This week was emotionally taxing. I just…ugh. These topics make me so uncomfortable, and while I know they need to be discussed, it’s just really emotionally exhausting. I don’t know how much of this I can relive, so this might be a short entry.

Minstrel shows. At first I thought Mr. O’Malley was saying “menstrual shows,” and I was very confused. I’ve never heard of them. The tradition of applying blackface and performing song and dance went on for decades and became one of America’s favorite forms of entertainment. The advertisements for the shows often displayed that white actor’s head shot and then a picture of them in blackface with overly pronounced features and body language. There’s almost a plasticity, which dehumanizes black people even more.

How in the world is “Yellow Rose of Texas” still the state song of Texas? Yikes. Someone needs to get on that.

I already feel tired writing what little I have. I have so much empathy. I understand these things permeate society today. I have a hard time handling race issues and I’m still learning what my privilege allows that not all are afforded. Okay, I’ll try to go on.

I learned that Irish people were labeled “colored” for quite sometime, but then the tradition of blackface almost helped bring attention to their whiteness. In that way, the minstrel shows helped invent white as a race, and propelled it above “colored.”

I think one of the strangest things I learned was how there was an impersonation of a black person singing, which then became the typical white folk sounding voice (think Hank Williams), and it’s completely devoid of its connection to black singers. Just very strange. I don’t really know what to think of it. Is it cultural appropriation? Probably. Commodification of black culture? Sure. Most of all it’s sad and embarrassing.

We went on to talk about Hawaiian influence in music, namely the steel guitar. With that we talked about how music is saturated with politics and history, and buying music is a racially-charged activity.

Lastly, de-skilling. I mean, yeah. This seems really obvious to me based on the world we live in. In my favorite coffee shop there is a machine that brews pour over coffee. It can do 5 or 6 at a time with perfect pace and precision. Did that used to be someone’s (or 2 people maybe) job? Of course. Did it take lots of jobs to make that machine? Absolutely. Jobs aren’t going away, they’re just changing in nature.

Despite our changing workplace, we have an instinct of worksmanship. I believe this 100%. I want to cook things. Would it be a hell of a lot easier to order take out? Yep. But I want to make it by hand. I want to put the time into something and have the pleasure of knowing I did that. (And I can eat it too, so win-win.)

Alright, that’s all I can handle for this week. I’m about to start reading Segregating Sound tomorrow so wish me luck and I’ll try not to cry.

-Jessi Russell