minstrelry

plural minstrelries

1. The art of minstrels.

   Synonyms: minstrelsy

2. A simplified depiction of another culture, especially black African, for entertainment purposes, generally seen as offensive.

   Possibly it was a tune of West African origin or, equally likely, a piece of mock-Ethiopian minstrelry composed by a white American.

   1998, Neil Parsons, King Khama, Emperor Joe, and the Great White Queen: Victorian Britain Through African Eyes, page 162

   2 more examples

   Minstrelry (making oneself up as “the other” to take the other over, to evacuate difference, to control representation) is indeed a dangerous and unethical practice.

   2007, Judith Miller, Ariane Mnouchkine, page 58

   Spearheaded by Charlie Parker, bebop, or just bop, had evolved in the 1940s, partly as an antidote to the crowd-pleasing showmanship (demeaning minstrelry, as they saw it) that was demanded in popular big band swing.

   2009, Travis Elborough, The Long-Player Goodbye