In what states is blackface performance currently legal?

Answer 1

it's not illegal anywhere, but it is generally considered offensive, the way that any other deeply stereotyped racial presentation is considered offensive. If you watch very old movies (films from the 1920s and 1930s) you'll see off-color depictions of many races (particularly Africans, Chinese, Italians, American Indians, and the Irish, which were all prominent subcultures in that era) performed by white actors. Blackface stands out primarily because of the particular tension in the US between whites and blacks, and the dramatic makeup needed to carry off the effect.

interestingly, blackface did not begin as a form of mockery, but was a theatrical motif used to represent blacks in plays and entertainments in a society where only whites could be actors or entertainers. After the emancipation, however, it could only be seen as a form of regressive social commentary.