Minstrel shows were very important in their dissemination of jazz around the turn of the century. These shows had their beginnings on the plantations: slaves would perform minstrels for the entertainment of the whites; often these performances incorporated true slave songs. The slaves would act in such a way as to mock the whites with their “putting on airs.” The whites enjoyed the shows to the point that they themselves put on these same minstrels. The whites would don black makeup and imitate the slaves mocking the whites. The epitome of this situation came about when the African Americans would put on burnt cork black makeup and imitate the whites imitating the African Americans who were mocking the whites.

— Jazz (Ninth Edition), Tanner et al