Not Just Clowning Around: Blackface Yesterday and Today (Panel / In-Person)


Special Session
Send in the Clowns / American

Allison Johnson (San Jose State University)
alli@****.com (Log-in to reveal)

As recent events in Virginia demonstrated, blackface minstrelsy is far from being a thing of the past. Despite its taboo status and overtly racist underpinnings, blackface continues to happen. In his seminal work on the phenomenon, Eric Lott argued that early blackface minstrelsy emerged out of the “intersection of slave culture and earlier blackface stage characters such as the…clown of English pantomime and the clown of the American circus.” What might this lineage tell us about the ongoing prevalence and relevance of blackface? This session invites proposals that consider and examine modern and past manifestations of blackface minstrelsy, its legacies, and its influence.

As recent events in Virginia demonstrated, blackface minstrelsy is far from being a thing of the past. Both Virginia governor Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring have admitted to wearing blackface, and both men are still in office. Northam and Herring are far from alone—celebrities and frat boys have also caused similar media frenzies. Despite its taboo status and overtly racist underpinnings, blackface continues to happen. In his seminal work on the phenomenon, Eric Lott argued that early blackface minstrelsy emerged out of the “intersection of slave culture and earlier blackface stage characters such as the…clown of English pantomime and the clown of the American circus.” Minstrelsy’s ties to African and African-American trickster figures indicates the subversive potential of blackface as well as the cultural theft at its core. The title of this panel (“Just clowning around”) invokes the seeming nonchalance with which people continue to appropriate and imitate blackness and black culture. Given the conference’s theme and the continued prevalence of blackface, this panel would be a fitting addition. This session would provide a forum for a fruitful examination of the impact and cultural and rhetorical significance of blackface, as well as an opportunity to discuss ways to confront and diminish racial stereotypes.