Moorish pirates certainly raided Cornwall in the 16th century but I highly doubt there were many, if any living there peacefully - partly because the locals would remember the earlier pirate attacks and partly because, well, the locals in those days tended to be very suspicious of outsiders and foreigners. Also, England was not exactly the world’s most ethnically diverse place in the 16th century so I doubt your average Briton had ever seen a Moor then.
On the other hand, Cornwall has been famous for its mines for a long time, and the 16th century miners certainly would come up from under ground covered head to toe in muck, dirt, grime, and so forth.
My suggestion would be it is far more likely the dance started as something to do with mining and the miners than Barbary Corsairs settling in Cornwall.
I’m sure you can provide me a cite, right? Because everything I’ve read says that we can only speculate about how the dances originated. But, I don’t know. Maybe you have a time machine or something?
If there’s no othering intended, why bring up the Moors at all? And, I can think of a million ways to represent mine workers without putting them in blackface (they do it all the time in films). Go watch a documentary about mine workers. You’ll see what they actually look like.
You’re insisting that a centuries-old tradition of obscure origin (that you clearly know almost nothing about, if you’re comparing it to the KKK) be changed because you think it might be racist.
I am not a racist. You’re not even trying to understand the thing you’re hating here (which, ironically, is itself a behaviour more commonly associated with racism)
Lol. Oh, please, enlighten me. Let me know how much you’ve studied these presentations. Not Wiki cites. Please let me know about all the research you’ve done into the issue. Make sure to reference all the British historians you’ve read, because we want to make sure they get credit.
Um… the fact you’ve conflated UKIP (a recognised mainstream UK political party) with the KKK (a self-avowed racist organisation from the USA) suggests you are not taking this seriously.
I’ll report your post and see whether the Mods think this behavior is appropriate for Great Debates.
I can’t speak for the others, but a very edited selection of some of the titles I’ve read as part of my interest in the history of the British Empire include:
The Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham (Earl of Longford)
The Washing of the Spears by Donald R Morris
The Honourable Company by John Key
The Victorians (and After The Victorians) by A N Wilson
The Indian Mutiny by Saul David
Lawrence of Arabia by Jeremy Wilson
The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by Colonel T E Lawrence
Pax Britannica and Farewell the Trumpets by Jan Morris
No, I’m not going to, because I’ve been through this argument before. A lot of times. See my original post in this thread. It’s a pointless endeavor, because racists are going to do what they gotta do.
I’m done with trying to be nice to racists. I’m done with trying to convince people to have some basic humanity.
Mangetout, before you start doing your research, this is what I’ll say to you. If you can provide me clear evidence that this isn’t racist (and I’ll be fair in that respect) that this isn’t racist, I’ll listen. But I’m going to check out the history of anyone you cite, so if I see that someone you cite has a history of racist behavior, then I’m not going to be inclined to listen to it.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think the Morris dancers are wearing Blackface as such, anymore than a performer dressed as Kali is in Blackface. Blackface isn’t just having a blackened face, it’s the whole getup.
Having said that, if there’s a tradition (and I understand it possibly varies from troupe to troupe) that those wearing the blackened faces are supposed to be Moors rather than Cornish miners*, yes, that’s racist. It’s always racist when white people dress up as caricatures of other races in any non-satirical context (and translating “brown skin” to “corked face” is a caricature).
And there’s theories that it might be more directly racist than any “Medieval Moors” tradition.
And yes, Zwaarte Piet is racist as well. If he’s supposed to be a Black man, hire a damn Black man, they’re not in short supply in the Netherlands.
*note that the blackened faces are more common in the Border Morris tradition, which isn’t from Cornwall, so fie on that explanation.
You said I didn’t know anything about this tradition (maybe not a strawman, but certainly something you made up). Nothing I posted indicated that I was unfamiliar with this tradition. I posted that I’m tired of having the same argument over and over, and I explained why I’m tired.