In a message dated 10/28/01 11:35:26 PM,
srcrout@ntlworld.com writes:
<< >I know "shine" is an old disparaging
>term for blacks, but I just can't figure out what it
means here.
I believe light-skinned African Americans were sometimes used
by Hollywood to make up the numbers in Westerns when they
couldn't find enough Navajo. That could be what he's talking
about. >>
I'll take a stab at this. Could be that the term refers to
the practice of vaudeville performers using shoe shine as
Blackface make up. Just idle speculation...
John Lau
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 29 Oct 2001 EST