For many, the presidential election in the United States is itself a referendum on racism, particularly as it applies to which religious groups should be allowed inside the nation’s borders, and whether portions of those borders should be visible from space after the construction of a massive wall. Young African American men are routinely gunned down by peace officers, prompting everything from the #blacklivesmatter movement to the refusal of an African American quarterback in the NFL to stand at attention during the national anthem. And even pop idol Taylor Swift has woven the sound of the banjo (albeit a six-string variant that’s tuned like a guitar) into her multi-platinum repertoire.Īt the same time, racism in the United States hasn’t been so naked in decades. On Broadway, “Bright Star,” which was co-written by the funniest banjo player alive, Steve Martin, enjoyed a spirited, if brief, run. Winston Marshall of Mumford & Sons plays sold out concerts with a top-of-the-line Deering banjo strapped over his shoulder, as does Scott Avett of the Avett Brothers. On the one hand, the five-string banjo has never been more popular. Though they may produce casual chuckles today, these jokes are actually rooted in the racist put-downs that were once directed at black banjo players in America, as we learned when we spoke recently to Laurent Dubois, whose new book, The Banjo: America’s African Instrument, was published in the spring of 2016 by Harvard University Press.ĭubois’s book arrives at a weirdly bipolar moment in Western cultural history. Instead, hang on to those descriptions of unplayable instruments and moronic musicians eating roadkill. And last but definitely not least, what do you call 100 banjos at the bottom of the ocean? A good start.“The banjo in postwar America was perceived primarily as a white, rural instrument.”There are entire websites devoted to banjo jokes, so we could spend all day on this, but let’s not.
Speaking of which, how many banjo players does it take to eat a possum? Two, one to eat it and the other to watch for cars. What’s the difference between a dead skunk in the middle of a road and a dead banjo player in the middle of a road? There are skid marks in front of the skunk. What’s the difference between a banjo and a lawnmower? You can tune a lawnmower.
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