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acroyearblackface-like greasepaint masks have been a common feature of welsh-border morris and other western morris-like traditions for centuries. it has nothing to do with racism or the "blackface" of early 20th century american entertainments. it has far more to do with the "all look the same" aspect of being dirty from coal mining, tin mining, and chimney sweeps. Think the soot-covered sweeps in Mary Poppins and you get the idea.
Well, in spite of the centuries-old history of blackface morris, which as far as anybody knows goes back further in time than any actual black person living in those parts of Britain, the Police decided to do a massive surveilance operation of one festival to determine of the activity was illegally racist, even when the local racial councils have not received a single complaint about the festival (nor has any other border morris team ever received or been the subject of such a complaint).
long story short: if anybody ever tells you that morris dancing or any other british paint-wearing tradition is related to "moors" or in any other way is derived from african traditions, they are wrong or they are lying. there has never been anything racial in these practices, and such fears that the ignorant have come from being over-exposed to American history out of context of their own traditions.
'Blacking up' festival-goers face police race inquiry - By Richard Savill
(Filed: 25/02/2005) - from the "Daily Telegraph"
Organisers of a centuries- old Cornish festival known as Darkie Days, in which locals "black up" and tour the town of Padstow singing minstrel-style songs, could be prosecuted for an offence under the Race Relations Act.
A file on this year's event, together with video footage taken by police during a surveillance operation, has been submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service to assess whether a crime, including inciting racial hatred, has been committed.
Darkie Days celebrations take place in the fishing town each year on Boxing Day and New Year's Day to raise money for charity.
The origins are unknown but there are several theories. They include the possibility that the festival dates back to the travelling mummers of medieval times. Locals dispute another theory that it dates from residents witnessing dancing slaves aboard a ship which called into port.
This year, campaigners from the Cornwall Racial Equality Council in Truro complained to police about the event. Police declined to specify the precise nature of the complaint.
However, as a result, officers filmed the celebrations and have forwarded the footage to the CPS. A spokesman for the CREC could not be contacted yesterday.
Some participants in the event have complained that the police operation was a waste of resources. Local councillors have asked the police for a breakdown of the cost. Participants said it was a peaceful event and raised money for the parish church.
Linda Reynolds, 50, who runs a newsagent in Padstow, said there was "no trace" of racism. She said: "I have always gone out to Darkie Day. It's a tradition I grew up with. If it was even vaguely racist I would be the first one to stand up and shout about it. I used to have a relationship with a black man.
"I can't think of anybody who has a racist thought on Darkie Day. It's a traditional event where people get blacked-up faces. They are not imitating black people."
A pub landlord, who plays the accordion at the event, but did not want to be identified, said the police presence at the festival was unnecessary.
"This year they must have had three or four police vans here, with video cameras and everything," he said. "It makes you wonder where taxpayers' money is going."
Marian Sedgwick, the clerk of Padstow town council, said police had consistently turned down the council's requests for extra officers for general duties on the grounds that the crime rate was too low. About 370 crimes were committed in the town last year.
Devon and Cornwall Police declined to give details of the cost of the Darkie Days operation. A statement from the force confirmed that it had received a complaint about this year's event.
"As a result of that, officers made video recordings of the activities. This tape has been forwarded to the CPS to establish if any offences have been committed. It is not appropriate to comment further."
The Commission for Racial Equality said it had no links with the Cornwall Racial Equality Council.
A CRE spokesman said it was not aware of the Darkie Days festival. "We have never received a complaint about it," she said.
Well, in spite of the centuries-old history of blackface morris, which as far as anybody knows goes back further in time than any actual black person living in those parts of Britain, the Police decided to do a massive surveilance operation of one festival to determine of the activity was illegally racist, even when the local racial councils have not received a single complaint about the festival (nor has any other border morris team ever received or been the subject of such a complaint).
long story short: if anybody ever tells you that morris dancing or any other british paint-wearing tradition is related to "moors" or in any other way is derived from african traditions, they are wrong or they are lying. there has never been anything racial in these practices, and such fears that the ignorant have come from being over-exposed to American history out of context of their own traditions.
'Blacking up' festival-goers face police race inquiry - By Richard Savill
(Filed: 25/02/2005) - from the "Daily Telegraph"
Organisers of a centuries- old Cornish festival known as Darkie Days, in which locals "black up" and tour the town of Padstow singing minstrel-style songs, could be prosecuted for an offence under the Race Relations Act.
A file on this year's event, together with video footage taken by police during a surveillance operation, has been submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service to assess whether a crime, including inciting racial hatred, has been committed.
Darkie Days celebrations take place in the fishing town each year on Boxing Day and New Year's Day to raise money for charity.
The origins are unknown but there are several theories. They include the possibility that the festival dates back to the travelling mummers of medieval times. Locals dispute another theory that it dates from residents witnessing dancing slaves aboard a ship which called into port.
This year, campaigners from the Cornwall Racial Equality Council in Truro complained to police about the event. Police declined to specify the precise nature of the complaint.
However, as a result, officers filmed the celebrations and have forwarded the footage to the CPS. A spokesman for the CREC could not be contacted yesterday.
Some participants in the event have complained that the police operation was a waste of resources. Local councillors have asked the police for a breakdown of the cost. Participants said it was a peaceful event and raised money for the parish church.
Linda Reynolds, 50, who runs a newsagent in Padstow, said there was "no trace" of racism. She said: "I have always gone out to Darkie Day. It's a tradition I grew up with. If it was even vaguely racist I would be the first one to stand up and shout about it. I used to have a relationship with a black man.
"I can't think of anybody who has a racist thought on Darkie Day. It's a traditional event where people get blacked-up faces. They are not imitating black people."
A pub landlord, who plays the accordion at the event, but did not want to be identified, said the police presence at the festival was unnecessary.
"This year they must have had three or four police vans here, with video cameras and everything," he said. "It makes you wonder where taxpayers' money is going."
Marian Sedgwick, the clerk of Padstow town council, said police had consistently turned down the council's requests for extra officers for general duties on the grounds that the crime rate was too low. About 370 crimes were committed in the town last year.
Devon and Cornwall Police declined to give details of the cost of the Darkie Days operation. A statement from the force confirmed that it had received a complaint about this year's event.
"As a result of that, officers made video recordings of the activities. This tape has been forwarded to the CPS to establish if any offences have been committed. It is not appropriate to comment further."
The Commission for Racial Equality said it had no links with the Cornwall Racial Equality Council.
A CRE spokesman said it was not aware of the Darkie Days festival. "We have never received a complaint about it," she said.
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no subject
Date: 2005-02-26 03:59 pm (UTC)Will they go after special ops forces for wearing "blackface" next?
Doc
Interesting ...
Date: 2005-02-26 05:20 pm (UTC)Re: Interesting ...
Date: 2005-02-26 05:33 pm (UTC)Morris is far more likely to be derived from the word Mors, with is Latin for Tradition. The phrase "social mors" or "social mores" still exists in some circles meaning local traditions but usually connotated to the upper classes. Thus, like the italian "moresca" (which literally just meant "traditional dance"; its the dance mentioned in Romeo and Juliet), the "morris" is just "traditional", nothing more.
the fact that it had acquired that name of being "traditional" even 100 years before shakespeare (the word is first documented in 1493) implies an even older history. a 12th century stain glass at a church shows 5 boys dancing with 2 foot long sticks (the image of which later became a 5 of Wands tarot card in some versions of the deck). is there a connection? who knows...
Re: Interesting ...
Date: 2005-02-27 09:30 pm (UTC)otherwise, the only other traditional english custom in a circle dance (besides some country dances) would be the maypole itself, but that has origins in celtic reel figures, "heys" in english terminology. basic pass on the left, then pass on the right, which is pretty darn universal.
no subject
Date: 2005-02-27 08:42 pm (UTC)Mind if I nab that and post it to Oz_Morris? (that's the Australian Morris Ring email list)
Ay-up!
read it a little closer, first
Date: 2005-02-27 09:25 pm (UTC)but yeah, feel free to pass on. I got it from the MDDL.
Re: read it a little closer, first
Date: 2005-03-01 01:44 am (UTC)We can sigh and say "only in America" but BRITIAN!
Hell.
Will still steal it ;^)
names matter
Date: 2005-03-05 04:22 pm (UTC)Darkie toothpaste (http://www.prmuseum.com/kendrix/abroad.html) was still being sold in Hong Kong (a British territory) into the 1980s (http://www.danwei.org/archives/000702.html). (And after that just renamed Darlie -- kept the logo.)
"I can't think of anybody who has a racist thought on Darkie Day. It's a traditional event where people get blacked-up faces. They are not imitating black people."
It's hard to imagine native-English speakers so insular as not to associate "Darkie" with black people. They should expect the word to raise questions of racial insensitivity. I'm not saying there's anything racist about their festival. But I am saying that they should expect people to wonder about something called "Darkie Days". No one would have noticed if they'd called it "Dusty Days", or something better -- miners must have lots of good words for that coal grime.
Minstrel is another touchy word, having associations in the US very different from its medieval European origins.
As to Morris and the Moors, etymological questions seem to plague traditional culture. Contra dancing has a long-running debate about whether "contra" comes from contra -- opposed, or country -- rural and unsophisticated. Not racial, but the social-strata clash -- the simpletons' entertainment establishing itself in the manor house.
Re: names matter
Date: 2005-03-05 05:16 pm (UTC)the trouble is the word was used for miners first, and applied to blacks later. And I can also say you haven't been to the west of England. trust me, they really are that insular out there. that, and if you don't demonstrate the connotation, its not learned in others.
when "darkie" is used in america, its specifically used either as a racial insult (by people *really* ignorant) or used to reference its use as an insult in the past. thus, the definition sticks in people's minds. but if its not used in either of those contexts, then those contexts won't be added later. until someone tells you that its an insulting word, you may not think of it that way. out there, "darkie" simply only had the reference to the festival, nothing more. its all they're exposed to as nobody used the word to refer to anything else. It wasn't until outsiders from London, bringing political correctness from America, the it even became an issue at all.
now, the supression of the word as an insult from the past may have been intentional for a generation or two so the current generation could forget that usage, and thus was quite successful. Again, if you aren't exposed to it in that context, the association won't be there even though an outsider (who's known nothing but the association) wouldn't understand why it isn't.
--
there are plenty of clues around that the Minstrel traditions of america did make their way over; the tune for the border dance, Dilwyn, originally had a lyric with the N word that's been excised from the tradition since and replaced by a simple sexual innuendo line from an originally unrelated song. there's also documentation about americans bringing it to the western coastline ports. as is typical back then, the western english countryman didn't see it for the insult it was. most people from that side of the island, especially outside of the port towns, simply hadn't even seen a black man in person at all (not even in pictures or paintings), much less been in an environment where they were intentionally treated as second-class inferior people.
--
I'd presume that contra might actually have been both. However, it wouldn't have been "country" because of being "rural" but because its lineage comes directly from the English and Scottish country dances of the 18th century.
Now, whether or not those were called "Country" from the Italian "Contra" root is still up for grabs. The formation, like square sets, did come from Italy through France to England, then finally Scotland, Ireland, and America (not necessarilly in that order), and likely would have had an latin-originated name for a while.