The tangled connections that have bound Jews to African Americans in popular culture and liberal politics are at the heart of Michael Rogin's arresting and unnerving book. Looking at films from Birth of a Nation to Forrest Gump, Rogin explores blackface in Hollywood films as an aperture to broader issues: the nature of "white" identity in America, the role of race in transforming immigrants into "Americans," the common experiences of Jews and African Americans that made Jews key supporters in the fight for racial equality, and the social importance of popular culture. Rogin's forcefully argued study challenges us to confront the harsh truths behind the popularity of racial masquerade.
Blackface, White Noise Jewish Immigrants in the Hollywood Melting Pot
About the Book
Table of Contents
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PART ONE. MADE IN AMERICA
1.
Uncle Sammy and My Mammy
2.
Two Declarations of Independence:
The Contaminated Origins of American
National Culture
3.
Nationalism, Blackface,
and the Jewish Question
PART 1WO. THE JOLSON STORY
4.
Blackface, White Noise:
The Jewish Jazz Singer Finds His Voice
5.
Racial Masquerade and Ethnic Assimilation
in the Transition to Talking Pictures
PART THREE. "DEMOCRACY AND BURNT CORK": THE END OF BLACKFACE,
THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL RIGHTS
6.
New Deal Blackface
7.
"We Could Cross These Racial Lines":
Hollywood Discovers Civil Rights
8.
Conclusion: Abington Township
NOTES
LIST OF FILMS CITED
INDEX