance contest in 1984, for which he apologized. Some people said he shouldn’t be punished for something he did more than 30 years ago. Many others called for Northam’s resignation. Then soon after, Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring, who is white and third in line to take over as governor, got involved. He acknowledged that he too had worn blackface at a party, as a college student at the University of Virginia in 1980.

The revelations have many people wondering: Why does blackface keep showing up and what makes it so offensive?

The use of blackface dates back to the minstrel shows that first became popular in the mid-19th century, during the era of slavery. These shows were performed by white minstrels (musicians) who used burnt cork or shoe polish to paint their faces black. Dressed in tattered clothes, they performed music and skits that caricatured enslaved Africans on Southern plantations, depicting them as lazy, dumb, and cowardly.

These performances dehumanized black people and promoted the “stereotype of the dimwitted slave who was happy to be in the South,” says Rhae Lynn Barnes, a professor of American cultural history at Princeton University.

Before movies and television, minstrel shows were America’s most popular entertainment. They first appeared on stage in New York around the 1830s. For many white people in the North, it was their first encounter with anything depicting black life, but it was one rooted in falsehoods. By the 1850s, minstrel troupes were traveling across the country—both North and South—singing and dancing in front of huge crowds of white people, who roared with laughter.

The use of blackface dates back to the minstrel shows that first became popular in the mid-19th century. These performances gained popularity during the era of slavery. In them, white minstrels (musicians) used burnt cork or shoe polish to paint their faces black. They also dressed in tattered clothes. The shows included music and skits that caricatured enslaved Africans on Southern plantations. The performers depicted the slaves as lazy, dumb, and cowardly.

These performances dehumanized black people and promoted the “stereotype of the dimwitted slave who was happy to be in the South,” says Rhae Lynn Barnes, a professor of American cultural history at Princeton University.

Before movies and television, minstrel shows were America’s most popular entertainment. They first appeared on stage in New York around the 1830s. For many white people in the North, it was their first encounter with anything depicting black life. But it was one rooted in falsehoods. By the 1850s, minstrel troupes were traveling across the country, both in the North and the South. They sang and danced in front of huge crowds of white people, who roared with laughter.

But to black people, there was nothing funny about them. Historians say these mocking portrayals of African-Americans reinforced the belief that they’re inferior to whites, and thus deserve to be treated as such. They point out that the Jim Crow laws that segregated blacks and whites in public spaces in the South even took their name from a popular minstrel song-and-dance routine from the 1830s: “Jump Jim Crow.”

After the Civil War, some black performers acted in minstrel shows but were forced to wear blackface, darkening their faces with polish and painting their mouths white. It was the only way many white audiences would accept a black actor onstage, and black performers had few other options.

Audiences continued to swoon over blackface into the 20th century, when Al Jolson, a white actor who performed in blackface, became the biggest star on Broadway. In 1927, he donned blackface as the lead actor in The Jazz Singer, the first talking motion picture.

But to black people, there was nothing funny about them. Historians say these mocking portrayals of African-Americans reinforced the belief that they’re inferior to whites, and thus deserve to be treated as such. They point out that the Jim Crow laws that segregated blacks and whites in public spaces in the South even took their name from a popular minstrel song-and-dance routine from the 1830s: “Jump Jim Crow.”

After the Civil War, some black performers acted in minstrel shows. They were forced to wear blackface, darkening their faces with polish and painting their mouths white. It was the only way many white audiences would accept a black actor onstage. Black performers had few other options.

Audiences continued to swoon over blackface into the 20th century. During that era, Al Jolson, a white actor who performed in blackface, became the biggest star on Broadway. In 1927, he donned blackface as the lead actor in The Jazz Singer, the first talking motion picture.

Around the same time, blackface was used to help justify violence against newly freed blacks in the South. In the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation, white actors wearing blackface portrayed black men as savages who attempted to rape white women. The heroes of the film were members of the K.K.K., who stormed in to protect the women by lynching the black men. The film was so popular, President Woodrow Wilson held a screening in the White House—making it the first movie ever shown there.

Despite a history rooted in racism, the use of blackface has continued, appearing on food packaging and in advertisements, even in modern-day TV shows and movies. But to African-Americans, it has always remained a painful symbol.

Around the same time, blackface was used to help justify violence against newly freed blacks in the South.

In the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation, white actors wearing blackface portrayed black men as savages who attempted to rape white women. The heroes of the film were members of the K.K.K., who stormed in to protect the women by lynching the black men. The film was so popular, President Woodrow Wilson held a screening in the White House. It was the first movie ever shown there.

Despite a history rooted in racism, the use of blackface has continued. It’s appeared on food packaging and in advertisements. And it’s even made its way into modern-day TV shows and movies. But to African-Americans, it has always remained a painful symbol.

“Those images bring back hate, bring to memory . . . things we are trying to heal over, get over, put in the past,” Robert Barnett, vice president of the Virginia chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, told NPR after the image of Governor Northam surfaced.

Some see the national outcry over Northam’s yearbook photo as a sign that more people have finally woken up to the racism behind blackface. However, Barnes of Princeton University believes we still have more work to do.

“People have perpetuated blackface because we don’t teach minstrel history,” she says, adding that if more people learned about it, “they would know better.”

“Those images bring back hate, bring to memory . . . things we are trying to heal over, get over, put in the past,” Robert Barnett, vice president of the Virginia chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, told NPR after the image of Governor Northam surfaced.

Some see the national outcry over Northam’s yearbook photo as a sign that more people have finally woken up to the racism behind blackface. However, Barnes of Princeton University believes we still have more work to do.

“People have perpetuated blackface because we don’t teach minstrel history,” she says, adding that if more people learned about it, “they would know better.”