I disagree that it is more accurate to portray the whites who performed in blackface at minstrel shows as either "Celtic", "European", or "English".

Why? Because it denies the realities of the immigration factors.

It is true that the Irish and (in much higher numbers) the Scots Irish were immigrating through the Carolinas before the Civil War. But the reality is, their numbers don't come near to what the numbers of English immigrants were in those areas pre CW. That is why you see stronger influences of the English ballad traditions in Appalachia.

But to deny that the majority of the white black face performers were Irish and Jewish, just so we can include and handful of German and Englishmen, is ludicrous in a "let's stand reality on it's head" sort of way.

Why any ancestral group would even WANT to claim the mantle at this point in history is beyond me. I consider the minstrel shows so inherently racist to be beyond redemption. I am absolutely opposed to them being revived, especially as historic re-enactments.

As to black face and mumming, I've read some background information about it supposedly going back to the Middle Ages too. I just don't think the sources (which I can't remember now, its been a number of years since I read that information) are examples of it being as widespread as many contemporaries claim it to be. I still think the use of black face among mummers of the late 19th, early 20th is down to influences of travelling minstrel shows of that time. Putting it down to "our father's father's" claims, and then using flimsy and limited evidence, is largely being done to protect mummers from criticism about it being racially motivated behavior. We certainly see plenty of that here in the States too. In this very thread, in fact, where some people have said they think resurrecting the black face minstrel shows is A Good Thing.

I think the subject should be taught academically as part of US history, because of the tremendous popular influence of the shows, but I think we should leave it at that. Something to be studied, discussed, and reflected upon, but certainly not performed.