Two faces to Blackface

Blackface, as made evident in Rogin's article, is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. Though this idea of blackface itself stayed relatively the same throughout its use, the  purpose for which it was used changed significantly from Birth of a Nation to Jazz Singer. Rogin first highlights this change when he claims:


"Birth and the Jazz Singer ostensibly exploit blacks in opposite ways. Birth makes war on blacks in the name of the fathers; the Jazz singer's protagonist adopts a black mask and kills his father. The Birth of a Nation, climaxing the worst period of violence agaisnt blacks in southern history, lynches the black; the jazz singer, ventriloquizing the black, sings through his mouth"


As Rogin states, both Jazz Singer and Birth "exploit blacks" in order to promote the films own agenda. More specifically, blackface in Birth was used to address the rising conflict between blacks and whites, whereas Jazz Singer used blackface to try and deal with the Gentile and Jew struggle. Though similar in the use of blackface by exploiting blacks, the purpose of blackface varies from film to film, with Birth using the act to create a movement against blacks as a whole.

In Jazz Singer we can see blackface acting as an emotional outlet for another marginalized race, the Jews. As stated by Rogin, antisemitism was very prevelant during the period in which Jazz Singer was made and rather than address the issues straightfoward, the director and actor used blackface to make the arguments for them. Blackface's extreme characteristics allowed the actor to be more true to his inner self (more expressive), without running the risk of being judged as a Jew, but as a black and therefore not inciting the audience as much had he played a Jew.  As best said by Rogin "The jazz singer in the movie rises by putting on the mask of a group that must remain immobile, unassimilable, and fixed at the bottom," to dig into another cultures (Jew) struggles.