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Stereotypes in Early America. Minstrel Shows. American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or , especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface.
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Minstrel Shows • American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface. • Minstrel shows lampooned black people as dim-witted, lazy,buffoonish,superstitious, happy-go-lucky,and musical. • Several different types of stereotypes
Toms • The Tom caricature portrays black men as faithful and happily submissive. • Used to defense slavery: how could slavery be wrong if black servantswere contented and loyal? • Smiling, wide-eyed, docile, non-threatening to whites, loyal, gently forgiving • Donald Bogle: “Always as toms are chased, harassed, hounded, flogged, enslaved, and insulted, they keep the faith, never turn against their white masters, and remain hearty, submissive, stoic, generous, selfless, and oh-so-very kind. Thus they endear themselves to white audiences and emerge as heroes of sorts” (5-6).
Coon • The coon was portrayed as a lazy, chronically idle, inarticulate buffoon. • Didn’t know his place: thought he was as good as a white person and “put on airs” but… • While he often spoke in a high style, he used words/phrases incorrectly (malapropisms) that undermined his intelligence