Saturday, October 02, 2004
Original image from the Cape Breton Post
When it first appear in the Cape Breton Post, the image was given no context other than to say that Minstrel Shows were popular in days gone by. I'm not sure if that was supposed to mean 'We've come a long way baby!' or it was just a simple fact.
I think there's this notion that this is in and of the past and therefore couldn't be taking place in there here and now. We've had our laughs at someone else's expense and we've moved on, there's nothing to see here. These people are either dead or have learned better.
Conversely there's a shift in blame going on. We can point out and say 'Look how stupid the people who came before were, we'd never do anything as despicable as putting black face on.'
When it first appear in the Cape Breton Post, the image was given no context other than to say that Minstrel Shows were popular in days gone by. I'm not sure if that was supposed to mean 'We've come a long way baby!' or it was just a simple fact.
I think there's this notion that this is in and of the past and therefore couldn't be taking place in there here and now. We've had our laughs at someone else's expense and we've moved on, there's nothing to see here. These people are either dead or have learned better.
Conversely there's a shift in blame going on. We can point out and say 'Look how stupid the people who came before were, we'd never do anything as despicable as putting black face on.'
# posted by Die Brucke @ 8:53 PM 
