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Racial Humour in the Postracial: A Critical Race Africology of Canadian Blackface Incidents

Contemporary Canadian blackface—that is, instances where white persons darken their skin with make-up to represent black persons in the context of fun andÌýhumour—have become a notable phenomenon, particularly on Canadian university campuses and in entertainment venues.ÌýThese incidents ²¹°ù±ðÌýparticularly interesting because 1) they are visuallyÌýreminiscent of, and often compared with, blackface minstrelsy performances of a more overtly racist historical period,Ìýand 2)Ìýmainstream discourse in Canada suggests thatÌýracism has had little relevance in its history, and that whatever racism there may have been has been overcome.Ìý Both of these ideas emerge in the contentious public debates that take place eachÌýtime a blackface incident occurs.Ìý

ThisÌýresearch project sees contemporary Canadian blackface as a particularly generative site for understanding theÌý³¦´Ç³¾±è±ð³Ù¾±²Ô²µÌýwaysÌýin which social subjectsÌýin Canada define,Ìý¾±»å±ð²Ô³Ù¾±´Ú²âÌýand justify racism, ostensibleÌýhumour, and its intersections.ÌýÌýIt is part of my broader research interest in understandingÌýthe waysÌýin whichÌýracially inequitable social structures and discourses of race organize how we come to know ourselves, ascribe meaning, and exercise agency for social change in schools and broader educational contexts.Ìý Ìý

TheÌýobjectives of this researchÌý²¹°ù±ðÌý³Ù³ó±ð°ù±ð´Ú´Ç°ù±ðÌý³Ù´ÇÌý1) analyze the discursive context(s) within which these blackface incidents are performed, articulated, justified, and apologized for inÌýcontemporary Canad²¹;Ìý2) explore how claims ³Ù´ÇÌýhumourÌýfunction rhetorically to allow particular forms of racial knowing and not knowing; 3) understand how the colonial tropes of racism on which these acts seem to draw are,Ìýor are not, learned, recognized, and forgotten; 4) explore the diverse ways in which these acts are experienced by black persons amid dominant claims to the diminishing significance of race.Ìý

This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

DataÌýsources are:Ìý

1) print and electronic media articles about Canadian blackface incidents.

2) reader comments on these articles, where available.

3) semi-structured interviews with administrators, staff, and faculty at university sites where blackface incidents have occurred recently.Ìý

4)ÌýfocusÌýgroups with studentsÌýat university sites where blackface incidents have occurred recently.Ìý


The studyÌýwill:

  1. contribute ³Ù´ÇÌýthe literature onÌýpost-racialist discourse,Ìýdrawing attention to the Canadian national context that is often overlooked inÌýthis literature.

  2. increase our understanding of the roots of racialÌýhumour, andÌýthe social relations that produce blackface inÌýCanada.ÌýÌýÌý

  3. make recommendations about how the blackface issueÌýmight be more effectively addressed on university campuses.Ìý

  4. increase our understanding the strategies thatÌýblack communities on university campusesÌýand beyond use to challenge blackface and to mitigate its negative impacts on them.ÌýÌý

Contact: Philip Howard, PhD

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