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@Alf0nse
Back to Morris Dancers, I'd heard from that "Morris" was a corruption of Moorish, meaning from the Moors in North Africa.
At a time when dancing to rhythmic music was frowned upon by the church cos it created sass and frivolity. The dancers would black up so they could deny it was any of the local god fearing white people and blame it on some itinerant Africans with a fetish for hankies bells and tankards. A lot of troupes dropped the paint a long time back and others have switched to blue paint.
I think it's pretty sketchy to black up regardless of the original intention, it's bad but never as bad s David Baddiel blacking up for his oh so hilarious Jason Lee impression.