Conversation

A reminder that Mickey Mouse is thinly coded minstrelsy. The tune he whistles in Steamboat Willie has a previous title so racist I won’t note it here. And Disney adopted that ditty to open all its animated films a few years ago. Minstrelsy is a long scar on our cultural landscape, one of the most popular forms of entertainment for a century, and its vestiges and symbols remain with us.

Happy New Year!