Jolson's legacy as the most popular performer of blackface routines was complemented by his relationships with African-Americans and his appreciation and use of African-American cultural trends.
[11] Jolson first heard jazz, blues, and ragtime in the alleys of New Orleans. He enjoyed singing jazz, often performing in blackface, especially in the songs he made popular such as "
Swanee", "
My Mammy", and "
Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody".
As a Jewish immigrant and America's most famous and highest-paid entertainer, he may have had the incentive and resources to help improve racial attitudes. While
The Birth of a Nation glorified white supremacy and the KKK, Jolson chose to star in
The Jazz Singer, which defied racial bigotry by introducing black musicians to audiences worldwide.
[14]
While growing up, Jolson had many black friends, including
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, who became a prominent
tap dancer.
[22] As early as 1911, at the age of 25, Jolson was noted for fighting discrimination on Broadway and later in his movies.
[130] In 1924, he promoted the play
Appearances by
Garland Anderson[131] which became the first production with an all-black cast produced on Broadway. He brought a black dance team from San Francisco that he tried to put in a Broadway show.
[130] He demanded equal treatment for Cab Calloway, with whom he performed duets in the movie
The Singing Kid.
[130]
Jolson read in the newspaper that songwriters
Eubie Blake and
Noble Sissle, neither of whom he had ever heard of, were refused service at a Connecticut restaurant because of their race. He tracked them down and took them out to dinner, "insisting he'd punch anyone in the nose who tried to kick us out!"
[11] According to biographer Al Rose, Jolson and Blake became friends and went to boxing matches together.
[132]
Film historian
Charles Musser notes, "African Americans' embrace of Jolson was not a spontaneous reaction to his appearance in talking pictures. In an era when African Americans did not have to go looking for enemies, Jolson was perceived a friend."
[133]
Jeni LeGon, a black female
tap dancer,
[134] recalls her life as a film dancer: "But of course, in those times it was a 'black-and-white world.' You didn't associate too much socially with any of the stars. You saw them at the studio, you know, nice—but they didn't invite. The only ones that ever invited us home for a visit was Al Jolson and
Ruby Keeler."
[135]
British performer
Brian Conley, former star of the 1995 British play
Jolson, stated during an interview, "I found out Jolson was actually a hero to the black people of America. At his funeral, black actors lined the way, they really appreciated what he'd done for them."
[136]
Noble Sissle, who was by then president of the
Negro Actors Guild, represented that organization at his funeral.
[137]
Jolson's physical expressiveness also affected the music styles of some black performers. Music historian Bob Gulla writes that "the most critical influence in
Jackie Wilson's young life was Al Jolson." He points out that Wilson's ideas of what a stage performer could do to keep their act an "exciting" and "thrilling performance" was shaped by Jolson's acts, "full of wild writhing and excessive theatrics". Wilson felt that Jolson "should be considered the stylistic [forefather] of rock and roll."
[138]
According to the
St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture: "Almost single-handedly, Jolson helped to introduce African-American musical innovations like jazz, ragtime, and the blues to white audiences ... [and] paved the way for African-American performers like
Louis Armstrong,
Duke Ellington,
Fats Waller, and
Ethel Waters ... to bridge the cultural gap between black and white America."
[14]
Amiri Baraka wrote, "the entrance of the white man into jazz ... did at least bring him much closer to the
Negro." He points out that "the acceptance of jazz by whites marks a crucial moment when an aspect of black culture had become an essential part of American culture."
[139]
