Many may think blackface is a relic of the past but, cases of white people using makeup to portray black people has been uncomfortably familiar in the last few decades.
Actors playing caricatures of black people featured in the comedy sketch show Little Britain, which first aired in 2003.
Following global Black Lives Matter protests in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in the US, the programme, which starred David Walliams and Matt Lucas, has been removed from BBC iPlayer, Netflix and other streaming sites.
The BBC said: “There’s a lot of historical programming available on BBC iPlayer which we regularly review. Times have changed since Little Britain first aired, so it is not currently available on BBC iPlayer.”
It comes after comedian Leigh Francis apologised for portraying black celebrities, such as Craig David and Michael Jackson, on his sketch show Bo’ Selecta! in the early 2000s.
Last year, Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau received backlash after old images of him in blackface and brownface surfaced.
History of blackface
The concept of blackface began centuries ago but it became prominent in the US in the 1800s, particularly as the campaign to end slavery grew.
In the 1830s, minstrel shows in which white actors depicted black people alongside comedy and music were performed in New York, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in the US.
The performers used burnt cork, shoe polish and grease paint to blacken their faces to impersonate slaves working on plantations. The makeup often involved enlarging the performer’s lips and exaggerating features. The performers also exaggerated their accent and other characteristics.
Philip Howard, assistant professor of education at McGill University in Montreal, wrote in an article for The Conversation that the makeup “was a deliberate attempt to disdainfully represent black people as outlandish”.
One blackface character played by well-known performer Thomas Dartmouth Rice – known as the “Father of Minstrelsy” – was named “Jim Crow”, supposedly after a slave.
Blackface was mocking and perpetuated negative stereotypes about African Americans. The NMAAHC said the performances characterised black people “as lazy, ignorant, superstitious, hypersexual, and prone to thievery and cowardice”.
Popularity of minstrel
The popularity of blackface minstrel shows continued to grow after the Civil War and the abolition of slavery in the 1860s and into the 1900s, when Jim Crow laws (named after the character) enforcing segregation in the south were in place.
It featured in the 1915 silent film The Birth of A Nation, and the likes of Shirley Temple, Al Jolson and other American stars also donned the makeup.
Blackface spread to the UK and other countries. The BBC broadcast The Black and White Minstrel Show, a variety programme, from 1958 to 1978.
The popularity of blackface diminished in the US with the growth of the civil rights movement. The Jim Crow laws were fully overturned in the 1960s.
Why blackface is offensive and racist
David Leonard, professor of comparative ethnic studies and American studies at Washington State University told the History.com website that blackface is an “assertion of power and control” and that it allows people to imagine African Americans as “not fully human”.
“It serves to [rationalise] violence and Jim Crow segregation.”
Blackface is offensive and racist because of its “long and painful history which is inextricably entangled with the racial ideologies that underpinned transatlantic slavery,” Dr Katie Donington, a senior lecturer in history at the London South Bank University, told i.
“The representation of black people as caricatures was part of a process of undermining their full humanity which in turn served to justify unequal and degrading treatment.”
The legacy of blackface exists today, says the NMAAHC. “Blackface and the codifying of blackness – language, movement, deportment, and character – as caricature persists through mass media and in public performances today.”
"Watu wengi wanaweza kufikiri ""mwenye uso mweusi"" ni mabaki ya zamani, lakini kesi za watu weupe kutumia makeup kuelezea watu weusi imekuwa uncomfortably ukoo katika miongo michache iliyopita." "Wanacheza katika filamu ya ""Little Britain"" walicheza kama watu weusi katika kipindi cha vipindi vya kuigiza cha mwaka 2003." Baada ya maandamano ya kimataifa ya Black Lives Matter kufuatia mauaji ya George Floyd, kipindi hicho kilichokuwa na David Walliams na Matt Lucas kimeondolewa kwenye tovuti za BBC, Netflix na tovuti nyingine za matangazo. BBC ilisema: "Kuna programu nyingi za kihistoria zinazopatikana kwenye BBC iPlayer ambazo tunakagua mara kwa mara. "Hata hivyo, wakati wa kipindi cha ""Little Britain"" ulipopigwa marufuku, mcheshi Leigh Francis alitoa ombi la msamaha kwa kuigiza watu mashuhuri weusi kama vile Craig David na Michael Jackson katika kipindi chake cha ""Bo Selecta.""" Mwanzoni mwa miaka ya 2000. Waziri Mkuu wa Canada Justin Trudeau amepigwa marufuku baada ya picha zake za zamani za uso mweusi na rangi ya kahawia kuonekana. Blackface ni jina la kiingereza la kuigiza ambalo lilitumiwa na watu wengi katika miaka ya 1800 wakati kampeni ya kukomesha utumwa ilipokuwa ikiendelea. Katika miaka ya 1830, maonyesho ya minstrel, ambapo waigizaji weupe waliigiza watu weusi pamoja na ucheshi na muziki, yalifanywa huko New York, kulingana na Jumba la Makumbusho la Taifa la Historia na Utamaduni wa Kiafrika wa Amerika (NMAAHC). Waigizaji walitumia chokaa iliyowaka, rangi ya viatu na rangi ya mafuta kugeuza nyuso zao kuwa nyeusi ili kuiga watumwa waliofanya kazi katika mashamba. Mara nyingi vipodozi vilihusisha kupanua midomo ya mwigizaji na kupanua sura zake. Waigizaji hao pia walifanya mambo yawe ya kupita kiasi kuhusu lahaja yao na sifa nyinginezo. Philip Howard, profesa msaidizi wa elimu katika Chuo Kikuu cha McGill huko Montreal, aliandika katika makala ya The Conversation kwamba vipodozi "vilikuwa jaribio la makusudi la kuwakilisha watu weusi kwa dharau kama wa ajabu". Mhusika mmoja mwenye uso mweusi aliyechezwa na mwigizaji mashuhuri Thomas Dartmouth Rice - anayejulikana kama "Baba wa Minstrelsy" - aliitwa "Jim Crow", inadaiwa baada ya mtumwa. Blackface alikuwa akidhihaki na kuendeleza mitazamo mibaya kuhusu Waafrika Wamarekani. NMAAHC ilisema maonyesho hayo yaliwaonyesha watu weusi kuwa <unk>vivu, wasio na ujuzi, wenye ushirikina, wenye ngono ya kupita kiasi, na wenye mwelekeo wa wizi na ujasiri<unk>. "Mashabiki wa ""Blackface Minstrel"" waliendelea kukua baada ya Vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe na kuondolewa kwa utumwa katika miaka ya 1860 na 1900, wakati sheria za Jim Crow (zilizopewa jina la mhusika) zilipokuwa zikitekeleza ubaguzi wa rangi kusini." "Mfano wa filamu hiyo ni filamu ya kimya ya mwaka 1915 ""The Birth of a Nation"" ambapo watu kama vile Shirley Temple, Al Jolson na wengine wengi walijifanyia filamu hiyo." Blackface kuenea kwa Uingereza na nchi nyingine. "Mwaka 1958 BBC ilitangaza kipindi cha ""The Black and White Minstrel Show"" ambacho kilikuwa na vipindi vya muziki na muziki wa aina mbalimbali." Upendwa wa uso mweusi ulipungua nchini Marekani na ukuaji wa harakati za haki za kiraia. Sheria za Jim Crow ziliondolewa mwaka wa 1960. "David Leonard, profesa wa masomo ya kikabila na masomo ya Marekani katika Chuo Kikuu cha Jimbo la Washington, aliiambia tovuti ya History.com kwamba ""mwenye uso mweusi ni uthibitisho wa nguvu na udhibiti"" na kwamba inaruhusu watu kuwazia Waafrika Wamarekani kama ""si binadamu kamili.""" "Blackface ni ya kukera na ya ubaguzi wa rangi kwa sababu ya historia yake ndefu na chungu ambayo imeunganishwa kwa njia isiyoweza kutenganishwa na itikadi za rangi ambazo ziliunga mkono utumwa wa transatlantic, "Daktari Katie Donington, mhadhiri mwandamizi wa historia katika Chuo Kikuu cha London South Bank, aliiambia i. "Uwakilishi wa watu weusi kama katuni ulikuwa sehemu ya mchakato wa kudhoofisha ubinadamu wao kamili ambao kwa upande wake ulitumika kuhalalisha matibabu yasiyo sawa na ya kudhalilisha. ""Urithi wa uso mweusi upo leo, NMAA inasema." <unk>Blackface na codifying ya blackness <unk> lugha, harakati, tabia, na tabia <unk> kama caricature inaendelea kupitia vyombo vya habari na katika maonyesho ya umma leo.<unk>