Very well written Rebecca! I agree with you that's a good point. The intent behind is what's important.

There was no intent to mock or put down African Americans. I think its a class thing, these people always want to put down Mummers because they are blue collar and "beneath them"....lower class. Every large group that gathers here in Philly has drinking & shenanigans. It's just another example of assuming working class white people are racist.

Of course they didn't "tweet" about the Breast Cancer Awareness themes or any of the many positive floats....

Very well written article. Thank you so much, Rebecca!

I am glad to eventually hear an educated opinion. I saw the whole String Band Parade and I didn't see anything wrong with it. Ferko band was probably walked thru Broad Street roughly 8 Hours and I didn't hear anyone get offended. Did some people just woke up a day later and felt a slap all the sudden?

Most of the angry tweeters were nowhere close to being rational. The show was done harmoniously and respectfully. Al Jolson was a black entertainer right defender. Jolson took one of the first steps to include Black entertainer to the show and recognized their talent. One of the good examples would be that Jolson promoted the play by black playwright Garland Anderson, which became the first production with an all-black cast ever produced on Broadway. Shouldn't we pay tribute to his legend because he was a white minstrel performer? Now who sounded racist?

"My Mummy" was used because that was a part of the beautiful original lyrics, once sang by Al Jolson. What would have been a better way to pay tribute to him. Get your fact check, pls, before you jump the gun. This is a beautiful song, filled with our history.

.Sorry, I'll care about racism the day it becomes just as a wrong for a black person to use what we call the "n word" as it for a person of any other race. This will stun the liberals but not all of the racist people in this country are male, white and speak just English. Until racism from those not male, white and speak just English is also condemned I refuse to play by the race game rules. It also is time to recognize the use of “c word’ (cracker) is racist and just as offensive.

My head is about to explode not only from this 'educated' article, but the comments that followed. I just watched the Ferko video and any one can PLAINLY SEE they were going for a minstrel show feel. Are you actually saying the face paint has to be BLACK for it to be racist ?? The design of the facepaint, the outfits and the music all culminate into a clear message, and 'tribute' or not, it was far overstepping boundaries of taste and decency. Not to mention, did you happen to notice the drawn saxaphones on the accordian players' hats? BLACKFACE. I think you need to do a bit more reading on the history of minstrel shows, racism and the dehumanization of the black race before defending a parade. yes, a parade.

Oh, and why didn't you comment on this little gem from the parade? Was this a tribute too?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85jzJkYgFKg&feature=youtu.be

So.....the white artists over the years who have done "Othello" in blackface are now racists!? Will you stop....it's an art form, period...accept it and stop the insanity of having to be playing the victim....it's getting real old!

the mummers are not an "art form" sorry!

Of interest for all those who have commented, this article delves more thoroughly into Al Jolson's fight for African American rights in theater and explores the difference between minstrelsy and blackface- http://blackstarnews.com/?c=120&a=3343

I do not want to pick a fight, and i do agree that our world is becoming to PC... Please watch a video from California News Reel, titled, ETHNIC NOTIONS. It will help many who wonder where all this is coming from. An easy parallel for many would be to look at anti-Semitic posters from the 1930's in Germany. In my opinion, there was a racial undertone. I will not begin to speculate on the intent.

Matt - yes it is. I believe the entire video is 60 minutes.

All this political correctness is making me sick. I understand Free Masons has gained popularity also. How do you think they'll reflavor that one? It's the 21 century and I personally am open to truth.

Is this rabid defense of racism (under the guise of 'the world is too PC') a Haddonfield thing? Why do I not find this surprising?

Russ, luckily, we have a quote from Ferko as to their intent, and the city director of the parade, provided by Tara Murtha of the Philadelphia Weekly in her article about this topic. This is the quote from her article: “We certainly did not wish to offend anyone in our presentation,” said Anthony Celenza, captain of the band, through the Mummers Association’s publicity director, George Badey. “We are a string band and our intent is to celebrate and entertain.” Badey points out that he’s known Celenza for 45 years, and vouches that there’s no way the group intended to be insulting to African-Americans."

This part of the article says it all...
The point here is that theater and art forms sometimes find expression in imitating, celebrating, honoring, paying tribute to and even fondly teasing other genders/cultures/orientations (have you ever seen Rich Voss? How about Key and Peele?). If we do away with people dressing up in the clothing and colors of other cultures at the Mummers, we need to do away with it everywhere. But in all instances, we’d be robbing ourselves of art.

Russ, it's interesting you brought that up. Hindus use swastikas in their daily lives. It's an ancient symbol of Hinduism, existing thousands of years before Nazi Germany. Of course they would (and do) include this symbol in their parades and celebrations. If one has a good understanding of history, one can understand the context and intent with no problem.

Thank you Russ. I hope I didn't give the impression I needed a history lesson; I was only using Hindus as one example because they actively have large parades in major cities and are the first ones that popped into my head. And I'm not at all shocked by the reaction. I wouldn't expect anything different from white 20-somethings on Twitter.

C.V......your comments might carry some weight if you had the courage of your convictions and used your real name.

C.V. I was not referring to overall users of Twitter. I was referring to the complainants in this case.

Rebecca, are you turning Judge Judy on me?

first of all its black not african american to be an african american you would have to be born in africa than move to america. second, blacks refer to white poeple as white boy and crackers all over movies and tv and no one blinks an eye. they have their tv stations and colleges and programs. god forbid white people had any of that. we need a jesse jackson of our own to stand up for white rights and equality

Actually, When one hyphenates, African-American, Italian-American, etc, it refers to ancestral roots, not birthplace. More importantly, a simple rule of thumb, would you feel comfortable doing or saying something about a racial or ethnic group in front of a group of said people (who are not friends), or a supervisor, client, teacher, etc. If not, it's probably racist. This display, is clearly so.

Russ, I was simply thanking you for leaving a comment. I am already very well versed in both history and cultural anthropology.

There was a time, when minstril shows were popular that a troup of black performers preformed in black face themselves. It has become synonomous with the racist culture, but it was a form of entertainment that black people themselves enjoyed & they themselves, in blackface, didn't find it derogotory. I think it's all up to the frame of mind of the person who puts black face on. You can't imitate an art form, unless you imitate the art form. People that think to acknowledge race is bigotry only feel that way because they are bigoted in their own heart & assume that any differentiation must be racist because it's racist to them.

From Philly, raised with watching the Mummers on New Years Day, the complaints are ridiculous. A Philadelphia tradition of colorful costumes, skits and music entertains all races. No one from Philly would even think of the word racist when attending a Mummers Parade or watching it on tv from home. The more colorful the costume, the better. I think my friends nephews were in the skit which is being discussed

Michael, that is a really interesting point. That's why I question the reason the vast majority of people complaining are white. One can easily scan the crowd and see many blacks folks enjoying the parade, and no group representative of African Americans, such as the NAACP, has come forward to complain that they found the parade offensive. No one on any discussion thread I have seen, this one included, has had anyone say "I am black and this performance really upset me." The people complaining are white 20-somethings on Twitter who smugly think that they know better than the black families enjoying the parade. White people really love to make the rules and tell everyone how to feel, and they're still doing it now by insisting that the performance was racist, even though Ferko has clearly described their intent, and that intent was not to offend or hurt anyone, but to delight and entertain. As for me, I was raised my entire life hearing over and over again how Al Jolson was one of the greatest men who ever lived BECAUSE he fought for civil rights, and was instrumental in getting black people on Broadway. I remember my father telling me those stories and holding me on his lap singing The Wabash Song, which Al Jolson sings in The Jazz Singer. My dad loved how Al Jolson threatened to punch any restaurant owner who wouldn't let a black person in. So, yes, I look at an imitation of Al Jolson and racism is the farthest thing from my mind.