Maybe all this grief is because the folks at Lakota are like Stephen Colbert. Maybe they “can’t see race.”
The character Colbert plays on TV claims he can’t. He says he is unable tell whether someone is black or white and that he has to rely on others to discern racial categories for him. The gag is funny because as viewers we know he’s lying – we know he doesn’t need “racist” people to tell him he’s white. He only claims to be “colorblind” as part of an obnoxious attempt to avoid being called a racist himself.
Imagine that… Someone with a dubious racial track record doing something obnoxious – like abruptly canceling a play – just to avoid being called a racist. That Colbert is one crazy character.
The trouble with this kind of “colorblindness” (apart from the dishonesty and absurdity of it) is that it implicitly carries a supremacist attitude. It says, “I can’t possibly acknowledge the differences between you and me without assigning you a greater or lesser value than me. So we have to just pretend the differences don’t exist.” Striving to be “colorblind” means believing other people’s ethnicity is a mark against them that we have to learn to overlook.
Never mind that my ethnic heritage is something I love about myself. Never mind that I would feel similarly insulted if someone didn’t notice I was male or ignored some other important part of my identity. Never mind that I cherish the contribution of cultures and perspectives that are different from mine.
If “colorblindness” is the goal, it means race is a “problem” that has to be swept under the rug. That doesn’t sound like a great idea.
Colbert’s humor rings so true for me personally because as a black student attending Lakota schools, I heard this sort of thing a lot. You see, we are all supposed to believe members of Lakota’s faculty are not able to see race either.
You’ll notice that even in all of the commotion caused by the play, statements from Lakota administrators tend to avoid anything having directly to do with race. Lakota officials tend to talk in vague terms like “diversity of all kinds” and “inclusion and tolerance” and refer to a “history around a previous title” that “caused a negative impact on some members of our community.” It’s like pulling teeth to get folks at Lakota to even use the word “race.”
Based on articles I've read about it, Enquirer reporters seem to have gotten the same impression.
Is play cancellation censorship?
The play is on
NAACP: Play shows need to talk
Raising the curtain in Lakota
~ Geoffrey Dobbins
Vice President, UCABJ
Lakota West Class of 2002
No comments:
Post a Comment