In 2023 the BBC broadcast a documentary presented by the actor David Harewood and the historian David Olusoga about the pernicious influence of blackface minstrelsy in pervading racial stereotypes and anti-black racism in Great Britain. Opening in Melbourne in 1962, the show secured full houses for all evening and matinee performances, so they were held over. Blacking up continued to be a common form of entertainment for television audiences and local communities throughout the 20th century. Bill Cotton told them firmly that the “racist implication” of its minstrelsy was now obvious to all.

Kenneth Lamb, Director of Public Affairs, wrote to CARD’s Chairman, David Pitt, arguing that ‘black-faced minstrels performing a song and dance act have been a traditional form of entertainment in the British Isles for a great many years.

The BBC might also ask the three American networks, since it is only a theatrical show, what reaction they think the series would have on responsible coloured opinion in the United States if they put it out coast to coast. The Black and White Minstrel Show was a British light entertainment show that ran on BBC television from 1958 to 1978 and was a popular stage show.

But the fact that it was being said at all was at least some measure of the BBC’s belated, faltering progress in understanding the implications of a multicultural Britain – a full three decades after the arrival of Windrush. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Since its cancellation in 1978, The Black and White Minstrel Show has come to be regarded with disdain. Having left the Victoria Palace Theatre, where the stage show played from 1962 to 1972, a second show toured almost every year to various big city and seaside resort theatres around the UK, including the Futurist in Scarborough, the Winter Gardens in Morecambe, the Festival Theatre in Paignton, the Congress Theatre in Eastbourne and the Pavilion Theatre in Bournemouth.In the two decades of its existence, it’s hard to dispute the sheer popularity of The Black and White Minstrel Show – in numerical terms at least. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Build your own unique collection, Rediscover your all-time favourites and find new musical inspiration from all eras and genres. At one point, it was even something of a critical success: in 1961, it won the prestigious Golden Rose of Montreux. The best advice that could be given to coloured people by their friends would be: "on this issue, we can see your point, by in your own best interests, for Heaven's sake shut up.