Zulu is one of the many African-American Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs in New Orleans. The clubs sponsor community service projects, serve as social gathering spots and organize lively parades that wind through the streets of the city’s neighborhoods on Sundays. On Fat Tuesday, massive crowds gather along the parade route to watch the floats and try to catch a painted coconut, the Zulu prize throw.

…”The Zulu club was founded in response to the racism that was present in Mardi Gras where black people were not allowed to participate” in the parade-day celebrations of historically-white social clubs, said Shantrelle P. Lewis, an historian who studies blackface traditions, in an interview with NPR’s Michele Martin. For the Zulus, she said, “it was a way to combat some of the racism and segregation taking place in Mardi Gras.”

…”If you’re looking at the Zulu club within a tradition of masquerading and masking… then painting one’s face is a part of Carnival,” said Lewis. And as a proud New Orleans native, she said she finds the Zulu costume to be appropriate, given the context. “While it’s connected to minstrelsy, historically it was more rooted in this idea of a masquerade.”

…”A lot of our traditions have existed without the participation and the scrutiny of people outside of New Orleans. And for the average black person in New Orleans, including members of my own family, they simply do not connect the blackface in Zulu with minstrelsy …and they most certainly are not looking at it as an offense.”

New Orleans Group Faces Calls To End Its Use Of Blackface At Mardi Gras : NPR

hmmmm