Rae Lynn Barnes
Historian and Princeton University professor specializing in cultural history, author of Darkology: Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment, focusing on race, minstrelsy, and American popular culture.
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Mar 3, 2026 • 35min
Racism as Entertainment: Rhae Lynn Barnes on Darkology and American Culture
Rae Lynn Barnes, Princeton historian and author of Darkology, explores how blackface and minstrelsy shaped American entertainment and racial imagery. She links P.T. Barnum’s spectacles to modern media showmanship. The conversation traces institutional normalization of racist humor and highlights long histories of Black resistance.
