Posted: 8/7/15 at 12:26pm
"Well, if you want to get really technical and talk about history, Massachusetts was one of the first non-Southern colonies to enact an anti-miscegenation law. So a realistic production would not have a mixed-race couple as John and Elizabeth Proctor. But as others have surmised, this production is either utilizing color blind casting (in which race is not a factor) or a specific production concept in which Elizabeth Proctor's race is important."
Just because there is a law forbidding it doesn't mean people didn't live as a married couple. This happened in the Antebellum South as well. People lived away from society a created families. It was against the law for slaves to get married too but it happened. Massachusett's anti miscegenation law happened around 1692 meaning that there had to be reason prior to even have it be an issue. This was probably because of slave owners raping and getting their slaves pregnant or relationships between white and black people that the community and government didnt like.
Update: I misstated that the law was put in place in the 1700's, it was actually around 1692.
Updated On: 8/7/15 at 12:26 PM