Mummer/minstrel blackface follow-up: Yup, it was kind of offensive.

So yesterday, way back in 2012, we pointed out that Ferko, the Mummers string band that opted for the theme "Bringing Back Those Minstrel Days," seemed poised to walk a precarious line between the lovably, and therefore pardonably, un-PC-ness of old-school Philly and something that might be downright offensive. Ferko assured us they were not going to cross that line by doing anything like, say, appearing in blackface, which has been banned from the parade for years.

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Mummer/minstrel blackface follow-up: Yup, it was kind of offensive.

POSTED: Tuesday, January 1, 2013, 10:35 PM
Photo by Jen J. Walker

So yesterday, way back in 2012, we pointed out that Ferko, the Mummers string band that opted for the theme "Bringing Back Those Minstrel Days," seemed poised to walk a precarious line between the lovably, and therefore pardonably, un-PC-ness of old-school Philly and something that might be downright offensive. Ferko assured us they were not going to cross that line by doing anything like, say, appearing in blackface, which has been banned from the parade for years.

That didn't, however, stop them from carrying signs bearing enormous leering faces, which appear to be copies of the home page image from a website called black-face.com. So, to recap, wearing blackface is bad. Representing blackface on signage is A-OK.

Check out the Flickr page of Jen J. Walker (aka LucindaLunacy) for the larger version of this photo, and more shots of this and other Mummer moments.

Posted by Samantha Melamed @ 10:35 PM  Permalink | Post a comment
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