Just to make it MORE complicated, sometimes Blacks would play White characters, for which they colored their skin in a caucasian hue, but it was still considered to be blackface. Or they would use the make up to exaggerate their color (white outline around the lips, etc.) to play old time plantations slaves and such like. Today they call it a racial crime, back in the day it was just stagecraft.
It wasn’t just stagecraft.
Blacks were the butt of the jokes, with grotesque racial stereotypes.
Jeesh!