Overview
Go back to Module 6.4 and 6.7 on the Cotton and Chick minstrel show and the 1619 Project Episode three The Birth of American Music. In four paragraphs total, (2 each) you will need to address the following questions in order to receive full credit.
Note: If you do not mention examples from the material for the questions, you will not receive credit
First 2 paragraphs (Cotton and Chick)
1) What is occurring in this sketch? It should e a short summary of what happens.
2) How does Chick treat Cotton, and how does Cotton treat himself? Meaning, how does Cotton speak about himself and his Blackness?
3) What are some of Cotton character traits? How does he speak, how is his posture, and how does he interact with Chick?
4) What are some of Cotton's physical characteristics? How is his make-up, cloths, eyes, lips done? Why is it done like that? What about his dancing?
5) What do you notice about the people in the background?
Second 2 paragraphs (1619 Project)
1) Give a brief summary of the episode. What two artists does he say made him think about Black music when he is chopping vegetables?
2) What is the story of Jim Crow as a song and character in accordance to Thomas Rice? How did it help create a unique form of American theater and culture?
3) How does this evolve into Black music, and then American pop music co-opted by white Americans?
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6.4 Minstrel Show- Cotton and Chick (WATCH)[Image unavailable: Alternative formats]Please watch this Minstrel Show from the Cotton and Chick Show which aired on television. Remember, you will be writing a discussion regarding what you see in the video later in the module so you may want to take notes.
What to look for:
*Cotton's make-up, cloths, posture, attitude, intellect, and other personality traits
*Chick's make-up, cloths, posture, attitude, intellect, and other personality traits
*How does Chick treat Cotton?
* What does Cotton say that is self-hating (racist) and self-deprecating and anti-Black?
*What about Cotton's Dance at the end?
*What do you notice about the background?
(CLICK HERE TO WATCH) Cotton and ChickLinks to an external site.
6.5 BLACKFACE- A Cultural History (WATCH)[Image unavailable: Alternative formats]Please watch the video titled "BLACKFACE-A Cultural History".
What to look for:
*What is Blackface?
*What is a minstrel show? When did they began and what was the process for white, then Black performs to prepare to "look the part"
*Why were these dangerous? And why were these effective at creating negative stereotypes?
*How did they analyze the Little Rascals Episode?
*What shows and celebrities have been in Blackface?
6.6 The Doll Experiment (WATCH)[Image unavailable: Alternative formats]Please watch this video that is recreating the famous Doll Experiment. You can skip the middle portion that is done in Spanish. It is about from the 4:30 mark through the 7:10 mark. In this video, young children are asked specific questions about several dolls with varying skin tones.
What to look for:
*What are most of the kids saying about light skin vs. dark skin dolls?
*Most children are showing clear preferences for the white dolls, why could that be?
*What other factors could contribute to these children picking the white dolls over the Black dolls?
*What do you find interesting about the Black children showing clear preference towards the white dolls most of the time?
*What can this tell us about how children are conditioned to see race? Where can/do they learn it?
*What does this experiment have to do with the rest of our Module on Blackface and Minstrel Shows?
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6.7 1619 Project Ep. 3 The Birth of American Music (LISTEN)[Image unavailable: Alternative formats]Please listen to this podcast from the 1619 Podcast titled: The Birth of American Music. In this episode, a NYT critic discusses the birth of American pop music, and its ties to Jim Crow, the minstrelsy, and Black culture.
1619 Podast: The Birth of American MusicLinks to an external site.
What to look for:
*What example (artists) does the host say you can hear Black music the most, when he is chopping vegetables?
*What is the story of Jim Crow? Hint: Jump Jim Crow. And how did it evolve and become so popular?
*What does he have to say about Blackface, and the conversation of American theater from European style operas to the new minstrelsy?
*How does he attempt tp make the connection between the minstrelsy to current American music?