by Julie Burchill, spiked
The BBC’s obsession with ‘womanface’ is every bit as insulting as The Black and White Minstrel Show.
When the BBC television programme The Black and White Minstrel Show breathed its last one evening in 1978 after a whopping 20 years, I don’t think many people were that cut up about it. Except, of course, the entertainers involved, who included a young Lenny Henry. When I see Sir Lenworth CBE now talking about reparations, I wonder how much of it is him trying to compensate for appearing in this show. Don’t worry, Len. You were married to Dawn French for 25 years – you’ve served the time.
The Black and White Minstrel Show had been a phenomenon, spawning huge tours and hit albums, with an audience of 20million viewers at its peak – but the 1980s were almost here, and it was obvious to anyone half-sentient how offensive it was. For those of you too young to remember the show, it comprised white male singers wearing ‘blackface’ make-up, singing songs to attractive white women. Even as a child I sensed there was something off about it, so it’s surprising that they kept it going so long. But then the BBC is always rather slow on the uptake, which may be something to do with its lumbering, bloated size.
When it does see the light, however, it will invariably be intent on shining the torch directly into the eyes of the poor paying public and insisting that it’s all their fault before proceeding with a full-on scolding. Thus, in 2023, the BBC broadcast a documentary featuring David Olusoga and David Harewood informing us of the evils of ‘blackface’ and using The Black and White Minstrel Show to illustrate this – as if the decision to broadcast this abomination had been taken by hoi polloi rather than the posh white men who ran the BBC for all those years.