One thought on “Black Like You: Blackface, Whiteface, Insult, and Imitation in American Popular Culture”

1. Incredibly fascinating book about The African slave and Black American influence on American white culture and how the two cultures are intertwined At first I was angry because of the racist aspect of how White America embraced Black Culture but then I got over it and realized that Blacks took as much from White culture as They did from Blacks It reminds me of when I was a little girl and a Black soul singer did a cover of Hey Jude When I heard the Beatles version, I was highly indignant that a [...]

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2. During the late 1800 s and early 1900 s minstrel shows mocking black life in the South were well attended and received rave reviews Politicians, clergymen, and scholars filled the theaters each night to watch darkies make fools of themselves Sometimes the most talented African American performers would appear in the shows, hoping to make a name for themselves Dancing along with Caucasian men in Blackface, a style of makeup that made white people appear black and mocked black culture, they suppor [...]

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3. John Strausbaugh is a racist Caucasoid In this work of art he nonchalantly expresses his biases explaining the culture of Blackface in America and Europe He a the main mortal to attend one of these musicals and jerk off to songs like Uncle Tom the Rukus I believe that whites are infatuated with people of color To think about the time consumed in pretending to be something you re not and never will be a person with melanin Oh, my, my, my Reader beware if you re of African decent this author uses [...]

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4. This is what I wrote about the book back when I read it, in classic no capitals style this book was actually rather a disappointment it is definitely information rich, but at a certain point it becomes very clear that strausbaugh s conclusion is twofold that creole culture is inherently superior to the cultures that the creole draws from, mainly due to being interesting and fun, and that humor through offensive caricature, despite the problems, is fine, fine, finee problem with both of these p [...]

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5. Every once in a while, I find myself carrying around a book you don t want to have to explain on public transportation If you are reading this review, I have to guess you are either on my friend list, or you are trying to suss out minstrel theater s trajectory from most popular American art form to national shame and taboo and how could that have taken so long John Strausbaugh tries to answer questions like these, drawing a larger picture of theatrical ethnic caricatures of all types, including [...]

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6. Overall it was good Provided nice historical background for the minstrel show and cultural swapping in America The author s argument is that the swapping of cultures is what makes American culture what it is He also suggests that the minstrel show was the first form of pop culture in the United States and he subtley relates the early uses of minstrelsy to contemporary hip hop Read for yourself I don t want to spoil it for you He s goes a little too far by suggesting that because American culture [...]

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7. Came upon this at Powell s Books and it looked interestingUpdate O.K I m done with this little ditty and the intellectual dust still has not settled in my mind At first I was offended at some gay white Jewish dude, I m thinking Jewish from his last name, not because he details a great history of Black Face culture But because he basically calls all communities including the Black Community as being politically correct , until I ended up agreeing with him for the most part I still think he crosse [...]

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8. In short, this book is an exceptional history of what blackface and minstrelsy mean in relation to whether or not they are a racist attack or a genuine expression of love toward black people and our culture It s a complicated issue, and author John Strausbaugh sets the record straight with a cornucopia of verifiable facts and general info No joke, this is the best history book I have read since I don t don t know when.

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9. A collection of things about minstrelsy you already knew about Stephen Foster, Jewish minstrels, an inescapable past, a culture s recessive gene Still and all, not too bad.Only serious problem for me was Strausbaugh s need to inject his Ain t multi culturalism the silliest political bent into everything Gratuitous, Johnny

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10. Everyone in America should read this book I want to give it 6 stars but software prevents Why are you still here Go get this book.

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11. this book was not very good.

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12. Must read Amazing look into the history of the U.S through the lens of entertainment.

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13. Must be read with an anti racist lens.

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14. I really enjoyed this book Thought this book was very informative i would suggest this book to all to read my kids are going to read it next We had a great discussion on history symbolism at book club meeting A must read

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