coon, noun

Forms:
Also with initial capital.
Origin:
U.S. EnglishShow more U.S. English, a performer wearing blackface in a minstrel show; see quotations 1980 and 1983.
1. A member of one of the troupes which parade annually in the Coon Carnival (see sense 2), wearing costume and made up in black-face, with white-ringed eyes and mouth. Also attributive. See also klopse sense 1.
Note:
The offensive general English use of the word as a derogatory term for a Black person also occurs in South African English.
1924 Cape Argus 3 Jan. 8The quiet streets of Cape Town were enlivened by the marching of troupes of coloured youths, gay in coon costumes...A storm of applause goes up as the coons approach.
1944 I.D. Du Plessis Cape Malays 60Malay choirs..must not be confused with the coons who parade the streets on New Year’s Day.
1947 L.G. Green Tavern of Seas 14The Coons of Cape Town, the carnival troupes.., are said to have sprung from the thanksgiving celebrations when the slaves were liberated one hundred and thirteen years ago.
1959 R.E. Van der Ross in Hattingh & Bredekamp Coloured Viewpoint (1984) 33The coons are essentially democratic, and they have Coloured, Malay, African and even White members. Yes, there are some White coons who blacken their faces and don costume with the others.
1964 L.G. Green Old Men Say 58One of my wise old men told me that the pioneer coons had modelled their dress and performances on a band of Christy Minstrels who played in Cape Town during the eighteen sixties.
1971 Sunday Times 7 Nov. (Mag. Sect.) 5New Year’s Day is a memory of a river of colours as the ‘Coons’ danced by with their unique double shuffle and sequined cloaks and hats.
1980 D.B. Coplan Urbanization of African Performing Arts. 431Coon...In South Africa, American-derived popular African ragtime songs and performers of the early 20th century, popular with African students. Better known from the Coon Carnival a New Year street parade in Cape Town of Coloured men’s performances clubs in American minstrel costume and blackface, performing Afrikaans and American minstrel and jazz music.
1981 S. Afr. Panorama July 34The Coons wear multi-coloured glossy satin uniforms, with top hat and frock coat, blacken their faces and cavort along the streets en route to venues..where they hold singing competitions.
1983 Flying Springbok Dec. 19The word coon is derived from that furry, nocturnal animal, the raccoon, with its large eyes set in equally large white rings on a black face. And the carnival dancer models his black-painted face and white-painted lips on the raccoon.
1991 [see coloured noun].
2. combination
Coon Carnival , occasionally also Coons Carnival, Coon’s Carnival, and with small initials: the parades by, and the competitions between gaily costumed troupes of singing and dancing performers, held in Cape Town on the 1st and 2nd of January each year; any similar entertainment. Also attributive.
1936 E. Rosenthal Old-Time Survivals 36Still more resplendent is the turn-out at the ‘Coon’s Carnival’ at the Cape, celebrated on January 1, 2, 3...Hundreds of coloured men and women turn up with their banjoes,..giving the New Year an uproarious, but quite harmless welcome.
1937 S. Afr. Dancing Times Feb. 8An effective group which participated in the Capetown Coloured Coons Carnival, held at the Peninsular on New Year’s Day.
1952 T. Matshikiza in Drum July 38In and around Johannesburg on a Saturday you might come across..a bunch of ten-year-olds staging a coon carnival.
1963 K. Mackenzie Dragon to Kill 140We need to be angry — not laughing ‘happy Natives’ in the streets, smiling, Coon carnival, kwela — but angry.
1973 Cape Times 13 Jan. (Weekend Mag.) 4Green Point Track..was the home of organized coon carnivals since 1906.
1977 Argus 30 Dec. 3The Cape’s traditional extravaganza of colour and music, the annual Coon Carnival, gets under way early in the New Year.
1988 Cape Times 4 Jan. 1 (caption)This member of one of the Coon Carnival troupes parading through the streets of Cape Town on Saturday was obviously enjoying his ‘Tweede Nuwe Jaar’.
A member of one of the troupes which parade annually in the Coon Carnival (see sense 2), wearing costume and made up in black-face, with white-ringed eyes and mouth. Also attributive.
, occasionally also Coons Carnival, Coon’s Carnival, and with small initials:the parades by, and the competitions between gaily costumed troupes of singing and dancing performers, held in Cape Town on the 1st and 2nd of January each year; any similar entertainment. Also attributive.
Derivatives:
Hence coonery  noun, participation in the Coon Carnival.
1990 M.C. D’Arcy in Staffrider Vol.9 No.1, 11The immediate eradication of coonery to restore the dignity and worth of the coloured was vital to the cause.
1990 M.C. D’Arcy in Staffrider Vol.9 No.1, 15He did not agree with all the aspects of the institution of coonery but it was his living.
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Coon Carnival
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