The Antebellum shows of the past were shows put on by white people portraying their idea of what black people act like.
The shows were obviously racist and ignorant and their success was due in large part to a preponderance of cluelessness when it came to the audience.
As was pointed out in the reading, the minstrel shows really told us more about white people than black people because the white people were putting on the shows and saying what they thought black people were like. So instead of getting real information, we got garble.
Today, fortunately, there is an equal footing as far who is allowed to say what.
With this kind of freedom comes new exploration into frontiers yet unexplored. Such was the work of Little Brother’s album, The Minstrel Show.
Thematically The Minstrel Show lampoons a lot of institutions which are present in black culture. On the album, a new television station is created called UBN which stands for U Black N***** Network. What’s interesting about this album is that the group Little Brother did not fight back and lampoon those who used to persecute them but rather, they seek to highlight the flaws of their own culture and bring those flaws out in the open so they can be seriously considered.
This is truly the best kind of cultural progress. Little Brother took what was an evil empire and just by labeling their album The Minstrel Show they demonize it but can still use the tactics within to present their ideas on current popular culture.
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