Each feather is added based on Google Trends, term “blackface” for the year of 2019 so far.

A Brief History

Blackface has its roots in minstresly, a comedic performance of “blackness” by white performers. The costume of the minstrel was ragged clothing, broken English, and shoe‑polish black skin.

This practice emerged after the end of the Civil War when the racialized social landscape was disrupted by the abolition of slavery. Blackface was part of an arsenal of tools used to degrade black people. It continues to be a symbol of the complex history of colonialism and slavery.