It is hard to fathom the popularity of the minstrel show post civil war and into the early 20th century. I begin to wonder whether it’s about whites displaying their insecurities because they now feel challenged by free blacks. If this is part of the reason it may make sense for these shows’ popularity. Whites, specifically in the South, may feel threatened by the now freed black man and they may be showing their insecurities through the minstrel show. For the whites performing and watching they may have felt that the only way they could feel secure was to display stereotypes that made African Americans look like lesser people. I think there may be another thing that draws whites to the shows and that is freedom and escape. Under black face your identity is altered and you’re given a sense of freedom and a lack of societal constraints. It is possible that during reconstruction, people in the South felt their identity had changed and minstrel shows provided a metaphor for those without a real identity looking for an escape from society.