THE JUBA PROJECT
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Blackface Minstrelsy in Context
Blackface on the Web

Below, you will find a by no means comprehensive list of recent internet references to blackface, compiled by Lydia Wilkinson with materials from Stephen Johnson and Patrick Robinson.

CONTEMPORARY CONTROVERSIES

On the University of Toronto Campus

The Varsity’s Blackface Charlie Brown
           
http://www.thevarsity.ca/article/1661-a-black-voice-on-blackface
The online edition of the January 21, 2008 Varsity includes responses to its November 19th ‘joke issue’, which included a review of a fictional student production of You’re  a Good Man Charlie Brown.  The review was entitled “The New Face of Charlie Brown” and was accompanied by a photo of the cast with Charlie in blackface.

http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=161046&archive=27,16,2007
NOW Magazine comment on the Charlie Brown controversy.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2008/26/c4468.html
The University of Toronto Student Union’s response to the Charlie Brown controversy.

In Marketing

Kate Moss’s Independent Cover

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/sep/22/pressandpublishing.raceintheuk
A 2006 Guardian article responding to Kate Moss’s Independent cover, and also blackface characters on British television.

http://www.visualeditors.com/home/2006/09/racist-kate-moss-in-black-face-on-the-cover-of-the-red-independent/
A blog response to the 2006 Independent magazine cover.  The (Red) Independent featured Kate Moss in blackface on its cover. 

UNICEF’s Blackface Campaign

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2007/08/unicef-blackface.php
A news brief on a 2007 German UNICEF campaign, featuring German children with muddied faces.  The site also includes a photo gallery.

On the Comedy Circuit

Shirley Q. Liquor: Controversial Comedy

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/14474389/
A Rolling Stone article on Shirley Q. Liquor, a controversial blackface comedy act.

http://banshirleyqliquor.typepad.com/my_weblog/
A site advocating a ban on Shirley Q. Liquor shows.

RECENT SIGHTINGS

Barack Obama on SNL

http://www.newsweek.com/id/123276
Newsweek contributor Joshua Alston shares his views on Saturday Night Live’s selection of white cast member Fred Armisen to play Barack Obama.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/28/AR2008022803988.html
This February 28th Washington Post article reports on responses to the casting of Fred Armisen.

Robert Downey Jr.’s New Role

http://www.buzzfeed.com/buzz/Tropic_Thunder_
Links about the upcoming film Tropic Thunder, a Ben Stiller comedy in which Robert Downey Jr. plays an actor who dyes himself black to take on a role originally written for a black character.

Sarah Silverman’s Blackface Episode

http://sarahsilvermanonline.com/2007/10/17/sarah-silverman-blackface-episode/
Sarah Silverman site with links to the episode and viewer response.

Resurrecting blackface in Japan

http://www.mixedmediawatch.com/2006/04/13/blackface-outside-the-us/
Site on Japanese Minstrel act the Gosperats.

http://www.gosperats.com/
The Gosperats official site.

http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=3727
Response to Japanese blog site Daily Portal Z’s Barack Obama spoof.

http://www.yopress.com/japanese/japanese-style-extreme-tanning/
Blog featuring photos of Japanese style trend, extreme sunless tanning.

OPINIONS

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2007/11/11/dont_look_away/?page=1
This 2007 Boston Globe editorial by Ty Burr uses his family’s viewing of The Jazz Singer to begin a discussion about the importance of continuing to acknowledge and discuss blackface.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/03/14/ST2008031402671.html
Neely Tucker’s Washington Post article considers the recent popularity of blackface jokes in the American media. 

http://technorati.com/tag/Blackface
This website consists of a list of links to blog entries on blackface, from Hollywood to comedy circuits to campuses.