“We See You White American Theater” Publishes Demands — Page 2

@Wick3 - actually a rating system like the one you described IS already included in the list of demands. See page the very top of page 12.

@bawoman - to be clear, when I said “reverse racism,” what I meant was “racism against white people.” By the standard definition of the word “racism,” yes, racism against white people exists. But today, when people talk about racism, they are using the word in the sense of the more complex definition I described above. This is because the complex definition is more useful to describe the most prevalent and dangerous form of racism plaguing us today. The kind of racism that’s in the most need of addressing. By the standard definition, “racism against white people” exists, but because white people have the power, any “racism” against us is really not a prevalent problem, and can be chocked up to rare, isolated incidents. And in any case, in most of the incidents in which white people feel they are the victims of racism, it’s actually just POC calling them out for doing harm, or POC asking for active means of recompense for that harm (i.e getting more boxes to stand on at the baseball game).

@blm2323 - I hear what you’re saying, but to continue the metaphor:

Maybe the reason we think that is because we as the “tall people” (white people) don’t actually understand just how tall the fence is, or just how many boxes it will require to allow them to see.

@Broadway Joe and others - I confess I don’t totally understand the logistics of how the ticket reservation would work, or why exactly it’s necessary. But as I said above, that’s probably because there’s something about the ticket-buying process that doesn’t take into account the ripple effects of systemic racism, and we as white people can’t see that because, on the surface, the ticket-buying process seems perfectly equal. But I’ll also say that the spirit of it might simply be another means of outreach and actively making space for POC. How is this different from Hamilton reserving tickets for student groups at very low prices? When you create greater access, in combination with outreach, it fosters equity, inclusion and diversity.

JBroadway said: "

@Broadway Joe and others - I confess I don’t totally understand the logistics of how the ticket reservation would work, or why exactly it’s necessary. But as I said above, that’s probably because there’s something about the ticket-buying process that doesn’t take into account the ripple effects of systemic racism, and we as white people can’t see that because, on the surface, the ticket-buying process seems perfectly equal. But I’ll also say that the spirit of it might simply be another means of outreach and actively making space for POC. How is this different from Hamilton reserving tickets for student groups at very low prices? When you create greater access, in combination with outreach, it fosters equity, inclusion and diversity. "

It's different because those low student prices are giving access to students who are making less/no money and it's a marketing tool to catch them into liking theatre at a younger age.

Simply just giving first access to the best seats for BIPOC people over white people when seats costs the same and everyone has access to same ticket buying systems is simply ridiculous. Unless you're a ticket bot like mentioned previously(something that affects everyone) nobody has an advantage when tickets first go on sale and honestly unless it's a hot ticket show, which are rare nowadays anyway, it's never needed in the first place.

My guess is it sounds absurd purposefully, and the answer is, "You think these demands are absurd? Congratulations. This is what black and other minorities have to live with every day. How does it sound when the colors are reversed? If it sounds absurd to you. Then you understand why the status quo sounds absurd to us".  Just a guess as I'man old white male. 

   Nothing better than IATSE for the disenfranchised. You want to give people a real seat at the table? Jobs that pay well with benefits are a huge step. Local !, which I'm a member of, has made great strides in this area, since I started in 1982.  (Although we did have a black business agent around that time. I forget the exact year he was elected) As have the theatre owners. I can't list all the minorities (women included) who hold heads jobs, or important positions within our union structure. But, it's a lot, and it keep growing.

 

Some of y'all are just racist. 

Had to check it wasn't April 1st!

When I see someone making a statement like that, I have to wonder what the endgame is. Because it’s not to be taken seriously. So, if your 32 pages of “non-negotiable” demands aren’t met, you’ll do what? Stop working? That’ll own White American Theater.

LarryD2 said: "When I see someone making a statement like that, I have to wonder what the endgame is. Because it’s not to be taken seriously. So, if your 32 pages of “non-negotiable” demands aren’t met, you’ll do what? Stop working? That’ll own White American Theater."

More likely they'll publicly shame and "cancel" theaters that they determine are not making good-faith efforts to adhere to these rules.

I hope that the people who wrote these demands sit down with the people in charge of major institutions and they all have a long discussion about what can be done, what are good long-term goals, and what are the actionable steps to achieve them. Now, I know someone is going to say "it's not the job of BIPOC to educate you" but if these activists are so sure they know how to run the nation's theatres, they should start some companies of their own and see how hard it is to hire a staff of 50% BIPOC show after show after show. Yes, of course BIPOC people are disadvantaged in the theatre, just like everywhere else in this country, but demanding lofty goals be achieved immediately is not going to fix any problems.

Also, the letter from a month ago was signed by a list of many BIPOC theatre artists and administrators. This 31-page list of demands has no signatories or credited authors, at least as far as I can tell. Does anyone know who came up with this list of demands?

Some of the demands would be illegal in practice (ironically, it seems like several would violate anti-discrimination laws).

Some of the demands are unenforceable.

Some of the demands are financially unfeasible for the institutions they are addressed toward.

A lot of things are universal issues for workers in theater but framed here as exclusively issues of BIPOC artists.

There is no indication they worked with lawyers, labor organizers, or other experts to draft or edit this.

And there is no plan of what comes next.

Frankly, this is kind of what I was afraid would happen if a lot of theater artists got together to make demands, regardless of their race or backgrounds.

 

---

Updated On: 7/9/20 at 02:48 PM

This one is a real head-scratcher:

Production job descriptions must use language that is free of unconscious bias, such as “years of experience” requirements for production staff. !

Production job descriptions must not have education requirements, which, by implying that coming from a certain degree or institution you are somehow more qualified than someone else, create a barrier to the hiring of BIPOC production staff.

 

Huh?

There must be a black president every 12 years- the Tony Awards must nominate POC for at least 40 per cent of the slots, The Oscars must have at least two nominees in each category for a POC- people adopting  more than one baby must have one baby of color in the mix- 40 per cent of all seats in Congress must go to a POC - or the election of a white person will be deemed unconstitutional--yeah- that will fix all the problems

Updated On: 7/9/20 at 03:28 PM

darquegk said: "It’s not intended to be accepted and achieved any more than “I Want a Dyke for President” was an actual mission statement with five year plan.

It’s agitprop. It’s meant to make you instinctively say “yes!” And then “wait, no!” And make you actively think about the issues at hand by proposing radical, almost scorched-earth action that could not conceivably be taken in real life."

Except "I Want a Dyke for President" is a poem that's about a paragraph long.

This is a 31 page document that describes itself as "an omnibus declaration of interlinked strategies, comprehensive but by no means exhaustive, and remains subject to amendment. It is culled from years of discussion between members of the Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) theatre communities immersed in the dynamics of which they speak, and bears the contradictions of our many concerns, approaches, and needs."

---

I agree with you VintageSnarker . -------But I would hope that some of these demands are about starting a conversation and not things reasonable people expect to just happen tomorrow.------but in this era, reasonable people are hard to find- this is an era of cold civil war- hopefully not erupting into Civil War. Reason and negotiation does not seem to be what is happening now, unfortunately. I know I wrote a snarky post a few posts above- but reasonable conversations- especially on the internet- seem fruitless- but it is a sign of the times that so much posturing and division with seemingly not much room for some compromise- seems to exist.

Of course the provocative tone is intentional. But the call for equity in theater isn't performance art. Treating it as such only undermines the cause. The We See You folks are inviting people not to take them seriously.

Updated On: 7/10/20 at 05:21 AM