A Note on Blackface

The following note was written in response to the request of Jack Santino, then editor of the Journal of American Folklore. The current JAF editor, Elaine Lawless, has concurred that this issue needs to be addressed. After the 1996 meeting of the American Folklore Society-at which the articles of this special issue were presented in their earliest form-Santino expressed the conviction that the racially charged roles of the nègre and négresse would require explanation for the JAF readership. At the 1998 meeting of the American Folklore Society, as the contributors were preparing their papers for publication, many of them participated in a panel and subsequent discussion which dealt in large part with the nègre and négresse and dimensions of racial stereotyping and racial conflict both in the celebration of Mardi Gras and, more broadly, in the daily activities of some Mardi Gras communities. After that session, Santino renewed his request for a discussion of the blackface figures. The contributors, however, were deeply divided in their reactions to this call, some taking the position that such a discussion would be an important addition to the forum, others that it should not be made a part of this particular discussion.

My own position was that-although the issues of racism and racial representations in Cajun Mardi Gras were extremely important-no brief treatment could do them justice. Rather, if the subject were to be broached at all, a detailed and thoughtful exploration, perhaps as long as this entire issue itself, would be required.

Three more important considerations reinforced my reluctance to write. First, my position as a cultural outsider renders me a less than ideally credible to speak to the conflicts involved. In recent years, a number of Mardi Gras communities have been stung by the strong and often misinformed judgments of outsiders. It is the opinion of most of the Mardi Gras community members who have shared their thoughts with me that outsiders simply do not understand the nature of the problem. Second, and similarly, the great majority of these community members-whether they feel that the nègre and négresse are racist depictions, whether or not they characterize themselves as nonracists, whether or not they voice strong opinions in private-are extremely reluctant to make their views on the subject a matter of public record. Third, as a folklorist dedicated to the ideal of voicing my sources on their own terms, I felt that any discussion of blackface would compromise my values in violating their intentional silence, thus thwarting the wishes of those whose trust is my only real justification for doing fieldwork.

I eventually succumbed to Santino's request, but not without serious misgivings. The piece that follows, then, is not exactly an opinion piece, because it subordinates my own opinions to the needs of two groups: first and foremost, the Mardi Gras communities, whose complex and divided views on this issue must be cited in any discussion of any value, but whose reluctance to go public with those views has required me to speak about insider attitudes only in generalities, without specifically citing speakers, communities, or, sometimes, even events. Second, my role in editing this issue makes me responsible to the community of folklorists, to whom the following vague generalities may reasonably seem inadequate. I regret to say that I have not been able to find a way to make this statement do justice to either group-or to the principles I try to observe in my own work as a folklorist. Nevertheless, I have slowly come to the opinion that a highly imperfect statement is better than none.

Postscript-A Note on Blackface

The need to know the ways inside the Mardi Gras circle is nowhere more pressing than in regard to the issue of blackface.

As Patricia Sawin's article (this issue) explains in fine detail, Mardi Gras communities vary greatly in the nature and degree of disguise they employ. The range of masking options is perhaps best illustrated in comparing the Grand Marais and Tee Mamou runs. In Grand Marais, no masks are worn, but facepaint is, and...