Blackface is theatrical makeup used by white people to play black people. In the United States, where the practice became popular during the 19th century, it became associated with certain archetypes of American racism such as the "happy-go-lucky darky on the plantation" or the "dandified coon ". HenceBlackface has become associated with racism, particularly in the USA, so that the term may be used in a broader sense to include similarly stereoty...
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Blackface is theatrical makeup used by white people to play black people. In the United States, where the practice became popular during the 19th century, it became associated with certain archetypes of American racism such as the "happy-go-lucky darky on the plantation" or the "dandified coon ". HenceBlackface has become associated with racism, particularly in the USA, so that the term may be used in a broader sense to include similarly stereotyped performances even when they do not involve blackface makeup.
Blackface was an important performance tradition in the American theater for roughly 100 years beginning around 1830. It quickly became popular overseas, particularly so in Britain, where the tradition lasted even longer than in the US, occurring on primetime TV as late as 1978 and 1981. In both the United States and Britain, blackface was most commonly used in the minstrel performance tradition, but it predates that tradition, and it survived long past the heyday of the minstrel...
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