What is Minstrel show?
[[File:Al G. Field Minstrels LCCN2014637368.jpg|thumb|526x526px|[[Advertisment]] for a mistrel show]] The '''minstrel show''' was an [[United States|American]] form of [[entertainment]]. It was developed in the 19th century. Each show was of [[comic]] skits, [[dancing]] and [[music]] performances that showed people of [[Africa]]n descent. The shows were played by mostly [[white people]] in [[makeup]] or [[blackface]] for the purpose of playing [[black people]]. There were also some [[African American]] performers and black-only [[minstrel]] groups that formed and [[tour]]ed. Minstrel shows [[parody|parodied]] blacks and African Americans as happy-go-lucky, lazy and dim-witted.<ref>{{cite document|title=The Coon Caricature|publisher=Ferris State University|url=https://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/coon|access-date=Sep 2, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite document|title=A History of the Musical|publisher=John Kenrick|url=http://www.musicals101.com/minstrel.htm|access-date=Sep 2, 2020}}</ref> Minstrel shows came out as brief [[burlesque]]s in the early 1830s in the [[Northeastern United States]]. They were developed into full-fledged form around the next [[decade]]. By the turn of the 20th century, the minstrel show was a shadow of its former popularity. It was replaced for the most part by [[vaudeville]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Blackface Photos Found in Old University of Maryland Yearbooks|publisher=Baltimore Sun|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/education/bs-md-umd-blackface-yearbook-20190208-story.html|access-date=Sep 2, 2020}}</ref> ==References== {{reflist}} {{Multistub|US|performing-arts}} [[Category:19th century in the United States]] [[Category:American music]]