Open thread

7 Responses to Open thread

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2. Nicole Hewitt says:

   April 30, 2009 at 12:37 pm

   I need some opinions on how I should handle a situation. I volunteer to teach the 3-year-olds at my church about once a month. It’s a very large church – we often have more than 100 3-year-olds for a service – and the programs are pretty elaborate, with sets and often characters who help tell the story. Well, I just received the script for next weekend’s teach and was pleased to see that the “theme” had to do with Mexican culture, including a Mexican themed set and a character named Carlos who speaks Spanish, kind of in the Dora style – where most of what he says is in English, but he occasionally uses and teaches Spanish words and phrases. I thought it was well-written and I was really happy with it. Until I found out who is playing Carlos.

   It turns out that the boy that they have to play Carlos is a white, American boy. His last name is Mellado, so it might be that he has some Hispanic ancestry, but he looks and speaks like a white American (as does his father, who I have met). I am trying to find out for sure, but I don’t believe the boy speaks Spanish and he definitely doesn’t look like a typical Mexican boy. I have a real issue with a white person “pretending” to be Hispanic on stage. Am I crazy? I wrote the following email to the people in charge:

   The setting for this unit is Mexico (or at least a Mexican household) and the character of Carlos is supposed to be Mexican. I think that it is really wonderful that some ethnic diversity has been written into Promiseland. However, if you use a white, American actor to play Carlos, you’ve really undercut the message of diversity. How are 3-year-olds supposed to learn about ethnic diversity when the example put forth to them is a person who looks just like them and talks just like them, with the occasional Spanish (with an American accent) thrown in? We have many Hispanic children in Promiseland. Shouldn’t a unit that represents their culture reflect them and their families? What message does it send to them when we give them an Americanized version of themselves?

   I realize that getting a Hispanic actor may not be a simple task and that it might just be too late to change this, but it’s something that I feel very strongly about, so I couldn’t just let it go. As a white person in America, it’s easy to say that this is “no big deal”, but to most people in the ethnic minority, it is a big deal. It’s a big deal to be represented accurately. Our 3-year-olds are learning important lessons about diversity with this unit, even if they don’t know it.

   Sorry to rain on the parade, but that’s how I feel.

   Anyone have any ideas about how I should handle this further? No one has gotten back to me and I think I’m going to call them today.

   Thanks for your help!
   Nicole Hewitt.
3. Jane says:

   April 30, 2009 at 2:30 pm

   Nicole, there are plenty of blond, blue eyed Mexicans.

   I believe that you’re blowing this out of proportion without being familiar with the diversity that exists within Mexico. Not all Mexicans are brown eyed, brown or black skinned.
4. Jane says:

   April 30, 2009 at 2:41 pm

   As well Nicole, one does not have to speak Spanish at home to be Hispanic. Do you also think that a Chinese-American woman is only American because she doesn’t speak Chinese (even though she identifies as being both Chinese and American)?
5. agibean says:

   April 30, 2009 at 6:34 pm

   I think you really jummped the gun here. You should have found out before writing why they chose this boy, especially since you yourself think he may have some Latino ancestry.

   I have a nephew who is biracial, African American and white. He has blond hair and blue eyes like his father, and a very white, middle-class name. People make assumptions about him all the time, which isn’t any more ok than the more direct racism aimed at his darker cousins.

   I believe that in attempting to address a choice you think was made for the wrong reasons, you made a wrong decision yourself. You should have gotten the background before scolding the people who chose the boy in question. That may be why you’ve received no answer.
6. S's mom says:

   May 7, 2009 at 3:46 pm

   My biggest concern would be whether he speaks good Spanish or not. He may be of Mexican descent, no matter what he looks like.
7. more cowbell says:

   May 8, 2009 at 10:35 am

   I can see the basic point, and think you had good intentions, but a couple of things to think about — first, as other commenters have said, what is a “typical Mexican boy”, as you put it?

   Also, yes, there are many examples of white people getting positions/roles/etc. through privilege that may better be filled by a POC and/or native speaker of another language, but there’s also the other extreme: expecting POCs/native speakers to fill a role that you think “fits” them. Basically using that person to perform a role or be the spokesperson for something that someone else has judged to be “ethnic”.

   I know several POCs at my workplace who are just completely over the diversity efforts of our employer, because they’re tired of always being tagged to “do the ethnic stuff” or to be the automatic spokesperson – usually by well intentioned people.