David Harewood on Blackface

Blackface used music and comedy as a delivery system for racist tropes and became the most popular form of entertainment in the Victorian era. Actor David Harewood explores the origins of Blackface minstrelsy, where white performers grotesquely darkened their skin, in early 19th-century America. How did it shape ideas of blackness in popular culture and why did it endure for so long?

Documentary • 48min