{"id":5250,"date":"2018-04-04T02:00:59","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T06:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=5250"},"modified":"2018-04-02T09:36:58","modified_gmt":"2018-04-02T13:36:58","slug":"post-racial-puhleeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2018\/04\/post-racial-puhleeze\/","title":{"rendered":"Post-Racial? Puhleeze!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"I recently attended a production of\u00a0Our Town<\/em> presented by Triad Stage<\/a>, a professional theater company based in Greensboro, NC. It had been decades since I had seen the play but I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for it. I thought it was very well done, but this is not a review.<\/p>\n

What this\u00a0is<\/em> is an observation that resulted from the casting. Triad Stage has for years made an effort to diversify its casting and their\u00a0Our Town<\/em> was no exception. Set in Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire\u2013as lily white a region in our national geography as one can find-this production featured African-Americans playing a number of principal roles, including George who, with Emily, are the core of the story. I applaud the casting and think it worked quite well. What I came away with, however, was a reminder that, while no one commented on the casting\u2013including the reviewer\u2013there could have been\u00a0no one<\/em> in the audience who was not aware of the fact that a number of the actors were African-American. To be clear, I’d be surprised if anyone in attendance was troubled by it; but everyone would have noticed and pondered it to one degree or another throughout the performance.<\/p>\n

My point is that for all the comments about America being “post-racial” (although such thinking has receded substantially over the last eighteen months) and the tiring exclamation “I don’t see color,” this was an experience to knock that thinking flat. Everybody (OK, virtually everybody) sees, notices, considers color\u2013inside the theater and out.<\/p>\n

The only (OK, virtually the only) people who claim not to see color or who bought into the post-racial idea after the election of Barack Obama were white people. People of color know\/knew better.<\/p>\n

For almost all of us, seeing color is unavoidable and claiming not to see it is disingenuous. (Claiming not to see color also diminishes the color-dependent experience of non-whites. But that’s a topic for another day.) It also gets in the way of understanding and dialogue, both of which are essential for successful community engagement. So, for my white readers, acknowledge that you do indeed “see color.” That’s an essential first step.<\/p>\n

Engage!<\/p>\n

Doug<\/p>\n

Photo by VanderVeen Photographers. Source: http:\/\/triadstage.org\/assets\/photos\/fullsize\/George-Emily-crop.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Post-Racial? Puhleeze! Not until “I don’t see color” is an honest statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Post-Racial? Puhleeze! Not until \"I don't see color\" is an honest statement.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,13,42,47,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-5250","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-principles","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-community-engagement","10":"tag-diversity","11":"tag-equity","12":"tag-theatre","13":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/TriadStageOurTown-_George-Emily.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-1mG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2706,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/03\/the-white-racial-frame\/","url_meta":{"origin":5250,"position":0},"title":"The White Racial Frame","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"March 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"[Guest post\u2013second on this topic\u2013by Roberto Bedoya, Executive Director of the Tucson Pima Arts Council. Mr. Bedoya reflects on the need to consider the impact of unconscious racial perspectives before we address diversity policies in the sector.] Before I offer my commentary, I want to give thanks to my peers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Overview"","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.artsusa.org\/artsblog\/wp-content\/profile-pics\/404.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2600,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/02\/considering-whiteness\/","url_meta":{"origin":5250,"position":1},"title":"Considering Whiteness","author":"Guest Blogger","date":"February 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"[Guest post by Roberto Bedoya, Executive Director of the Tucson Pima Arts Council. Mr. Bedoya reflects on the need to consider the impact of unconscious racial perspectives before we address diversity policies in the sector.] My friend Doug asked me to respond to the recent blogs about diversity by Clayton\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.artsusa.org\/artsblog\/wp-content\/profile-pics\/404.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4627,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/08\/fifth-anniversary-highlights-considering-whiteness\/","url_meta":{"origin":5250,"position":2},"title":"Fifth Anniversary Highlights: Considering Whiteness","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Fifth anniversary highlight: Roberto Bedoya on diversity and equity.","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/FiveCandles.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":481,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2011\/09\/what-is-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":5250,"position":3},"title":"What Is Engagement?","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I am teaching a course this fall called Arts in the Community. One of the course requirements is for students to assist in a community arts project. For the purpose of the course we use the definition \"arts-based project intentionally designed to address a community issue.\" A difficulty I (and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Practice of Engagement"","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of Engagement","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-practice-of-engagement\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/PTICA-LogoGraphic.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4715,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/10\/artistic-excellence-and-mutual-self-interests\/","url_meta":{"origin":5250,"position":4},"title":"Artistic Excellence and Mutual Self-Interests","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Seema Sueko @Seemasue on the artistic benefits of community engagement.","rel":"","context":"In "Customer-Client-Collaborator Series"","block_context":{"text":"Customer-Client-Collaborator Series","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/customer-client-collaborator-series\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"sueko-seema","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Sueko-Seema-e1475591051409.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1675,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/07\/shakespeare-festival-st-louis\/","url_meta":{"origin":5250,"position":5},"title":"Shakespeare Festival St. Louis","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"July 6, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"EM's List Member Shakespeare in the Streets of St. Louis [This post is by EM's List Editor\/Curator, Stephanie Moore] Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, founded in 2001, can be spotted in the schools, in the streets, and in the parks of St. Louis, Missouri. 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