1. Lena Horne

2. Lena Horne First performed as a chorus girl at the Cotton Club, 1934
Sang for the troops in Germany, WWII
US Army was still segregated
Horne refused to sing to an audience in which German POWs were seated in front of African-American US soldiers
Walked off the stage and sang near the back of the room instead

3. KKK rally, 1996

4. Jim Crow Laws

5. Lynching Common in times of social and economic tension
Execution carried out by a mob usually by hanging
Also includes burning at the stake, stoning, and shooting
Used to punish “transgressor” and intimidate others of that same group
Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people, however large or small. It is related to other means of social control that arise in communities, such as charivari, riding the rail, and tarring and feathering. Lynchings were more frequent in times of social and economic tension, and often were means by the politically dominant population to oppress social challengers.

6. Emmett Till

7. Emmett Till 14-year-old boy from Chicago killed in Mississippi in 1955
This event was a major catalyst for the Civil Rights movement
Forced everyone to question the “fairness” of Jim Crow laws, segregation, lynching, etc.

8. “Strange Fruit” Poem written in 1936
Written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish school teacher in NYC
Used the pen name
“Lewis Allan”
Published in a teaching
union magazine
In reaction to the
lynching of two men
“Strange Fruit” by Abel Meeropol (pen name=Lewis Allan)

9. “Strange Fruit” by Abel Meeropol Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Pastoral scene of the gallant South,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh!
Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the tree to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.
"Strange Fruit" was a poem written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish high-school teacher from the Bronx, about the lynching of two black men. He published under the pen name Lewis Allan.[3][4]
In the poem, Meeropol expressed his horror at lynchings, possibly after having seen Lawrence Beitler's photograph of the 1930 lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in Marion, Indiana. He published the poem in 1936 in The New York Teacher, a union magazine.

10. Later set to music and sung by Billie Holiday
"Strange Fruit" was a poem written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish high-school teacher from the Bronx, about the lynching of two black men. He published under the pen name Lewis Allan.[3][4]
In the poem, Meeropol expressed his horror at lynchings, possibly after having seen Lawrence Beitler's photograph of the 1930 lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in Marion, Indiana. He published the poem in 1936 in The New York Teacher, a union magazine.

11. Minstrel Show, 1900

12. Bert Williams, 1910

13. 1922, Advertisement

14. The Jazz Singer, 1927 First “talkie” full-length film with dialogue
Al Jolson wears “blackface”
to perform onstage
Trying to hide his true
identity as a Jewish immigrant

16. Dumbo, 1941 Jim Crow and friends
Critics accuse the film of racial stereotyping
Others reject this claiming . . .
The crows are sympathetic characters
Free spirits who are
intelligent and
self-confident

17. “Ribena” blackcurrant drink ad, late 1940s

18. Continues to be a “hot button” issue
“Blackface” virtually ended in U.S. with Civil Rights legislation in the 1960s
Continues to be a “hot button” issue
Beyonce in L’Officiel Paris
magazine

19. In their 90th-anniversary issue, the pop icon pays tribute to African culture, donning head wraps and gorgeous gowns. But one picture in particular seems to be getting the most attention. In it Beyoncé wears dark face paint, transforming her fair-skinned complexion to a dark brown one. Whoa, right? How could she? …Okay, America. Chill out. Not every blackened face is blackface. There’s a fine line between artistry and mockery. And several things must be considered before thinking that Beyoncé, of all people, would be the one to spit in the face of her own culture.—Brad Wete, EW

20. Japanese “dakkochan” doll

21. 1960, Time article
Japanese intellectuals, who can be pretty crazy themselves, have been quick to discover social significance in the dakkochan's black skin. Citing the growing popularity of Negro jazz. Artist Setsu Nagasawa argues that "a Negro culture wave seems to be sweeping Japanese youth." Novelist Tensei Kawano, who has featured Negroes in four books, asserts: "We of the younger generation are outcasts from politics and society. In a way we are like Negroes, who have a long record of oppression and misunderstanding, and we feel akin to them." The Softies. Toymaker Suda, who would like to know how to do it again, has also tried to get at the reason behind the fad by tape-recording interviews with hundreds of customers waiting to buy dakkochans. The replies are sociologically disappointing. Some teen-agers say they are buying a dakkochan because their friends have bought dakkochans. The vast majority, however, reply with one or another variant of "It's so cute and lovable that I just have to have one."

22. A Raisin in the Sun modern film trailer

23. A Raisin in the Sun Reading Schedule
Due Friday, 3/18: Act I, scenes 1 & 2 (p75)
Due Monday, 3/21: Act II, scene i (p95)
Due Tuesday, 3/22: Act II, scene ii (p109)
Due Wednesday, 3/23: Act II, scene iii (130)
Due Thursday, 3/24: Act III (p151)
Friday, 3/25: Wrap-up discussion
Page 75
(Act I, Scene ii)

24. Times article “Dakkochan”:
Blackface montage from Bamboozled:
Ribena blackcurrant drink ad: