Legacy of Cultural Appropriation

The Black Minstrelsy and its Effects

The Black Minstrelsy was analogized by the work Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy from Slavery to Hip-hop as an effect of a drug, while it can make people euphoric, its side effects are traumatizing--with people feeling left ashamed and even having a long-term cultural memory loss (Austen and Taylor). With Europeans covering their face black, singing Ethiopian songs and dancing to Negro tunes, this form of entertainment brought about the capability of man to be insensitive and yet despite the clamor, our 21st

The Return of Black Minstrelsy in the Digital Age

Society has unconsciously brought back this form of entertainment to our smart phone era.

Cultural Appropriation in Music

Such portrayal can be heard through our Spotify or watched on Youtube, this is the music of Australian rapper Azaelia Banks or widely known as Iggy Azalea. Although she bagged multiple awards in her career, she was questioned of the cultural appropriation of her music styles as she adopted African- American cultures rooting from her stay in Miami since she was 16. (Harbord 187). In an essay published on Salon, it was cited that it was inappropriate for an Australian woman to have an accent similar to African-Americans, in her song “Fancy” it was noted that she sang like as if she was a black woman. (Cooper) The author added that an artist doesn’t need to sound like an African-American to rap, but rather the artist can have a style and accent of his or her own without the need to adapt others.

The Unconscious Legacy

True enough, this Legacy has been unconsciously done by people from our century, that although we acknowledge the fact that this is an issue, we do it without being knowledgeable enough about certain issues. This legacy may be as dynamic through the times as it may discriminate any race. Unlike our silence in the past, we can hear and watch this insensitivity through different mediums, but what’s good about our society is that we have a voice--a wider voice that counters this. 

Works Cited

Cooper, Brittney. ”Iggy Azalea’s Post-Racial Mess: America’s Oldest Race Tale, Remixed.” Salon, 17 July 2014, www.salon.com/2014/07/15/iggy_azaleas_post_racial_mess_americas_oldest_race_tale_remixed/.

Harbord, Jack. Representations of Blackface and Minstrelsy in Twenty-First Century Popular Culture. University of Salford, 2015.

Taylor, Yuval, and Jake Austen. Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy from Slavery to Hip Hop. W.W. Norton & Company, 2012.