Taboo since the early 1950s, blackface minstrelsy developed in the late 1820s just as the young United States was attempting to assert a national identity distinct from Britain's. Many scholars have identi-fied it as the first uniquely American...

Blackface is a style of theatrical makeup that originated in the United States, used to affect the countenance of an iconic, racist American archetype—that of the darky or coon. In the United States, blackface was most commonly used in the minstrel...

Scholars discuss the resurging interest in icons of racial stereotypes at the 114th meeting of the Modern Language Association SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Several sessions devoted to the language, literature, writing, and teaching trends by and about Africans and African Americans were...

DIALOGUES The following note was written in response to the request ofjack Santino, then editor of the Journal of American Folklore. The current JAF editor, Elaine Lawless, has concurred that this issue needs to be addressed. After the 1996 meeting of the American...

happy days Joe Lieberman's campaign staff is staying resolutely upbeat about today's Q-poll that has Ned Lamont leading by 54-41 -- to say nothing of the decision of SEIU Local 1199 to support Lamont. Lieberman spokesperson Marion Steinfels actually went so far as to...

An off-campus party that asked students to come dressed "politically incorrect" has prompted an investigation by Macalester College officials who learned one student was costumed as a Ku Klux Klan member and another wore blackface with a noose around his neck.Students at the private school...