Is Minstrel a racist term?

[sammie96]

We have recently adopted a cat who came with the name Minstrel. It is black and white.
I’m not entirely comfortable with the name so want to try and change it but my children are adamant it stays the same. They obviously aren’t aware of ‘The Minstrel Show’ and it’s racist association and until I looked further into the name it is also a term used for a certain sexual act! How can I explain all this? AIBU?

Ivy79 "They called the cab company THAT in the late 1990's @scrabbler?"

No. A black lab meaning labrador dog, not a cab company.

I'm 39 and I think of the Black and White Minstrel show when you say a black and white cat is called minstrel. Definitely change the cat's name. I would just explain to my children why the name had been chosen and that it's no longer acceptable because it's racist. No matter how hard some posters always go to argue that these things aren't.

Do we all have to boycott the sweet now too?

"an astonishing variety of racist names! Lots of black celebrities, Django and . . ."
If you're referring to Django Reinhard, the jazz violinist, he wasn't black, he was Belgian of Roma origin, and a bloody good vionist to boot.

If you're referring to Django Reinhard, the jazz violinist, he wasn't black, he was Belgian of Roma origin, and a bloody good vionist to boot

Yeah, I'm going to take a wild punt that they were much more likely to be thinking of the 2012 Quentin Tarantino film 'Django unchained' (in which Django is played by Jamie Foxx) than a jazz violinist.

My first thought is chocolates or medieval, don't remember the b&w minstrel show. But once you said it's b&w, my immediate thought was the racist connotations.

It's easy to explain to your dc.

'Look, it's a cat, it isn't going to respond to it's name because we want it to, no matter what that name is. So, we need to call it something it will respond to'
Then you pick from options such as 'I'm carving the chicken' 'do you want this ham' 'dreamies' etc

You know when you're sorry you read a definition of a word? That.

Neil Diamond didn't black up in The Jazz Singer.

Yes he did - at the start when he's singing with his gospel friends.

I stand corrected.

How cringey.

Minstrels sweets were black and white though. They must have been named after the show. I don't think you can get them anymore though. What's the difference between a humbug and a minstrel sweet?

Does the cat seem to know the name?

If yes, leave it be. Don't confuse the poor beast because you feel guilty.

If not - suit yourselves.

If it did know the name you could change it to mistral instead?

I don't know the tv show or the chocolates, I would have just thought of the musicians and thought it rather nice.

Minstrels sweets were black and white though

No they weren't. They've always been just chocolate. Humbugs are nothing like Minstrels

Does the cat seem to know the name? If yes, leave it be. Don't confuse the poor beast because you feel guilty. If not - suit yourselves.

I don't think I've ever encountered a cat that knows its name, as opposed to responding to a tone of voice. We changed the names of both our cats upon adopting them and can happily report that they are equally oblivious to both their old and new names.

Minstrels the sweets are like giant chocolate coloured smarties (just chocolate coloured)

Humbugs are basically a mint boiled sweet.

Very cringey Mumbod - I thought so when I watched it as a kid.

The dark and white sweets were called vice versas. Minstrels are glossy ones the size of big Chocolate buttons. Still available today!

It doesn’t seem to know its name, she’s still very young. The previous owners were aged approximately mid 50s and I think it’s definitely been named because of its colour and the black & white Minstrel connection. It was quite an experience going to collect her. Their feelings towards gay/lesbian people were obvious when I made an innocent remark, I was a little taken aback because my 12yr old daughter was stood next to me. Because of their attitude and mindset I am quite certain they are comfortable to use what I feel as a racist term for a black & white cat. I just wanted to get out of there.

Oh yeah I'm getting minstrels and humbugs mixed up.

Call it humbug great name for a cat especially if it seems a bit grumpy

Minstrel isn't a racist term in my view. The fact that people think it might be purely because the cat happens to be black and white just goes to prove it. If the cat were ginger, it'd be fine? So, the word isn't racist. If the cat was called "The black and white minstrel" then I'd agree that it was probably given that name to cause offence, but it's not.

Minstrel has its origins in the Latin word for servant. In medieval times minstrels were just that - servants, and not particularly high ranking ones at that. It's not racist.

It does depend on context. If it was ginger it would be ok. It's only dodgy coz it's black and white. Like the show. That's why I got Minstrels and humbugs mixed up, because I'm old enough that I know 'black and white minstrels' as a phrase from the show. If it was ginger, there would be no confusion and people would just think of the meaning as a wandering musician.

Minstrel isn't a racist term in my view.

The word alone isn't, no. Calling a black and white cat Minstrel is, at the very least, racially offensive.