Inventing Aunt Jemima (PART 2): Minstrelsy and the Mammy Myth
In Part 1, we met Nancy Green, the woman hired to become America's first living trademark. To understand what she was actually performing at that 24-foot flour barrel, and why it worked so powerfully on white audiences, we have to go back further. Before the brand. Before the fair. Back to the minstrel stage.
This episode is a direct continuation of Part 1, and it's a heavy one.
In this episode we:
* Trace the origins and structure of the American minstrel show, the dominant popular entertainment of the 19th century
* Examine the cast of characters it produced: the Mammy, Uncle Tom, the Jezebel, the Pickaninny, Jim Crow
* Unpack what each character was built to hide and what realities about slavery and its aftermath they were designed to make invisible
* Explore the role of sexual violence in the institution of slavery, and the specific myths constructed to mask it
These were not the casual racism of an unthinking era. They were tools, constructed with purpose. Once you see their architecture, you can't unsee them because they didn't end when minstrel shows did.
Content note: This episode discusses slavery, sexual violence, racial caricature, and racist stereotypes in historical context. It includes discussion of lynching and the systematic terror of the post-Reconstruction era. We have approached this material with care and encourage listeners to do the same.
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