Jolson often performed in blackface makeup.
Performing in blackface makeup was a theatrical convention of many entertainers at the beginning of the 20th century, having its origin in the minstrel show.
According to film historian Eric Lott:
"For the white minstrel man to put on the cultural forms of 'blackness' was to engage in a complex affair of manly mimicry... To wear or even enjoy blackface was literally, for a time, to become black, to inherit the cool, virility, humility, abandon, or gaité de coeur that were the prime components of white ideologies of black manhood."

In the retrospective view of a later era, however, the use of blackface has come to be viewed as implicit racism.
Music critic Ted Gioia, commenting on Jolson's use of blackface, wrote:
"Blackface evokes memories of the most unpleasant side of racial relations, and of an age in which white entertainers used the makeup to ridicule black Americans while brazenly borrowing from the rich black musical traditions that were rarely allowed direct expression in mainstream society.
This is heavy baggage for Al Jolson.
Jolson often performed in blackface makeup. Performing in blackface makeup was a theatrical convention of many entertainers at the beginning of the 20th century, having its origin in the minstrel show. According to film historian Eric Lott:
"For the white minstrel man to put on the cultural forms of 'blackness' was to engage in a complex affair of manly mimicry... To wear or even enjoy blackface was literally, for a time, to become black, to inherit the cool, virility, humility, abandon, or gaité de coeur that were the prime components of white ideologies of black manhood."
In the retrospective view of a later era, however, the use of blackface has come to be viewed as implicit racism. Music critic Ted Gioia, commenting on Jolson's use of blackface, wrote:
"Blackface evokes memories of the most unpleasant side of racial relations, and of an age in which white entertainers used the makeup to ridicule black Americans while brazenly borrowing from the rich black musical traditions that were rarely allowed direct expression in mainstream society. This is heavy baggage for Al Jolson.
Al Jolson