Turn and Face

The idea of black-face, when white actors paint their faces black to embody colored characters, reminded me of our discussion of stereotypes last semester.

While it may be considered "progress" for black characters to be written in plays as noble characters and played by prominent actors, isn't it degrading for all those prominent actors to be white?

Was this custom really reinforcing traditional beliefs that dark skin on the outside of the body was somehow related to (or indicative of) a way-ward, untrustworthy and unstable inner self? After all, after each performance those famous actors would wash off the dirty tar from their faces and enter the "real world" with shining white faces, cleansed of any sign of the character they were so "proud" to embody on stage.