there were some African-American minstrel companies who would market themselves as
superior to these burnt cork minstrel companies, as they were authentic and not mere
imitations. All too often, though, these African-American companies found that audiences
demanded to see the same characterizations of former slaves as had been performed by the
burnt cork minstrel companies. Unfortunately, these characterizations by African Americans
may have reinforced stereotypes, as audiences may well have thought, “If these genuine
[African Americans] behaved in much the same manner as their white imitators, who could
question the fundamental accuracy of the minstrelsy interpretation of slave life and culture?"
(Van Deburg 113).
As such, the presence of African Americans in popular culture of that time did not have
much of an impact on dispelling stereotypes, and “their primary contribution to reeducating
white America would be to reserve a place on stage for future generations” (Van Deburg 11314). The same could be said of African Americans who appeared in film and television through
much of the 20th Century. When they were portrayed at all, African Americans generally were
shown as benign, jovial, happy-go-lucky, noncritical, and nonthreatening to white Americans.
From Arthur Duncan of “The Lawrence Welk Show" to Nat King Cole and his television variety
show to Sammy Davis, Jr. as a member of the Rat Pack, African-American visibility and
success oftentimes came with the condition that the African Americans made visible not offend
white American sensibilities, and when they did offend those sensibilities, they were often
quickly censured for it. As such, they were not able to increase social consciousness to any
great extent, and their contributions were mainly, as with the African-American minstrel
companies, that of making room for future generations of performers.
Traditional readings of The Tempest were not concerned with such matters as
oppression and race relations. Instead, these readings were similar to the interpretation
presented by Frank Kermode in his introduction to the Arden edition of The Tempest,
published in 1954. In his introduction, Kermode takes the position that The Tempest sets forth
“the great and perennial problem of the nature of Nature” (xxv). To be sure, Kermode
acknowledges the play’s handling of issues related to European colonization of the New World,
and he even goes so far as to recognize that Caliban “is the core of the play” (xxiv). However,
Caliban as “core” of The Tempest primarily serves to show, according to Kermode, the extent
to which Art is able to subdue and civilize Nature. Kermode's reading and traditional readings
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