2. Through Shuffle Along was progressive for it’s time, it also relied on racist tropes, particularly minstrelsy and Blacks in Black face. To grapple with this tension, read an excerpt from the article, “ Shuffle Along and the Lost History of Performance in Black America,” on Google Classroom.
a. What frustration does George Walker express in his quote at the end of the article?
b. How might you reconcile (come to terms with) Walker and Williams performing in blackface for white audience? Why do you think they were willing, even as they grew tired, to perform in blackface?
3. Walker is quoted in the article saying, “there is no reason why we should be forced to do these old-time n*gger acts. It’s all rot, this slap-stick bandanna handkerchief-bladder in the face act, with which Negro acting is associated.” What images or performances of Blackness get to be seen on television, in movies or magazines or books-today?
4. One reason Shuffle Along was considered a success was because many white people came to see the musical. Let’s think about audience! Who do you think has the power to determine what is successful or popular, both then and now?
5. As Black American attempted to (re)imagine their culture after slavery, we must ask who that (re)imagination was for. For whom or for what purpose do you think Shuffle Along created?
a. For whom or for what purpose do you think other artists and writers (Langston Hughes, Jessie Fauset) that we’ve looked at were writing and producing? Why?
b. For whom or for what purpose will you write/draw/act/perform/create art for in your own community?
