I don’t think minstrel shows with black face were common in Britain?
It’s more likely that white British people took it as “much darker than the skin we’re assuming for people” which is enough to make the simile work.
This is a British book, though
FishFace@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
undeadotter@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
You’d be wrong on that I’m afraid:
The Black and White Minstrel Show is a British light entertainment show on BBC prime-time television that ran from 1958 to 1978. The weekly variety show presented traditional American minstrel and country songs, as well as show tunes and music hall numbers, lavish costuming and often with cast members in blackface.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
What the fuck‽ Until '78‽
ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
and that was the problem … the Brits loved the idea of a minstrel show in black face because it had everything they loved about it … presenting black people as comical caricatures to be made fun of while also being presented and performed by white people … because they never thought of hiring and paying for actual black people to do these things.
FishFace@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
:(
I’ll hope that it was still less common than in the US
arrow74@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
With the war and influx of American GIs and Britain, not to mention their colonies, I stand by my statement for Britain as well.
What helps in the case of the UK is a larger percentage of their population lives in cities than the US too. Just by the math living in urban areas you’re just going to see more people and more people from outside your community will be come in.
f314@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
True. A decade or two earlier might have been different: All the historical examples in this thread had my mind locked in to the thirties, not the fifties!