Why blackface?
- Written by Michael Millner, Associate Professor of English and American Studies, University of Massachusetts Lowell
1899 lithograph of white minstrel performer Carroll Johnson depicted in blackface, right.Library of Congress
Blackface is part of American culture’s DNA.
But America has forgotten that.
For almost two weeks, conflict has raged over the use of blackface by two current Virginia politicians when they were younger. The revelations have threatened...