In our supposedly post-racial world (not counting you, tea-baggers) it’s difficult to conceive of the indignities thrust upon Lena Horne for the crime of being of undetermined race, but her luminous beauty and mellifluous voice made her the “negro” who was safe for white America. She used this inroad to criticize the treatment of black soldiers during her many USO tours which led to her being “blacklisted” by Hollywood for many years. Of course civilization eventually evolved enough to begin celebrating her for her actual talents and not for her potential to pass as a white woman. Goodbye, gorgeous.
 

 
Nobody’s maid: Lena Horne, legendary singer, dies at 92
 
previously on DM : THE GREAT FLIP WILSON, LENA HORNE’S ROCKY RACCOON