Annotated Bibliographic Pathfinder:

Minstrel Show

Submitted By

Crystal D. Guliford

LS 5263 Reference

Professor E. Curry

School of Library & Information Sciences

Texas Woman's University

December 13th

, 2006

Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 2

--Pathfinder--

Minstrel Show: A popular stage entertainment featuring comic dialogue, song, and dance

in highly conventionalized patterns, performed by a troupe of actors, traditionally

comprising two end men and a chorus in blackface and an interlocutor: developed in the

U.S. in the early and mid-19th century.

Background

Blackface minstrelsy was the first distinctly American theatrical form. The minstrel

show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts,

dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the American

Civil War, African Americans in blackface. In the 1830s and 1840s, it was at the core of the rise

of an American music industry, and for several decades it provided the lens through which white

America saw black America. Minstrel shows portrayed and lampooned blacks in stereotypical

and often disparaging ways: as ignorant, lazy, buffoonish, superstitious, joyous, and musical. The

minstrel show began with brief burlesques and comic entr'actes in the early 1830s and emerged

as a full-fledged form in the next decade. By the turn of the century, the minstrel show enjoyed

but a shadow of its former popularity, having been replaced for the most part by vaudeville. It

survived as professional entertainment until about 1910; amateur performances continued until

the 1950s in high schools, fraternities, and local theaters. As African Americans began to score

legal and social victories against racism and to successfully assert political power, minstrelsy lost

popularity. On the one hand, it had strong racist aspects; on the other, it resulted in the first broad

awareness by white Americans of aspects of black folk culture.

Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 3

The purpose of this pathfinder is to introduce some of the resources available

MINSTREL SHOWS. The various types of library materials useful in research are described

along with some examples of each type. This pathfinder is not a comprehensive listing of sources

but is intended to be a starting point from which students can begin their research according to

their specific needs. This pathfinder will provide assistance in locating primary materials on the

origins, history and controversy surrounding African American “Minstrel Shows”, “Black Face”

humor and pop culture connections. The scope of this tool spans the total history of Minstrel

Shows from the 1600’s up until the present controversy over how popular Hip-Hop & Rap music

is said to resemble the stereotypes perpetuated in Minstrel Shows.

Quick Reference/General Overview:

PN Lhamon, W. T. Raising Cain: blackface performance from Jim Crow to Hip Hop.

1969. M5 Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1998

L53 1998

ML Lott, Eric. Love and theft: blackface minstrelsy and the American working class.

1711. L67 New York: Oxford University Press, 1993

1993

Subject Headings:

Library of Congress Subject Headings for the topic include:

Minstrel shows Negro Minstrel Shows

Rap (Music)--History and criticism. Black Faced Minstrel Shows

Blackface Entertainers Minstrel Music

Black Entertainment Television History Minstrel shows United States History.

Call Numbers:

Subjects: LC Call #’s: Dewey Call #’s:

Minstrel Show PN3195 780/.92

Rap (Music)--History and

criticism.

ML3531

ML3556

782.421649 22

Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 4

Black Entertainment

Television History

PN1922

HE8700

384.55

Minstrel Music PN1969 791

Blackface entertainers PN2071 792/.028

Example:

Library of Congress classification for the topic would be ML1711 .T64 for Robert Toll’s

“Blacking up: the minstrel show in nineteenth century America”.

Bibliographies:

Ref Gray, John. Blacks in film and television: A Pan-African bibliography of films,

Z filmmakers, and performers. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990

5784

M9 G72 This work consists of over 6,000 bibliographic citations to books, dissertations,

unpublished papers, articles, films, videotapes, and audiotapes. General materials

are listed in chapter 1. Chapters 2-4 are arranged by place: blacks in film in

Africa; Europe, the Caribbean, and Latin America; and the U.S. Chapter 5 lists

materials on blacks in American TV and video. Chapter 6 treats individual

performers, arranged by name and preceded by a bibliography on the subject of

the black performer in general.

PN Hill. George. Black women in television: An illustrated history and

1992.8 bibliography. New York: Garland Pub., 1990

A34 H55

This is a bibliography of books, articles, and dissertations and theses. The sections

for books and articles are both subdivided by topic. Some of the topics in the

articles section are personalities (further subdivided into soap operas, comedy and

drama, etc.), news/sports, and off-camera personnel (producers, sales, community

affairs, etc.).

NX Smith, Jessie. Images of blacks in American culture: A reference guide to

652. information sources. New York: Greenwood Press, 1998

A37I43

The ten essays in this work explore both positive and negative "images of blacks

in historical and contemporary American culture. Chapters cover topics in art,

musical stage, instrumental music and song, literary criticism, children's books,

Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 5

and film and television. There are general chapters on images of the black female

and on male images in popular culture. Toys, games, and dolls as cultural

products are discussed.

Ref Work, Monroe. A bibliography of the Negro in Africa and America

Z Mansfield Center, CT: Martino Pub., 1928. (Reprinted in 1965)

5118.

N4 W6 Chapter 25 of Work’s bibliography highlights the “Negro” and the stage. The first

section deals with “Negro Minstrelsy” and representations of African Americans

by White persons. The second section, the “Negro on the Stage”, discusses the

African American stage performance, musical comedies and dramas having

African American characters or dealing with African American life.

Dictionaries:

Ref Adell, Sandra. African American culture. Detroit, MI: Gale Group, 1996.

E185

A2525 Signed biographical profiles of illustrious African Americans in the arts or whose

lives have had an impact on 20th century culture, ranging from Mumia Abu-Jamal

to Lester Young. Entries range from one paragraph to one page in length; longer

entries include select bibliographies for more information and, usually, a photo.

Ref Hitchcock, H. Wiley. Grove Dictionary of American Music. New York, N.Y.

ML Grove’s Dictionaries of Music, 1986.

101

U6 This dictionary of United States music covers art music, jazz, popular music,

N48 including musical theater and popular song, rock, camp-meeting and gospel

hymnody, country and dance music, the music of many of the religious

denominations active in the United States, and the music of American Indian

tribes. The term American Music in the title encompasses 'all the music made in

the United States by Americans.

Ref Kennedy, Michael. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music.

ML. 4th ed. NY: Oxford University Press, 1996.

100

Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 6

.K35 There are some 10,000 entries in the new ODM. The book's easy-to-use

alphabetically arranged entries include all types of topics related to music:

composers, performing artists, orchestras, titles and descriptions of individual

works, musical forms and terms, institutions, and writers of music.

Ref The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. Cambridge, MA: Belknap

ML Press of Harvard University, 1996.

105

H38 This biographical dictionary contains entries for about 5,500 people, primarily

from Western concert/art music. Each entry begins with the subject's date and

place of birth and death and a basic categorization. For example, Duke Ellington

is identified as a 'jazz bandleader, pianist and composer.' A paragraph or more

follows, with a sketch of education and accomplishments. The longer entries may

include a works list and/or bibliography.

Encyclopedias:

General Reference Encyclopedias

Ref Encyclopedia Britannica [print & electronic version]. Chicago: Encyclopedia

A Britannica, c2006

E5.

E363 An excerpt from the entry for “Minstrel Shows” states: “indigenous American

theatrical form comprising a group of black faced white minstrels whose material

caricatured the singing and dancing of Negro slaves. It was popular in England as

well as the United States, reaching its zenith between 1850 and 1870. Additional

information and related topics can be found through this source.

PN Preminger, Alex. The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics.

1021 Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1993

.N39

An excerpt from this source for the term “minstrel” states: As popular

entertainers, minstrels moved in a world of traveling musicians, actors, mimes,

acrobats, clowns, beggars, and others of more dubious character. Additional

information and related topics can be found through this source.

Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 7

Subject Encyclopedias:

DT Appiah, Kwame. Africana: the encyclopedia of the African

14 and African American experience. New York: Basic Civitas Books, c2005.

.A37

435 Substantially larger than the first edition (1999) and with expanded references and

indexing, this five-volume set covers a vast geographic area and encompasses the

complex histories of Africans in Africa and the Americas. (Booklist)

E Finkelman, Paul. Encyclopedia of African American history, 1619-1895: from the

185 colonial periods to the age of Frederick Douglass New York: Oxford University

.E545 Press, 2006.

The approximately 700 main and subentries in African American History include

biographies both of prominent African Americans and of other influential figures,

such as John Brown and Lydia Maria Child, along with discussions of wider

topics, such as "Stereotypes of African Americans."

PN Bogle, Donald. Blacks in American films and television: an encyclopedia.

1995. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989, c1988

9.N4

B58 The encyclopedia is written from a very specific point of view. The author

refrains from condemning minstrel stars like Stepin Fetchit, but is highly critical

of “male interracial bonding” as seen in the movie The Defiant Ones. As a

reference book, it is useful as a traditional finding aid for names, credits, and plot

summaries.

Ref Southern, Eileen. African-American traditions in song, sermon, tale, and dance,

Z 1600s-1920: an annotated bibliography of literature, collections, and artworks.

5956 Greenwood encyclopedia of Black music. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990

.A47

S68 As any well-organized, carefully annotated bibliography does, this work by

Southern and Wright brings order out of chaos. The annotations not only describe

the item listed but provide a note to indicate whether it includes the text of a

particular song, sermon, or game. As a supplement to the enumeration of textual

Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 8

sources, the compilers have supplied an extensive and unique annotated listing of

iconographic materials--drawings, paintings, sketches, and photographs that

illustrate the various facets of black folk culture.

Indexes and Abstracts:

Print Indexes

Ref The Kaiser index to Black resources. Schomburg Center for

Z Research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library. Brooklyn, N.Y.

1361. Carlson Pub., 1992

N39

K34 Includes more than 170,000 citations drawn from significant and influential

journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, pamphlets and reports relevant to

the Black experience from 1948-1986.

Ref Benson, Sonia. African American reference library: cumulative index.

Z Detroit: U X L, c1997

1361

.N39 Includes indexes for: African American almanac, African American Biography,

A35 African American Breakthroughs: 500 Years of Black Firsts, African American

Chronology, African American Voices.

Ref Stevenson, Rosemary M. Index to Afro-American reference resources.

Z Greenwood Press. 1988

1361.

N39

S77 Subject index to black studies reference works--bibliographies, directories,

indexes, and catalogs. Non-reference works are included if they contain valuable

or elusive information. Emphasis is on the US, but a considerable portion of the

entries treat Canada, the Caribbean, and South America.

Ref Index to the Schomburg Clipping File. Schomburg Center for Research in Black

Z Culture. Cambridge, England; Alexandria, VA; Chadwick-Healey, c 1986

1361.

N39

S373 The Schomburg Clipping File is a massive collection of over 14,200 microfiche

from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York

Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 9

Public Library. The Schomburg Center is a leading research institution for

African-American studies in the United States.

Ref Burkett, Randall. Black biography, 1790-1950: a cumulative index. Alexandria:

Z Chadwick-Healey, 1990

1361

.N39

B52

Print Abstracts

HT Sage race relations abstracts. London, Beverly Hills, Calif. Sage

1501 Publications.1975-

.S23

International in scope, each issue includes bibliographical essays on specialized

topics, and annotated abstracts for journal articles and books dealing with race

relations. Important coverage of African American journals and scholarly topics.

Broad subject index. From the Institute of Race Relations, London; Quarterly,

1975- . Online issues include vol. 24, no. 1, 1999 - present;

CD-ROM Indexes and Abstracts:

ML MUSE, Music Search [electronic resource]. Baltimore, Md., USA: National

113 Information Services Corp., c1989-

CD-ROM edition of RILM abstracts of music literature, issued by International

Repertory of Music Literature, with additional material from complementary

databases.

Ref Black studies on disc G.K. Hall & Co. and the Schomburg Center for Research in

Z Black Culture

1039

.B56 This networked CD-ROM provides bibliographic citations to articles, book

reviews, books, videos, and other materials pertaining to African American and

African Diaspora studies; other racial and ethnic minority groups are also

covered. Includes an electronic version of the Index to Black Periodicals, as well

as the library catalog from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 10

DT Appiah, Kwame. Microsoft Encarta Africana: comprehensive encyclopedia of

14 black history and culture. Redmond, Wash.: Microsoft Corporation, c1999

Encarta Africana is a comprehensive and authoritative multimedia encyclopedia

focusing on the history, geography, and culture of people of African descent

worldwide. Encarta, the world's #1 multimedia reference brand, and co-editors

from Harvard University's Afro-American Studies Department have joined

together to create a multimedia encyclopedia that provides the best user

experience through technology-driven innovation.

Online (Dialog) Databases:

A&I Kaiser Index to Black Resources/Black Studies Database. Schomburg Center for

research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library. Brooklyn, New York.

1948-1986.

The Kaiser Index to Black Resources is a bibliographic database created from the

handwritten notes of librarians and other staff of the Schomburg Center from

1948 until 1986. BSD includes more than 170,000 citations drawn from

significant and influential journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters,

pamphlets and reports relevant to the Black experience from 1948-1986

Sample entries for “minstrel shows”:

Henry T. Sampson's Blacks in Blackface: A Source Book on Early Black Musical

Shows. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1980, 5622pp. illus

Black folk entertainment and the evolution of American minstrelsy. Negro

History Bulletin; September/October 1978; pp. 885-87

A&I In the first person: an index to letters, diaries, oral histories, and personal

narratives. Alexander Street Press.

Description: The In the first person web site describes itself as an in-depth index

of more than 3,350 collections of personal narratives in English from around the

Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 11

world. What makes this resource particularly useful is the depth of indexing,

allowing searches by personal characteristics, time frame, even witnesses to

particular events.

Sample entry for “minstrel shows”:

Document of Sheffe, Chris 18-Jul-1979 in Teaneck Oral Histories.[excerpt]

“They put on a minstrel show at a bazaar--every one in black face. Sam Cutler,

the druggist, was on the corner of West Englewood Ave. Joe Weiss had the taxi

service.”

A&I The Music index. Detroit, Information Coordinators [etc.] 1949-

Description: The editor-librarians at Harmonie Park Press have surveyed data

from more than 775 international music periodicals. Topics concerned with every

aspect of the classical and popular world of music are thoroughly categorized and

organized according to the framework of an internal Subject List which includes

both Subject and Geographic headings. Covering all styles and genres of music,

The Music Index duly cites book reviews, obituaries, new periodicals, and news

and articles about music, musicians, and the music industry.

Sample entry for “minstrel shows”:

Hurley-Glowa, S. The survival of blackface minstrel shows in the Adirondack

foothills. Voices Fall 2004.

A&I Library and Information Science and Technology Abstracts. (LISTA). Sage

Publications.

Description: Library, Information Science & Technology Abstract (LISTA)

indexes more than 600 periodicals, plus books, research reports and proceedings.

Subject coverage includes librarianship, classification, cataloging, bibliometrics,

online information retrieval, information management and more. Coverage in the

database extends back as far as the mid-1960. Surprisingly, a variety of

Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 12

information on the topic of minstrel shows and hip hop culture can be found

through this source.

Sample entry for “minstrel shows”:

Sloane, D. E. Minstrelsy and murder: the crisis of southern humor, 1835-1925.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries; Jun2006, Vol. 43 Issue 9,

p1828-1828, 1/6p

Shaw, Arnold Black Popular Music in America. Library Journal, 03/15/86, Vol.

111 Issue 5, p70, 1/9p; (AN 7494207)

African American Biographical Database. Alexandria, Va.: Chadwick-Healey,

Inc., c1997.

Description: The African American Biographical Database (AABD) brings

together in one resource the biographies of thousands of African Americans,

many not to be found in any other reference source. These biographical sketches

have been carefully assembled from biographical dictionaries and other sources.

Sample entries for “blackface”:

Brawley, Benjamin. The Negro in Literature and Art in the United States, Revised

Edition. [Griffith] Duffield & Co., New York, 1921, revised edition

Cuney-Hare, Maud. Negro Musicians and Their Music. The Associated

Publishers, Inc., Washington, DC, 1936

Layne, Maude Wanzer. The "Negro's Contribution to Music

Mathews Printing & Lithographing Co., 1942

Ethnic and racial studies. London: Routledge. Vols. 1-27. London, 1978-2004.

Description: Ethnic and Racial Studies is the leading international journal for the

analysis of these issues throughout the world. The journal provides an

interdisciplinary academic forum for the presentation of research and theoretical

analysis, drawing on sociology, social policy, anthropology, political science,

economics, geography, international relations, history, social psychology and

cultural studies.

Sample entries for “minstrel show”:

Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 13

Black Comedians on Black Comedy: How African-Americans Taught Us To

Laugh, Library Journal Reviews, November 15, 2006, REVIEWS; Social

Sciences; Pg. 86, 230 words, Rosellen Brewer

With Amusement for All: A History of American Popular Culture Since 1830,

Library Journals Reviews, April 1, 2006, REVIEWS; Social Sciences; Pg.

112, 253 words, Carol J. Binkowski.

History Cooperative database. University of Illinois Press for the History

Cooperative. Chicago, Ill. 2005

The History Cooperative is a pioneering nonprofit humanities resource offering

top-level online history scholarship.

Sample entries for “minstrel show”:

Cook, James W. Dancing across the Color Line. Common-place. The interactive

Journal of Early American Life. vol. 4 no. 1 October 2003.

Toll, Robert C. Blacking Up: The Minstrel show in Nineteenth – Century

America. Reviewed by Bill C. Malone. The Journal of American History, 62:3.

Journals/Periodicals:

PN Black face: the quarterly journal of the Black Filmmaker Foundation. 1989-

.9.N4 New York, NY: The Foundation.

B46

Serves as an academic, professional and community resource dedicated to the

dissemination of information about African Americans in film and related

monographs.

ML Black Music Research Journal. Nashville, Tenn.: Institute for Research in Black

3556. American Music. Fisk University, c1981.

B58

Focuses on matters of philosophy, aesthetics and criticism in researching black

music from the 17th century to the present.

ML The Black Perspective in Music. Cambria Heights, N.Y., Foundation for

3556 Research in the Afro-American Creative Arts.

.B6

This scholarly journal focuses on the history of black music, current events,

bibliography and discography.

ML Early Music History. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1981

Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 14

169.8. Arts & Humanities Citation Index Coverage: Full (19??-19??); Current Contents:

E15 Arts & Humanities; America, History and Life (1985- ); RILM Abstracts of

Music Literature Coverage: Full

Sample entry:

Tuhkanen, Mikko. Of Blackface and Paranoid Knowledge: Richard Wright,

Jacques Lacan, and the Ambivalence of Black Minstrelsy. Diacritics. Vol. 31, No.

2 (summer, 2001), pp. 9-34

Mahar, William. Black English in Early Blackface Minstrelsy: A New

Interpretation of the Sources of Minstrel Show Dialect

J. American Quarterly. Vol. 37, No. 2 (summer, 1985), pp. 260-285

PN Black camera: the newsletter of the Black Film Center/Archives / Indiana

1995 University Department of Afro-America Studies. Bloomington, Ind.: The

.9. Archives, [1985-] (No holdings available)

N4 Serves as an academic, professional and community resource dedicated to the

B455 dissemination of information about African Americans in film and related

monographs

ML Early Music Performer: a quarterly newsletter dedicated to questions of early

5 music performance, then and now. National Early Music Association. Guildford:

.L35 National Early Music Association. Cambridge, England: NEMA, 1991

Biographical Sources:

PN Bogle, Donald. Bright boulevards, bold dreams: the story of Black Hollywood /.

1995.9 .N4 Toms, coons, mulattoes, mammies, and bucks: an interpretive history of Blacks in

B59 2005 American films. New York: One World Ballantine Books, 2005

PN Chude-Sokei, Louis. The Last "Darky”: Bert Williams, black-on-black minstrelsy,

2287. W46 and the African Diaspora. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2006

C55 2006

ML Cockrell, Dale. Demons of disorder: early blackface minstrels and their world.

1711. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

C63 1997

NX Gubar, Susan. Race changes: white skin, black face in American culture. New

652.A37 York: Oxford University Press, 1997.

G83 1997

PS Lhamon, W.T. Jump Jim Crow: lost plays, lyrics, and street prose of the first

509 .N4 Atlantic popular culture. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2003

Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 15

J86 2003

PN Lhamon, W.T. Raising Cain: blackface performance from Jim Crow to Hip Hop.

1969.M5 Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1998

L53 1998

PN Reynolds, Harry. Minstrel memories: the story of burnt cork minstrelsy in Great

2582.N4 Britain from 1836 to 1927. London: A. Rivers, [1928]

R4 1928

ML Riis, Thomas. More than just minstrel shows: the rise of black musical theatre at

1711 the turn of the century. Brooklyn, N.Y. : Institute for Studies in American Music,

.R54 1992 Conservatory of Music, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York,

1992.

PN Stark, Seymour. Men in blackface: true stories of the minstrel show. Philadelphia,

3195 PA: Xlibris Corp., c2000.

S67 2000

Directories, Handbooks, Almanacs/Annuals

Directories:

REF Black Americans Information Directory.

E

185.5 Addresses for numerous organizations, institutes, and groups relevant to African

B513 American issues.

REF The Black Resource Guide

E

185.5

B565 Address directory for various agencies, organizations, and services relating to

African Americans, including businesses, the media, museums, church

denominations and organizations, and more.

PN Peterson, Bernard. The African American Theatre Directory: 1816-1960.

2270

A35

P48 A comprehensive directory of more than 600 entries, this detailed ready reference

Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 16

features professional, semi-professional, and academic stage organizations and

theatres that have been in the forefront in pioneering most of the advances that

African Americans have made in the theatre.

Handbooks:

Krummel, Donald William. Bibliographic Handbook of American Music. Urbana:

University of Illinois Press, 1987.

Jack, Haverly. Negro Minstrels; a complete guide. 1969? English. Book 129 p. 22 cm.

Upper Saddle River, N.J., Literature House;

Almanacs/Annuals:

E Ploski, Harry. The Negro almanac: a reference work on the Afro-American. New

185. York: Wiley, c1983.

N385 It is the intent of this source to provide a wide audience with an 'accurate,

comprehensive, and well-documented study of black culture in the United States

and around the world.' Using tables, graphs, and black-and-white illustrations,

nearly 500 years of history are treated, with an emphasis on the current situation

of blacks in American society.

Audiovisuals:

VC Riggs, Marlon. Ethnic notions. 1 videocassette of 1 (58 min.): sd., col. ; 3/4 in.

3244 viewing copy. San Francisco, CA: California Newsreel, c1986. (1 holding TWU)

Ethnic Notions is an Emmy-winning documentary that takes viewers on a

disturbing voyage through American history, tracing for the first time the deep-

rooted stereotypes which have fueled anti-black prejudice. Narration by Esther

Rolle and commentary by respected scholars shed light on the origins and

devastating consequences of this 150 yearlong parade of bigotry. Loyal Toms,

carefree Sambos, faithful Mammies, grinning Coons, savage Brutes, and wide-

eyed Pickaninnies roll across the screen in cartoons, feature films, popular songs,

Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 17

minstrel shows, advertisements, folklore, household artifacts, even children's

rhymes. These dehumanizing caricatures permeated popular culture from the

1820s to the Civil Rights period and implanted themselves deep in the American

psyche.

CGD Lee, Spike. Bamboozled. 16 film reels of 16 on 8 (ca. 12150) : sd., col. ; 3/4 in.

1017-1024 viewing print. United States: New Line Cinema, c2000.

Bamboozled is a satirical film written and directed by Spike Lee about a modern

televised minstrel show featuring black actors donning blackface makeup and the

violent fall-out from the show's success. The title means "purposefully confused,

tricked or led astray". Bamboozled mixes comedy with intrepid social

commentary about the way the media works.

Museum of Broadcast Communications [electronic/online]: The Black and White

Minstrel Show. http://www.museum.tv

One hundred years after the "Nigger Minstrel" entertainment tradition had begun

in London's music-halls, the convention was revived on television in the form of

The Black And White Minstrel Show. The Black And White Minstrel Show

therefore, is important in the context of British television because it outlines how

racist representations became part of public debate and how performance was

linked to social context. The program revealed a tension between the television

controllers, critics and audience. Many were angry at the fact that during this time

there were very few other representations of black people on British television.

This variety series was first screened on BBC Television on 14 June 1958 and it

was to stay on air for over the next two decades. The Black And White Minstrel

Show evolved from the "Swannee River" type minstrel radio shows.

Black music in theater and film. English Visual Material: Video recording: VHS

tape 1 videocassette (29 min.): sd., col. ; 1/2 in. Alexandria, Va.: 1980

Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 18

PBS Video explores the role of music in the presentation and perception of blacks

in theatre and film and identifies black Americans who have been active in the

growth of theatre and film music. Features L.O. Sloane's Three Black and Three

White Refined Jubilee Minstrels and Pearl Bailey.

References

Minstrel show. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/minstrel show (accessed: December 2, 2006).

Wikipedia contributors, "Minstrel show," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Minstrel_show&oldid=312161001 (accessed

December 2, 2006).