"Pre-Civil War, in the 19th Century, cakewalks, also known as the “Prize Walks,” which were held on plantations. These get-togethers were for the sole purpose of servants and slaves to mock their masters. The slaves and servants were to dress in their best, and with the intention to mock the mannerisms of the aristocrats; in fact, they were encouraged to, it was the entertainment. These get-togethers took place in the masters “big house,” of the plantations, and the master would serve as a judge. The cakewalk was a form of comical enjoyment; slave owners would gather their servants and slaves to see who had the best ‘slave walker’ at the end of it all.

Couples would line up and form an aisle and down through the middle each couple would take their turn mimicking the mannerisms of the upper-class white people. In a theatrical way, the couples would strut, bow, bend, flirt, and high-step, just to list a few, they would parade around the ballroom. All the while, their masters were the judges and the guests were merely entertained.

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “takes the cake.” The winner of the cakewalk won the prize of an elaborately decorated cake. But more than being a winner of a cake, the servants and slaves were enrobed with fine clothing and allowed to embrace upper-class mannerisms. Fondly, they were no longer slaves in that moment, they were the stars of a show. But I’m sure you wonder why masters would ever consider such an event to be entertainment; wouldn’t that cause the master to have lost credibility with his servants, to be laughed at? But because he became the master of ceremonies, and at the end of it all the master got to choose the winner, he took back the authority and reduced tension."