I understand that, but the performance at my high school was not comedic. At all. It was simply the boys choir in black face singing negro spirituals/gospel music. Period. Full stop.

Why couldn't they have sung them in "normal face"?

While they may not have intended any racial slur, that doesn't mean that what they were doing wasn't part of a culture of racism.

I don't know CM. This was the late 50's, very early 60's. Tired of defending what was , IMO, a very innocent tribute to black spiritual music and not done with ill intent. Now, I'm done with this discussion.

PS. One of the reasons the boys choir loved doing it was the incredible harmonies.

I accepted that there was no ill intent.

In a world without racism, this would not be an issue. Years of slavery and government sponsored segregation forces us to question the intent of things like blackface.

EXACTLY, John! ~

Sooz

Yearbooks Aren’t the Only Place to Find Blackface on Campus

There has been a rush to examine yearbooks for examples of racist histories that are modern realities.

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/02/ralph-northam-college-campus-blackface/582373/