Award Winning Playwright Almost Slaps a Theatre Patron (and what that apparently says about our theatre) — Page 10

The majority of people telling white people to check themselves for racism and privilege are white. It's a hot trend right now.

Well, you just called yourself the worst.

I checked out of this clusterF*CK when someone actually compared Jane's shushing to white supremacy.

I mean, the discussion as to whether Jane was exhibiting latent racism through micro-aggression or just demanding courtesy could be a valid conversation.

But even that author said she didn't think Jane was racist, so for the rhetoric here to get so heated to the point of calling people supremacists.....it's just a joke now.

And I'm sure someone will equate me to a grand wizard for that comment.

(Although in all fairness I do pretend I'm Gandalf from time to time).

I think the point is, only broadwaybelter can tell us who we are and what we're thinking. And that's okay because the neo-racist doctrine of Original White Supremacy means that white people are all racists even when they're not because they were born white. They can't help the color of skin they were born with and their racism may be completely unintentional and unconscious, but they are racist nonetheless because they are white. Now, this may sound eerily like the old-school racism the neo-racist vehement objects, but it's suddenly not racism because they are neo-racist which identifies only (and all) white people as being "racist" (or "neo-racist". Something like that.

Might I suggest ya'll read this book, too:

http://www.amazon.com/Between-World-Me-Ta-Nehisi-Coates/dp/0812993543/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450473449&sr=8-1&keywords=between+the+world+and+me

I have all sorts of books I can recommend.

There's no point. You choose to be offended rather than choose to think. A large portion of this board is also white, which means there's little I can do to change your mind.

The sentiment you profess that "no one can read my mind" is a tired and cliched one. In fact, it is the quintessential white fragility tag line. If any of you do have any friends or colleagues of color, I would encourage you to address this issue with them. I suspect you might find I'm not the only one who considers your complicity and unwillingness to consider a view other than your own rather abhorrent.

Updated On: 12/18/15 at 04:45 PM

I can and will. I have heard and witnessed his type of interaction enough to side with Ms. Morisseau.

If a performance elicits genuine reactions such as loud laughter, moans, cries, call and response, clapping, and singing then that behavior should never be shushed.

If someone is unwrapping their sandwich, eating their sandwich, talking on their cellphone, text messaging, having a loud conversation about dogs, etc., then you should definitely hush and stop that behavior. But if someone is enjoying a play, please do not.

People of color have been told be quiet their whole lives and now are finally putting their foot down and saying "NO".

Updated On: 12/18/15 at 05:10 PM

@Jane2: I'm not asking this facetiously; I'm genuinely curious: do you know any people of color? And by 'know', I mean regularly see them, converse, treat them like people, and consider them a friend. And for that matter, do any of you have friends of color? Show them the article, show them this thread. Begin the conversation. If you want me off your backs, think about that person of color whom you're sitting next to during a performance (if there happens to be one, because, as we were reminded, the theater is mostly white people).

If he's kicking it and screaming that he wants to go home, then yes, I would. I would ask if he could subside from that behavior. If I turned around and noticed that he's genuinely excited and kicking with excitement, it wouldn't bother me.

If there are people that can't possibly ascribe to that behavior, then they shouldn't be in a theater. Watch a movie at home. That is a perfectly acceptable myopic experience where you can behave and tell others to behave as you wish. By all means, shush anyone you want in your home. It's your home.

To be in a theater is to commune, to be communal. Theater is a gathering of many different people, with (hopefully) many different backgrounds, emotional understandings, and temperaments. To be in a theater is to coexist and exercise your empathy. Can you hear a story from a completely different point of view other than your own, and still consider their plight? Just as Jane (in the theater) failed to do. She broke one of the most basic rules. She refused to consider Ms. Morisseau's experience and was only concerned about her own. If Ms. Morisseau was arbitrarily clapping because she was bored, then I would fully invite Jane to shush her. Hell, I would've asked her to stop. But in this case, she was in the moment and clapping along with the chorus.

Updated On: 12/18/15 at 05:33 PM

If the mods deleted this thread, I would be certain to go directly to American Theater Magazine and all theater-related media outlets and let them know that BWW has no interest in the conversation about race. But I know that BWW is better than that, well, at least the mods are.

And GURL hold on. I was responding to your question in another post Let it be known, I hold no ill-will against any of you, nor do any of the folks that are siding with Ms. Morisseau. We, just like Ms. Morisseau, are exhausted from having to defend ourselves: behavior, ideas, and feelings. Jane2, I do think you are at least considering these thoughts if you continue to read and reply to my posts. I applaud you for at least that. It definitely takes work to dismantle white supremacy.

Updated On: 12/18/15 at 05:40 PM

NO Belter, the reason why a mod MIGHT end the thread is because I out and out insulted you. Called you a name. Not for the reason you jumped to.

Belter, I don't have to nor want to describe my life and the black people in it, for you to look like the fool that you are. We've had conversations of this type already, and you are wrong. We laugh at how ridiculous you are.

OK, I think there's enough BWW entertainment from me for the time being. Anyone else want to play with Belcher? I have to knit.