research

Gabbard, K. (2004) Black Magic: White Hollywood and African American Culture. Rutgers University Press.
* "Performers such as Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, and many others had to put burnt cork on their faces to perform their fantasies of blackness, and their blackface routines were tremendously popular. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, it is more difficult to find white performers who do not imitate black people than it is to find those who do."- Page 19
* "To see and hear a young white pop singer today is to witness a nuanced channeling of blackness, from the husky-voiced melismas of Christina Aguilera to the forcefully articulated rap of Eminem. … Gestures from African American culture are essential elements in mainstream American culture, even when actual black people, like Sarah Vaughan in Next Stop Wonderland, are not present." - Page 19