Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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How did blackface minstrelsy dominate British and American culture for so long? Actor David Harewood investigates.

Typically performed by white actors with blackened faces, minstrelsy is now seen as a shockingly racist form of ‘entertainment’. Yet from the 1830s through to the mid 20th century, black minstrelsy was at the centre of British and American popular culture and appeared in a series of mainstream Hollywood movies. Actor David Harewood explores
minstrelsy’s history and legacy, its origins in African-American musical traditions – and how today’s black artists are reclaiming the art form and transforming it into something positive.

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