360 DEGREES: Blackface Repercussions and Ray Caruth Reparations, and more...

The Urban Breakdown misfits Ofofoley Oquaye, Mercer Prescott, Mercedes Wright, and F. Khristopher Blue break it down on Blackface and the idioticies associated with it... Blackface is much more than just dark makeup used to enhance a costume. Its American origins can be traced to minstrel shows. In the mid to late nineteenth century, white actors would routinely use black grease paint on their faces when depicting plantation slaves and free blacks on stage. To be clear, these weren't flattering representations. At all. Taking place against the backdrop of a society that systematically mistreated and dehumanized black people, they were mocking portrayals that reinforced the idea that African-Americans were inferior in every way. The blackface caricatures that were staples of Minstrelsy (think: Mammy, Uncle Tom, Buck, and Jezebel) took a firm hold in the American imagination, and carried over into other mediums of entertainment. Oh yeah, and we talk about Ray Caruth and more... Check out the demo for a song coming from Kaiser Sose/Eclectic Media at the very end... Recorded on 10/27/2018