Nice to see an article that doesn't brand Jolson as a "racist." Too many people see the blackface and jump to conclusions. Fact is Jolson had many black friends and went out of his way to help black performers break into mainstrean show business. His blackface stage character, Gus, was actually a slap at prevalent racist stereotypes. Gus was the underdog who was actually smarter and had more integrity than his white masters. Gus always figured out how to get them out of jams. Racists of the time were annoyed by Jolson's lampooning but most people let it slide because it was "comedy." But Jolson always got his point across.
The main thing to realize was that in the early 1900's when Jolson came up in show business, blackface was a very common theatrical convention, and people who used it were not all doing it maliciously.
Thanks again.
Steve