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Thursday, November 08, 2018
A white artistic director pretended to be black – it would be laughable if the consequences weren’t so damaging
The Independent: "It has emerged that an artistic director at one of the UK’s few black-led theatres has been masquerading as black. Anthony Ekundayo Lennon describes himself as an “African born again” and stated in 2012 that “although I’m white, with white parents, I have gone through the struggles of a black man, a black actor”.
7 comments:
Lenora G
said...
I really don't understand what is wrong with all of these people pretending to be black in the world lately. It's like we've reached a point in our world where white people feel "left out" because they aren't the focus of attention anymore. It's so ridiculous and it makes me so unbelievably angry. People like him and Rachel Dolezal are pretending to be black just to steal opportunities from actual black people, just because they think they deserve it. There are so many opportunities built into our culture for white people to get ahead, why are we trying to continue stealing things from everyone else? It's so disappointing to see funds to develop minority art go to people like this who only want to take that opportunity away. The fact that POC led theatre is finally being promoted and encouraged is amazing and it needs to continue, without people like this man standing in the way and literally stealing.
This article really encompasses how I feel while scrolling down social media and see many people try to claim a sort of “blackness” to enhance themselves. It seems people love to claim the culture but not the struggles that come within the culture. Being black in this society can be life-threatening and scary, but it is also beautiful and uplifting. To diminish this factor is disrespectful and I cannot possibly fathom why you would want to when white lives comes with so much privilege already. You can’t choose to be black at your leisure and convenience when there are people dying and being discriminated against everyday over something they can’t control. The author is right in the title, It’s humorous to think that people would actually believe that they are transracial if the weight of the effects weren’t so heavy. It goes along with people using black face on halloween, the culture is not your costume and you have no right to exploit it.
The content of this article DISGUSTS me. I do not understand why white people want to be oppressed so badly. I really, really do not understand why people with privilege feel so left out of those without it, that they literally use their privilege to trick people into thinking they are someone they are not. You do not get to decide that “you’ve experienced the struggles of a black man” if you are not black. It is not the same. I have experienced struggles of a person of color, but I have not experienced the specifically different struggles of a black woman, because I am not a black woman and I don’t pretend to be because that would be ridiculous, insensitive, and insulting. The whole point of the movement of working to represent minority groups more in the entertainment industry is to represent those minority groups with ACTUAL INDIVIDUALS FROM THOSE GROUPS. NOT WHITE PEOPLE PRETENDING TO BE OPPRESSED. I do not understand why this is SO difficult. This man should have seen Dutchman.
“You don’t get to pick and discard which signifiers of blackness you’re going to wear each day.” This resonated in my soul. It is so similar to all the actors and performers claiming to be latinx, just because being a minority now a days is turning into a cool hip thing. In a conversation with a friend, discussing this topic, we ended up saying the same thing quoted above. It feels so invasive, to have someone claim your cultural identity as their own, when they don’t get top live the hardships, and it is just a ludicrous game of pretend. This is even more dangerous, because it was not only claiming to be black cause his white identity was not working. He occupied a place made for a black person, he was directing in a company for people of color, and went and got a grant, knowingly that it was not his space.
The fact that this is a common thing now is ridiculous. It’s one of those things that is hard to talk about because I just don’t get it. I can’t wrap my mind around why someone would think that’s a good idea, or even remotely acceptable. This story in particular is infuriating because the man got a lot of money for it. What I don’t quite understand that I wish the article had gone into more detail about is how exactly he concealed his true identity. Was it just that no one questioned him because he looks “mixed” as the article mentioned in passing, or did he blatantly lie in paperwork and no one ever saw him in person? I just can’t wrap my brain around how someone could pull this off for more than two seconds. But the fact that he could speaks to a big problem, and the fact that he wanted to, to an even bigger one. White people need to stop trying to capitalize on movements for racial equality. It’s like the world is playing a game and white people feel left out because they already won so they put on a costume so they can play again. It’s absurd.
I’ve seen this story circulating quite a bit on the internet, and I have the same thought every time I come across it. What are people thinking? Now, I totally understand why it’s dangerous to police how people identify, especially with something like racial identity. And as a white latinx person I understand how things like race vs ethnicity can get confusing. But I think there’s a line on that, and this man has crossed it. To perform race, or perform blackness, is to ignore those who cannot step away from that in difficult situations. It is a privilege to be considered a person of color only when you choose to be. People who consider themselves ‘trans-racial’ in this way should really take a moment to consider why they feel the need to identify in such a way. How can you be appreciative and take part in a culture without being a part of it? How does your performative ‘identity’ negatively affect those you claim to now be a part of? Do you really want to be ‘that guy’? Is this actually just a cry for attention? Take a moment and really think about it, then shut up and stay in your lane.
This is so frustrating. Like a comment above said: why do white people want to be oppressed so badly?? Like, you're not missing out on anything?? It’s not trendy to be a PoC?? And like, you're further contributing to the problem because you're profiting off somebody else’s race and using it to your advantage. Being a white person, you haven't gone through the things PoC have to go to, and you don't have an entire history of institutionalized oppression behind you. As a white man pretending to be Black, you are using it to profit off of, but are able to “take it off” if a situation arises where you would be treated poorly or differently because of that Blackness. Furthermore, you are taking away opportunities from people actually of that race and/or culture. That artistic director could actually been given to a Black person, but no, you took that away.
7 comments:
I really don't understand what is wrong with all of these people pretending to be black in the world lately. It's like we've reached a point in our world where white people feel "left out" because they aren't the focus of attention anymore. It's so ridiculous and it makes me so unbelievably angry. People like him and Rachel Dolezal are pretending to be black just to steal opportunities from actual black people, just because they think they deserve it. There are so many opportunities built into our culture for white people to get ahead, why are we trying to continue stealing things from everyone else? It's so disappointing to see funds to develop minority art go to people like this who only want to take that opportunity away. The fact that POC led theatre is finally being promoted and encouraged is amazing and it needs to continue, without people like this man standing in the way and literally stealing.
This article really encompasses how I feel while scrolling down social media and see many people try to claim a sort of “blackness” to enhance themselves. It seems people love to claim the culture but not the struggles that come within the culture. Being black in this society can be life-threatening and scary, but it is also beautiful and uplifting. To diminish this factor is disrespectful and I cannot possibly fathom why you would want to when white lives comes with so much privilege already. You can’t choose to be black at your leisure and convenience when there are people dying and being discriminated against everyday over something they can’t control. The author is right in the title, It’s humorous to think that people would actually believe that they are transracial if the weight of the effects weren’t so heavy. It goes along with people using black face on halloween, the culture is not your costume and you have no right to exploit it.
The content of this article DISGUSTS me. I do not understand why white people want to be oppressed so badly. I really, really do not understand why people with privilege feel so left out of those without it, that they literally use their privilege to trick people into thinking they are someone they are not. You do not get to decide that “you’ve experienced the struggles of a black man” if you are not black. It is not the same. I have experienced struggles of a person of color, but I have not experienced the specifically different struggles of a black woman, because I am not a black woman and I don’t pretend to be because that would be ridiculous, insensitive, and insulting. The whole point of the movement of working to represent minority groups more in the entertainment industry is to represent those minority groups with ACTUAL INDIVIDUALS FROM THOSE GROUPS. NOT WHITE PEOPLE PRETENDING TO BE OPPRESSED. I do not understand why this is SO difficult. This man should have seen Dutchman.
“You don’t get to pick and discard which signifiers of blackness you’re going to wear each day.” This resonated in my soul. It is so similar to all the actors and performers claiming to be latinx, just because being a minority now a days is turning into a cool hip thing. In a conversation with a friend, discussing this topic, we ended up saying the same thing quoted above. It feels so invasive, to have someone claim your cultural identity as their own, when they don’t get top live the hardships, and it is just a ludicrous game of pretend. This is even more dangerous, because it was not only claiming to be black cause his white identity was not working. He occupied a place made for a black person, he was directing in a company for people of color, and went and got a grant, knowingly that it was not his space.
The fact that this is a common thing now is ridiculous. It’s one of those things that is hard to talk about because I just don’t get it. I can’t wrap my mind around why someone would think that’s a good idea, or even remotely acceptable.
This story in particular is infuriating because the man got a lot of money for it. What I don’t quite understand that I wish the article had gone into more detail about is how exactly he concealed his true identity. Was it just that no one questioned him because he looks “mixed” as the article mentioned in passing, or did he blatantly lie in paperwork and no one ever saw him in person? I just can’t wrap my brain around how someone could pull this off for more than two seconds. But the fact that he could speaks to a big problem, and the fact that he wanted to, to an even bigger one. White people need to stop trying to capitalize on movements for racial equality. It’s like the world is playing a game and white people feel left out because they already won so they put on a costume so they can play again. It’s absurd.
I’ve seen this story circulating quite a bit on the internet, and I have the same thought every time I come across it. What are people thinking? Now, I totally understand why it’s dangerous to police how people identify, especially with something like racial identity. And as a white latinx person I understand how things like race vs ethnicity can get confusing. But I think there’s a line on that, and this man has crossed it. To perform race, or perform blackness, is to ignore those who cannot step away from that in difficult situations. It is a privilege to be considered a person of color only when you choose to be. People who consider themselves ‘trans-racial’ in this way should really take a moment to consider why they feel the need to identify in such a way. How can you be appreciative and take part in a culture without being a part of it? How does your performative ‘identity’ negatively affect those you claim to now be a part of? Do you really want to be ‘that guy’? Is this actually just a cry for attention? Take a moment and really think about it, then shut up and stay in your lane.
This is so frustrating. Like a comment above said: why do white people want to be oppressed so badly?? Like, you're not missing out on anything?? It’s not trendy to be a PoC?? And like, you're further contributing to the problem because you're profiting off somebody else’s race and using it to your advantage. Being a white person, you haven't gone through the things PoC have to go to, and you don't have an entire history of institutionalized oppression behind you. As a white man pretending to be Black, you are using it to profit off of, but are able to “take it off” if a situation arises where you would be treated poorly or differently because of that Blackness. Furthermore, you are taking away opportunities from people actually of that race and/or culture. That artistic director could actually been given to a Black person, but no, you took that away.
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