Presentation on racism
In this video clip, Al Jolson -playing the character of Jack Robin- sings the song "My Mammy" to his mother who is sitting in the audience. It comes at the end of the film The Jazz Singer and is its most famous song.
Xanadude 192 Al Jolson "My Mammy" Licencia YouTube
WHAT NEW THINGS HAVE YOU LEARNT? True-False Question
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Although there was music and some spoken words, it did still use caption cards so that the audience could understand what was happening.
And some more!
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It´s true. The Afro-American actor Bert Williams, for example, used blackface and was the best-paid black actor of his time. Although now it is generally considered disrespectful and offensive, then it was very popular and both white and black actors could earn a lot of money taking part in these types of shows.
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In Shakespeare´s time, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, white actors painted their faces black for the theatre.
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True. The Wikipedia says "Despite his promotion and perpetuation of black stereotypes, his work was sometimes well-regarded by black publications and he has sometimes been credited for fighting against black discrimination on Broadway as early as 1911".
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True, of course, and disgraceful. And most shamefully of all it is still true today. The Wikipedia says "Historically, racism was a major driving force behind the Atlantic slave trade. It was also a major force behind racial segregation especially in the United States in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and South Africa under apartheid".
Prepare a presentation: "Racism in films"
We have been discussing the use of blackface in the cinema, so let's do a bit of work on movies which talk about racism against Afro-Americans generally. For example, have you ever seen Mississippi Burning? In one minute, how many films can you think of that include this theme?
Prepare a short presentation with a partner about racism against black people in the cinema.
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