Blackface minstrelsy codified a full cast of demeaning Black stereotypes

Evidence

By 1830, Thomas “Daddy” Rice, who learned to mimic African American English (today called “Ebonics”), was touring the South, perfecting the character that thrust him into international prominence: Jim Crow. Appearing in blackface, and dressed in rags, torn shoes, and a weathered hat, Jim Crow sang and danced as a stupid, childlike, cheerful Black field hand. Other minstrel characters included “Old darky,” the thoughtless, musical head of an enslaved family, and “Mammy,” the hefty asexual devoted caretaker of Whites. The biracial, beautiful, sexually promiscuous “yaller gal” titillated White men. “Dandy,” or “Zip Coon,” was an upwardly mobile northern Black male who mimicked—outrageously—White elites. — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 453

Categorization

• DEFINE: Useful catalog of minstrel archetypes (Jim Crow, Mammy, Zip Coon, yaller gal) — each is a distinct racist idea worth naming when analyzing media.
• SEED: The inventory of minstrel characters maps closely onto modern media tropes — a piece tracing the lineage from Zip Coon to modern coded caricatures could be strong.
• XREF: connects to: Radio’s racial stereotypes reinforced blacks’ second-class status — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 320