ABSTRACT
THE HISTORIAN JOSEPH BOSKIN writes of the “incongruity of play and circumstance” that propelled whites toward a conception of blacks that explained the apparent contradiction between the horrendous conditions in which slaves lived and their pleasant, comical mien. “It was a conception that attempted to encompass all the facets of blacks’ playfulness: their cheerful and lighthearted manner, penchant for frivolity, rhythmical movements, unusual mannerisms, even their patter of language,” Boskin observes of the white mentality in the mid-nineteenth century. “It was an image whose elements were viewed as a blessing and a curse, one that whites were convinced would serve them well in dealing with blacks in any environment or circumstance” (1986:54). For whites, blacks were the embodiment of humor, “mirthful by nature.” In this chapter, we will see how the image affected the shape and substance of early black culture.
