The Black And White Minstrel Show

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The Corporation’s Chief Accountant, Barrie Thorne – who, significantly, had spent some time in the BBC’s New York office and so had seen something of the Civil Rights movement – argued vociferously for the show to be pulled from the schedule. Kenneth Lamb, Director of Public Affairs, wrote to CARD’s Chairman, David Pitt, arguing that ‘black-faced minstrels performing a song and dance act have been a traditional form of entertainment in the British Isles for a great many years. This material was joined by new productions of blackface, including by comedians Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan in Till Death Us Do Part (BBC, 1966-68, 1972-75), the short-lived Curry and Chips (ITV, 1969), Laurence Olivier in Khartoum (1966) and Michael Bates in It Ain’t Half Hot Mum (BBC, 1974-1981). It was also a successful stage show that ran for ten years from 1962 to 1972 at the Victoria Palace Theatre, London.

Construisez votre propre collection unique, redécouvrez vos favoris de tous les temps et trouvez de nouvelles inspirations musicales de toutes les époques et de tous les genres. We very believe in this project and we also believe that the Pet Therapy should be accessible free of charge. This failure to even see any racism was a measure of the BBC’s real problem: the archival record of its behind-the-scenes thinking during this period is far from flattering. Throughout May and June of 1967, discussions of minstrelsy and blacking up were repeatedly discussed in the press as practices that were both traditional in Britain and not ‘about race’.The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. The show’s longevity belied the complaints the BBC received in 1967 from black Britons who criticised the blacking up at the show’s centre.

Adam’s reply came back accusing Thorne of “arrant nonsense”: the show, Adam argued, belonged to that “perfectly honourable theatrical tradition of the British music hall”. In 1969, due to continuing accusations of racism, Music Music Music, a spin-off series in which the minstrels appeared without their blackface make-up, replaced The Black and White Minstrel Show. As you may know I previously expressed my dismay about the continuance of the BLACK AND WHITE MINSTREL SHOW. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.An episode of the BBC comedy series The Goodies (" Alternative Roots"), spoofed the positive reception of The Black and White Minstrel Show, suggesting that any programme could double its viewing figures by being performed in blackface, and mentioning that a series of The Black and White Minstrel Show had been tried without make up. However, the second part of the rationale put forward in 1967 – that blacking up was not about race – demands closer examination. It is a great record sort of like the original jive bunny with crooners and the trad black singers in wing tip shoes.