The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #117716   Message #2537735
Posted By: The Borchester Echo
11-Jan-09 - 07:50 PM
Thread Name: Folklore: Blacking up for morris - origin?
Subject: RE: Folklore: Blacking up for morris - origin?
Azizi is objecting to the term "nigger minstrel" but I really don't think she should, It is an established term for a distinct musical genre used by the musicians themselves. A banjo player friend (he is white but doesn't black up) has had this problem over pieces he has written for music mags about banjo history, This is as inappropriate as the objections of those who object to strikebreakers being called "blacklegs" on the (wrong) assumption that "black is being used negatively to mean "bad" when there are no racial connotations but merely a reference to dark clothing as a cover for surreptitious activity.