Analysis Of Frank Diller's Slave In A Box

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The general argument made by Frank Diller in his work, "Slave in a Box: The Strange Career of Aunt Jemima.", is that minstrelsy is still present in the American culture. More specifically, Diller argues that the elements of minstrelsy act as a barometer of race relations in the American society. He writes, “Depictions of African Americans in popular culture demonstrate how far the nation has come and how far it still needs to go.” In this passage, Diller is suggesting that the way African Americans are illustrated in the American culture shows the correlation between blacks and whites throughout the history of America. In conclusion, Diller’s belief is that minstrelsy’s purpose is racial mockery, and it is used as a means of social control.

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