Same Effects, Different Contexts

"Applaude Le Negro"

The “Are Huck and Jim a minstrel show?” article points out the main aspects of minstrel shows. As I read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, I constantly thought of why Twain characterized Jim and Huck the way he did. Minstrel shows were a comic performance in which white men imitated African American stereotypes. This poses the following dilemma, “Did Twain intend to represent an imitation of black culture in a humorous manner (minstrel show) or did he try to use humor in order to criticize slavery?” The more I think about it the harder it is to choose which hypothesis seems more accurate. I decided to look up for other examples of minstrel shows and I found a video that depicted the minstrel essence. In this video two French men (I presume) imitate an African American singer. The fictional character they imitate alludes to Ray Charles. However, their imitation is disrespectful and depicts how humor based on racial stereotypes is morally wrong. Their exaggerated gestures portray this and relates to minstrelsy. The clip shows how racism is existent even in the twenty first century. I will leave to you the interpretation of this image.