{"id":5730,"date":"2021-10-23T20:21:22","date_gmt":"2021-10-24T01:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/?p=5730"},"modified":"2021-10-24T10:57:32","modified_gmt":"2021-10-24T15:57:32","slug":"minstrelsy-this-is-still-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/2021\/10\/23\/minstrelsy-this-is-still-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Minstrelsy: This is (Still) America"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Content warning: offensive language and images<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"584\" height=\"329\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VYOjWnS4cMY?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Childish Gambino\u2019s, \u201cThis is America\u201d and its accompanying video dominated conversations and social media feeds for days following its release in 2018 as well as receiving critical acclaim at the 2019 Grammy Awards.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/IMG_2667.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5731\" src=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/IMG_2667-300x254.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"267\" height=\"228\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/IMG_2666-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-5733\" src=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/IMG_2666-1-283x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"283\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/IMG_2666-1-283x300.jpg 283w, https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/IMG_2666-1-965x1024.jpg 965w, https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/IMG_2666-1-141x150.jpg 141w, https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/IMG_2666-1-768x815.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/IMG_2666-1.jpg 1125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 283px) 100vw, 283px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The music video provides a commentary on gun violence and the lasting impacts of systemic racism and discrimination in America. Of these lasting impacts, one that stands out to me is the presence of minstrelsy in Gambino\u2019s video.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Minstrelsy is one of the earliest forms of appropriation of black culture in the United States. Eric Lott\u2019s, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class,<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> explores the roots of minstrelsy and its lasting effects today. He argues that minstrelsy is not only an act of violence against black people, but also an act of love and fascination. When describing minstrelsy, Lott goes beyond appropriation, describing the act as \u201cexpropriation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cCultural expropriation is the minstrel show\u2019s central fact, and we must not lose sight of it\u2026 it establishes little about the cultural commerce suggested by one performer&#8217;s enthusiasm as he gathered material for his blackface act: \u2018I shall be rich in black fun.\u2019\u201d<\/span><a class=\"sdfootnoteanc\" style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif;font-style: normal\" href=\"#sdfootnote1sym\" name=\"sdfootnote1anc\"><sup>1<\/sup><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">White performers are exploiting black culture for (white) public entertainment and subsequently profiting off of it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">40 seconds into the \u201cThis is America\u201d music video as Gambino is dancing, he makes an over exaggerated smirk on his face and winks his eye, similar to the cartoonish way black people were represented in minstrel shows and drawings. Much like the \u201cTurkey in the Straw\u201d sheet music cover art and the Coon-Chicken Inn restaurant logo.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5734\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.29.17-PM.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5734\" class=\"wp-image-5734 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.29.17-PM-300x163.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"163\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.29.17-PM-300x163.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.29.17-PM-1024x556.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.29.17-PM-150x82.jpg 150w, https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.29.17-PM-768x417.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.29.17-PM-1536x835.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.29.17-PM-2048x1113.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.29.17-PM-500x272.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-5734\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Childish Gambino, \u201cChildish Gambino &#8211; This Is America (Official Video),\u201d YouTube (YouTube, May 5, 2018), https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"sdfootnote1\">\n<div id=\"attachment_5735\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.36.05-PM.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5735\" class=\"wp-image-5735 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.36.05-PM-300x195.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"195\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.36.05-PM-300x195.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.36.05-PM-1024x666.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.36.05-PM-150x98.jpg 150w, https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.36.05-PM-768x499.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.36.05-PM-1536x999.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.36.05-PM-461x300.jpg 461w, https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.36.05-PM.jpg 2024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-5735\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Otto Bonnell, &#8220;Turkey in the Straw.&#8221; Mississippi State University, Mississippi State University Libraries (electronic version), 1921, accessed October 23 2021, https:\/\/cdm16631.contentdm.oclc.org\/digital\/collection\/SheetMusic\/id\/24823.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_5736\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/7e3655798fb50b0044972a9b296dfe90.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5736\" class=\"wp-image-5736 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/7e3655798fb50b0044972a9b296dfe90-300x204.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"204\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/7e3655798fb50b0044972a9b296dfe90-300x204.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/7e3655798fb50b0044972a9b296dfe90-150x102.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/7e3655798fb50b0044972a9b296dfe90-442x300.jpeg 442w, https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/7e3655798fb50b0044972a9b296dfe90.jpeg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-5736\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u201cBurgers in Blackface: Coon Chicken Inn,\u201d &#8220;Coon Chicken Inn&#8221; in &#8220;Burgers in Blackface&#8221; on Manifold @uminnpress, accessed October 24, 2021, https:\/\/manifold.umn.edu\/read\/untitled-6b2e0c15-9dd8-4cec-a2b3-81298b9e74ec\/section\/f907c8e0-69d3-4a83-b630-57fcda04c072.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This subtle act is the first reference to minstrelsy in the video.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The second reference to minstrelsy is a bit less subtle than Gambino\u2019s facial expressions. At 51 seconds, Gambino pulls out a gun and takes a specific stance before pulling the trigger. This stance references Jim Crow sketches and is incredibly similar to the 1834 cover art for the sheet music of the minstrel song \u201cZip Coon.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5739\" style=\"width: 290px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.29.00-PM.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5739\" class=\"wp-image-5739 \" src=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.29.00-PM-300x161.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"280\" height=\"156\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-5739\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Childish Gambino, \u201cChildish Gambino &#8211; This Is America (Official Video),\u201d YouTube (YouTube, May 5, 2018), https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_5740\" style=\"width: 253px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.33.36-PM.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5740\" class=\"wp-image-5740\" src=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-23-at-12.33.36-PM-229x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"243\" height=\"314\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-5740\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Zip Coon. Thos. Birch, New York, monographic, 1834. Notated Music. https:\/\/www.loc.gov\/item\/sm1834.360780\/.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gambino\u2019s placement of these references to minstrelsy in the middle of viral dances like the Nae Nae is especially compelling. Today, a major form of cultural appropriation is white people performing and profiting off of dances made and popularized by black artists. So, Gambino using his body to refer back to minstrel shows while performing the Nae Nae, which took America by storm in 2015, is no coincidence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Minstrelsy still permeates American culture today- When one looks up \u201cTurkey in the Straw\u201d on google, it\u2019s described as a \u201cfolk tune\u201d and suggests performances of the song by Bill Monroe <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and the Hi-Lo\u2019s. This brings me back to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/2021\/09\/28\/the-persisting-whiteness-of-bluegrass-music-in-the-media\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">my first blog post <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and specifically the idea of discovering the whole truth when it comes to American music. Minstrelsy is still alive and well, so what do we do with that information?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"sdfootnote\"><a class=\"sdfootnotesym\" href=\"#sdfootnote1anc\" name=\"sdfootnote1sym\">1Eric Lott, Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 19.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Content warning: offensive language and images Childish Gambino\u2019s, \u201cThis is America\u201d and its accompanying video dominated conversations and social media feeds for days following its release in 2018 as well as receiving critical acclaim at the 2019 Grammy Awards. The &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/2021\/10\/23\/minstrelsy-this-is-still-america\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3525,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[581,958,292,506,607,172],"class_list":["post-5730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-african-american","tag-african-american-music","tag-american-music","tag-blackface","tag-cultural-appropriation","tag-minstrelsy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7jEhR-1uq","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3525"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5730"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5757,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5730\/revisions\/5757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}