“...out of the counterfeiting of the black American's identity [in blackface minstrelsy] there arises a profound doubt in the white man's mind as to the authenticity of his own image of himself. He, after all, went into the business when he refused the king's shilling and revolted. He had put on a mask of his own, as it were...For the ex-colonials, the declaration of an American identity meant the assumption of a mask, and it imposed not only the discipline of national self-consciousness, it gave Americans an ironic awareness of the joke that always lies between appearance and reality, between the discontinuity of social tradition and that sense of the past which clings to the mind. And perhaps even an awareness of the joke that society is man's creation, not God's. Americans began their revolt from the English fatherland when they dumped the tea into Boston Harbor, masked as Indians, and the mobility of the society created in this limitless space has encouraged the use of the mask for good and evil ever since.” RacismBlackfaceMinstrel Book:Shadow and Act Source: Shadow and Act
“Like, Australians definitely don't walk around dressed up in blackface going "Ha-ha."” WalksDressed UpBlackface Author:Chris Lilley
“Speak out, educate, do not be intimidated by the apologists, and do not let extreme racism be mainstreamed. Hopefully there will come a time when we don't need to tell our kids that Halloween is no excuse for hate, and that blackface has no place in a civilized society.” NeedsKidsHateSpeakCommunityLeadershipJusticeHuman NatureEqualRacismEthicsHuman RightsExcuseExtremesIdeologyHopefullyCivilizedEducateHalloweenEqual RightsCivilityIntimidatedNo ExcusesSpeaks OutCivilized SocietyBlackface Author:Christine Pelosi
“Just reading that - just reading that a person can be black and still perform in blackface, making fun of black people for a living, and at the same time be a genius and be an incredible entertainer and at the same time be extremely conflicted and feel like - just feel terrible for doing that, essentially, which is what Bert Williams felt, from what I gather, from what I read - all of that just made - was so incredible to me.” PeopleFeelsPersonsMadeStillsReadingFunFeltBlackGeniusTerribleIncrediblesBlack PeopleEntertainersBlackface Author:Cecile McLorin Salvant
“I think when black performers performed in blackface, they were kind of taking back slave songs, but it was still a little bit iffy because they were performing, a lot of times, for white audiences who found it hilarious.” ThinkingKindLittlesStillsSongFoundBitsBlackWhiteAudienceLittle BitSlavePerformingPerformersBlackface Author:Cecile McLorin Salvant
“[Zwarte Piet] is unfortunate, and just like the early American blackface films, if it offends a segment of the population, it shouldn't be shown again.” IfsFilmPopulationUnfortunateBlackface Author:Roger Ross Williams
“I think it is very ironic that most people think that the banjo is a southern white instrument. It came from Africa and even for the first years that white people played banjo they would put on blackface.” PeopleThinkingYearsFirstsWhiteInstrumentsSouthernIronicBanjosBlackface Author:Bela Fleck
“I thought Black Friday was when everyone puts on blackface and steals children from Wal-Mart.” ChildrenBlackStealingFridayBlack FridayBlackface Author:Stephen Colbert
“I was not interested in doing the plot of Oedipus in blackface. I did wonder, what would these people have been like if they hadn't been in that situation?... One could look at Oedipus, or at my character Augustus, as a cynical schemer who did everything because he was hungry for power. But that's just too easy. I'm more interested in how humans can embody conflicting goals and emotions.” PeopleIfsHumansLooksHas BeensCharacterEasyGoalEmotionSituationWonderHungryCraftsPlotCynicalNot InterestedAugustusOedipusBlackface Author:Rita Dove
“A white face goes with a white mind. Occasionally a black face goes with a white mind. Very seldom a white face will have a black mind.” MindFacesBlackWhiteBlack FaceBlackface Author:Nikki Giovanni