The Past is Another Country #2

Judy Garland in blackface, one of many such times she blacked up. From EVERYBODY SING.

     Posted By: Paul - Tue Jun 16, 2009
     Category: Movies | Music | Stereotypes and Cliches | 1930s





Comments
Remember: this offensive conception of African-Americans came from the Deep South, birthplace of such stupid ideas as secession, hillbillyism, and the Redneck Olympics.

What's even dumber than this clip is the scene in Holiday Inn (the old movie) where, to celebrate Abraham Lincoln's birthday, the hotel staff don blackface and sing the praises of the Great Emancipator. KIND OF DEFEATS THE PURPOSE OF LINCOLN'S IDEAS! o.0
Posted by venomlash on 06/16/09 at 04:14 PM
1. Blackface started in the 1400s and no one really thinks that black folk look like that. There were even black performers that used blackface. The whole reason it was used was to represent black people. It pretty much died out in the US in the 1930s, but lived on in other parts of the world. England didn't stop using it until the late 70s.

2. Secession isn't a "dumb" idea. The country was founded on this principle for we seceded from England. The Founding Fathers believed that that was one key element in keeping the federal government in check.

3. Lincoln never wanted to free the slaves and at one point tried to settle them somewhere else then the US. The Emancipation Proclamation was a military strategy to disrupt the south for he only freed them in the south and not in the north during the Civil War. It was only afterwards that he freed them everywhere.


By the way, I'm not trying to defend the use of blackface.

Here's a good book about Lincoln:
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Lincoln-Abraham-Agenda-Unnecessary/dp/0761526463/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245189407&sr=8-1
Posted by mdb777 on 06/16/09 at 06:05 PM
What's wrong with snakes?
When I mentioned Lincoln, I wasn't trying to make it seem like he was all about freeing the slaves. Originally, he was trying to defend the Union, but the issue of slavery and basic human rights took over the war and turned it into a sort of crusade against injustice, and Lincoln did go along with this development. I took US History last year, you know.

And I bet there are sadly some people who think or thought that black people do look like that.
Posted by venomlash on 06/17/09 at 03:25 PM
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