The Scottsboro Boys- Page 2
The Scottsboro Boys
The Scottsboro Boys#25
Posted: 1/22/17 at 8:57pm
newintown said: ""Minstrelsy was originally an AA form of theater; it was later taken up by whites in blackface."
I confess that I have never heard that statement before - do you have any kind of legitimate footnote for it? Everything I have ever read (or can find at this moment) states that minstrel shows had their origin in blackface characters (that is, white men in blackface) from theatrical pieces as early as the late 1700s.
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The problem, newintown, is that minstrel shows have become so stigmatized by our outrage at the use of blackface that we think of the two as synonymous. It's hard to find internet sources that don't begin with the issue of "When did when white men starting corking their faces?" In fact and though the practice became universal (even black men wore artificial "blackface" by the late 1840s, there was a lot to minstrelsy other than make-up.
See this site for example:
https://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/jackson/minstrel/minstrel.html
"The Minstrel Show presents us with a strange, fascinating and awful phenomenon.... But in the US they began in the 1830s, with working class white men dressing up as plantation slaves. These men imitated black musical and dance forms, combining savage parody of black Americans with genuine fondness for African American cultural forms...."
(Emphasis added.) As I'm sure you noticed, there's no way white men corked their faces and imitated AA forms of song and dance UNLESS those AA forms predated blackface.
In serious academic sources (dissertations, etc.), you'll find young academics reclaiming the contribution of early African American minstrels to the history of our national song and dance. Yes, later white parodies were appalling; but they in no way detract from the performances they were imitating.
I.e., "blackface minstrelsy" may have begun with white performers in the 1830s or early 1840s, but it wasn't blackface that gave us the American musical. It was, in large part, the song and dance that began earlier with African American minstrel performers.
The following site shows an ad for the Virginia Minstrels in 1843, often called the first true example of "blackface minstrelsy". You'll notice that though the performers were white with corked faces, the material they perform is billed as "THE CELEBRATED NEGRO MELODIES". I'm in no way excusing the use of blackface by white actors, but I think the contribution of AA music and song is the greater legacy.
http://www.allday.com/the-history-and-legacy-of-minstrel-shows-2180790936.html
The Scottsboro Boys#26
Posted: 1/22/17 at 9:32pm
Someone in a Tree2 said: "I don't believe either the script or score of SCOTTSBORO BOYS contains the kind of pointed implication of the audience's collective guilt that you're speaking of. The show is plenty strong enough and its moral center perfectly clear without any overt finger-pointing.
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I'm not a fan of "historical" guilt. I don't see how you and I are responsible for what was done in Alabama over 20 years before we were born.
But in OUR day, i.e., the last 20 years, African Americans have been criminalized to an almost unprecedented extent, with something like 1 out of every 10 black men spending some time in prison. We imprison more of our citizens than any other democracy and the majority are minorities of color. Innocence Project exonerations suggest people of color are far more likely to be wrongfully convicted.
http://www.innocenceproject.org/race-and-wrongful-convictions/
So while SCOTTSBORO BOYS' "moral center" may have been "clear", I'm don't think it was sufficiently wide. To paraphrase Brecht, if you tell a story with a beginning, middle and end, you merely tell the audience the conflict is resolved and no longer requires attention.
The Scottsboro Boys#27
Posted: 1/22/17 at 9:32pm
I remember all of the uptight, politically correct people who protested and picketed this show because it was done in Minstrel show format. They didn't see the show but they knew better. What ignorant, shiftless morons.
The show was perfect and should have run for years, especially compared to shows that do (Lion King)
The Scottsboro Boys#28
Posted: 1/22/17 at 9:45pm
Obviously, I don't agree the show was perfect, Marc. But I saw nothing to protest or boycott. My only objection was that it wasted an opportunity to do more.
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