What does, "black face" mean?

Question

I saw it on American Dad! and I watched it on Deuce Bigalow European Gigalo. But, I don't understand it's context or meaning.

I assume it's racist since on American Dad the blacks were angry.

Can you explain this to this poor Argentinian girl?

Answer 1

i think it is when white people paint their faces with black paint.  it was quite common a long time ago.  it was a part of "slap-stick comedy"

Answer 2

When the movie industry was starting up, instead of having actual black people be in movies, they used white people in black make-up.

They did the same thing with indians.

Answer 3

Yes it was quite racist. From a time when blacks were not portrayed correctly in film. White people would wear the make-up, and portray black people usually in a bad light.

Read more here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface

Answer 4

Many years ago before the human rights movement in the U.S., many white actors and entertainers put black make up on their faces and imitated black performers.

It's no longer allowed in the U.S. to my knowledge. The whole thing is really offensive when you think about it.  

Answer 5

Black face is when white actors put black paint on their faces to portray black people. Yeah, it's racist, especially because when it was done the white actors always painted stupid grins on the faces of the black characters.