Dwan Reece: The origins of blackface and Black stereotypes | TED

Transcriber:

Translator: Zaira González Lago Reviewer: Xosé María Moreno

When I was 10 years old,

Cando eu tiña 10 anos,

we traveled from Colorado to New Jersey to visit relatives

viaxamos desde Colorado ata Nova Jersey para visitar os nosos familiares

at Christmas time.

na época de Nadal.

We did a host of a variety of things.

Fixemos unha chea de cousas.

I actually got to see the original cast in "The Wiz"

Eu de feito cheguei a ver o reparto orixinal da película “The Wizz”

and did a lot of sightseeing.

e fixen moito turismo.

But one of my favorite moments was to stay up late at night

Mais un dos meus momentos preferidos era ficar acordada ata tarde

and wait till everyone else had gone to bed,

e esperar a que todos fosen durmir

and then I would sneak downstairs to watch television.

para entón baixar ás furtadelas polas escaleiras para ver a televisión.

A host of old movies that I probably had no business watching,

Unha chea de películas antigas que eu probablemente non tiña por que ver,

such as "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Oklahoma,"

como “Bonnie and Clyde” e “Oklahoma”.

that was a little OK.

Esa última era un pouco mellor.

But I remember one evening coming across a show.

Mais me lembro dunha noite que dei cun programa.

It was an old movie,

Era unha película antiga

and it must have been "White Christmas"

e debe ter sido “White Christmas”

or “Holiday Inn” or that type.

ou “Holiday Inn” ou ese estilo.

But it was a musical.

Mais era un musical.

And I started watching,

E comecei a velo

and then they started to do this musical scene,

e entón comezaron a facer esta escena musical

and I noticed I saw Bing Crosby in blackface.

e dinme conta que vin a Bing Crosby coa cara pintada de negro.

And I was confused.

E fiquei confusa.

I couldn't quite understand

Non podía entender

que tiña que ver pintar a cara de negro con cantar e bailar.

what the blackface had to do with the singing and dancing.

That was my introduction to blackface minstrelsy.

Esa foi a miña introdución ao xénero minstrel do blackface.

Blackface minstrelsy originated in New York, and not the South

O xénero minstrel do blackface orixinouse en Nova York e non no sur,

as a lot of people would think,

como moita xente podería pensar,

in the 1830s.

na década de 1830.

It was an incident where white actors would blacken their faces with burnt cork,

Foi un episodio no que actores brancos pintaban as caras con cortiza queimada,

paint on bright red lips,

Pintaban os beizos de vermello intenso,

exaggerate the whites of their eyes

esaxeraban o branco dos ollos

and put on a tightly coiled wig

e poñían unha perruca ben enrolada

to create caricatures of African Americans on the American stage.

para crear caricaturas dos afroamericanos no escenario americano.

The typical minstrel show was a parody of Black culture,

O espectáculo minstrel típico era unha parodia da cultura,

song and dance and speech,

música e danza e fala negra,

interspersed with stump speeches, jokes,

intercalado con discursos de campaña, bromas,

musical interludes and theatrical skits.

interludios musicais e bosquexos teatrais.

The cast included a roster of recurring characters.

O reparto incluía unha listaxe de personaxes recurrentes.

The interlocutor acted as the emcee.

O interlocutor actuaba como o mestre de cerimonias.

You had Mr. Tambo and Mr. Bones as the end men.

Tiñas ao señor Tambo e ao señor Bones como os homes do final.

Then you also had characters like the clownish slave Jim Crow,

Inclusive tiñas personaxes como o escravo pallaso Jim Crow,

which was also the name of the Jim Crow laws

que tamén era o nome das leis de Jim Crow

that we knew in the American South.

que coñecíamos en América do Sur.

Or the maternal mammy, a hypersexualized wench;

O a nai maternal, unha moza hipersexualizada;

an arrogant dandy, Zip Coon; and the lazy, childish Sambo.

un dandi arrogante, Zip Coon; e o infantil, preguiceiro Sambo.

The caricatures were often brutal,

As caricaturas eran normalmente brutais,

but not to the white audiences

mais non para o público branco,

who laughed at the antics of the illiterate slaves

que ría das pallasadas dos escravos analfabetos

as they sat secure in their own superiority.

mentres se sentaban seguros na súa propia superioridade.

The image of the dancing, simple-minded buffoons

A imaxe dos danzantes bufóns de pouco entendimento

captured the public's imagination

capturou a imaxinación do público

and spread across the country like wildfire.

e difundiuse por todo o país como un incendio.

O xénero minstrel do blackface creceu

Blackface minstrelsy grew

to be the most popular form of American entertainment in the 19th century.

ata convertirse na forma máis popular do entretemento americano no século XIX.

Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain spoke highly of the American minstrel show,

Abraham Lincoln e Mark Twain falaron moi ben do espectáculo minstrel,

applauding the characterizations and the source of its humor.

aplaudindo as caracterizacións e a fonte do seu humor.

Mais, ao mesmo tempo que entretiña,

But just as it entertained,

it also dehumanized the subjects of its ridicule,

tamén deshumanizaba os suxeitos da súa burla,

leaving the abolitionist Frederick Douglass

levando ao abolicionista Frederick Douglass

to describe blackface minstrels as

a describir o minstrel do blackface como

“the filthy scum of white society

“a sucia escoura da sociedade branca

who have stolen from us a complexion denied them by nature."

que ten roubado de nós a complexión que a natureza lle nega”.

Ironically, after the Civil War,

Ironicamente, despois da Guerra Civil,

African Americans forged their own careers on the professional stage.

os afroamericanos forxaron as súas propias carreiras no escenario profesional.

The route to success often meant appropriating the mask

O camiño ata o éxito normalmente significaba apropiarse da máscara

that was used to mock them.

que foi empregada para burlarse deles.

White audiences also embraced Black performance

O público branco tamén acolleu a actuación negra

in their local communities.

nas súas comunidades locais.

These amateur minstrels used instructional guides

Eses minstrels aficionados empregaron guías didácticas

that provided them with jokes, routines,

que lles ofrecían bromas, números,

songs and costumes they needed to put on their own shows.

cancións e disfraces que precisaban nos seus propios espectáculos.

Such was the habit of politicians, fraternal orders, colleges,

Tal foi o costume de políticos, ordes fraternais, colexios,

high schools and community performances,

institutos e actuacións comunitarias,

who carried on this tradition well into the 20th century.

que continuaron esta tradición ata ben entrado o século XX.

The professional minstrel show left an indelible imprint

O espectáculo profesional minstrel deixou unha pegada indeleble

on the American psyche.

na psique americana.

The images and racial stereotypes

As imaxes e estereotipos raciais

that continue to circulate in American society

que continuaron circulando na sociedade americana

on sheet music, magazines, books,

en partituras, revistas, libros,

vaudeville, theater, film, television,

no xénero vodevil, no teatro, nas películas, na televisión,

radio, records

na radio, en discos

and all kinds of formats.

e todo tipo de formatos.

These stereotypes were a powerful reinforcement

Eses estereotipos eran un poderoso reforzo

of the ideas of white supremacy and Black inferiority.

das ideas da supremacía branca e da inferioridade negra.

The news headlines of the last few months

Os titulares das noticias dos últimos meses

have shown us that the legacy of blackface minstrelsy

mostráronnos que o legado do minstrel do blackface

continues to haunt us.

continúa perseguíndonos.

In a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center,

Nun estudo realizado polo Centro de Investigación Pew,

they found that one in three Americans say that blackface is always

descubriron que unha de cada tres persoas americanas dicían que o blackface é sempre

or sometimes OK

ou ás veces correcto

if it's used in a Halloween costume.

se é empregado nun disfrace de Samhain.

So let me ask this question.

Así que vou facer a seguinte pregunta.

What is the appeal of darkening one's skin

Cal é o atractivo de oscurecer a pel dun

in order to impersonate someone of a different race?

para suplantar a alguén de distinta raza?

Blackface minstrelsy was born out of the realities of slavery

O minstrel do blackface naceu das realidades da escravitude

and racial segregation,

e da segregación racial

and its continual reappearance echoes the pain and suffering

e a súa continua reaparición retoma a dor e o sufrimento

felt by Black people

sentidos polas persoas negras,

whose bodies and cultures were presented as strange and grotesque.

cuxos corpos e culturas foron presentadas como estraños e grotescos.

It is a persistent reminder of the racism

É un constante recordatorio do racismo

and prejudices that bred its very existence.

e prexuízos que xerou a súa propia existencia.

The way it infiltrated society is a clear example

A forma na que se infiltrou na sociedade é un claro exemplo

of how deeply ingrained racism is in this country.

do profundamente arraigado que está o racismo neste país.

And the racial subjugation embodied by blackface minstrelsy --

E o sometemento racial encarnado polo minstrel do blackface

and perpetuated through a continuum of its history -- is a form of aggression,

e perpetuado a través da continuidade da súa historia... é unha forma de agresión,

a psychic wound that refuses to heal.

unha ferida física que rexeita curar.

Racial impersonation of any form cannot escape this legacy.

A suplantación racial en calquera forma non pode escapar deste legado.

So it's time to shift the power of representation,

Así que é tempo de cambiar o poder de representación,

to develop more expansive narratives

de desenvolver narrativas máis extensas

about the rich complexity of who we are as human beings.

sobre a rica complexidade de quen somos como seres humanos.

Acknowledging and recognizing blackface for what it is

Tendo en conta e recoñecendo o blackface polo que é

and what it symbolizes

e o que simboliza

is a step in the right direction.

é un paso cara a dirección correcta.

Educating ourselves on how stereotypes reinforce racist ideologies is another.

Educándonos sobre como os estereotipos reforzan ideoloxías racistas é outro.

Success in either case depends on an honest self assessment

O éxito en calquera caso depende dunha autoavaliación honesta

of our social and cultural biases and how they came to be.

dos nosos prexuízos sociais e culturais e de como xurdiron.

The legacy of blackface minstrelsy is our shared history

O legado do minstrel do blackface é a nosa historia compartida

and requires all of us to take collective responsibility

e require que todos nós asumamos unha responsabilidade colectiva

in dismantling its power to oppress and humiliate.

para desmantelar o seu poder de opresión e humillación.

A próxima vez que esteas fronte a alguén coa cara pintada de negro

The next time you're confronted with someone in blackface

or see a racist stereotype,

ou vexas un estereotipo racista,

tell me: What will you do?

dime: que farás?

Thank you.

Grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)