Between Two Colors

Ff you don't know who Jane White was, you should. The New York Times has a great obit for this bi-racial classical actress and cabaret singer. Her own words are the best part of the piece.

“I’ve just always been too ‘white’ to be ‘black’ and too ‘black’ to be ‘white,’ which, you know, gets to you after a while, particularly when the roles keep passing you by,” she told an interviewer in 1968

"And if nothing else, bringing humanity to the stage makes a difference in the world, she added, “in black face or white face."

Dr. Laura All N-Words and Miscegenation

Adam Serwer in The American Prospect writes:

In actuality, it's the rest of her rant that drips with racial animus. To recap: Dr. Laura immediately dismisses her caller's problems, uses a racist joke to prove her non-racism, insists that black people voted for Obama over nothing but racial solidarity (as if pre-Obama, African Americans never voted for Democrats), strongly resents the fact that "black guys" can use the "N-word" but she can't, and declares that "If you're that hypersensitive about color and don't have a sense of humor, don't marry outside of your race." Dr. Laura isn't known for her sensitivity, but this is an impressive display of raw racial resentment.

Brace(d) for the Race-Baiting

Slate magazine discusses the upcoming race-baiting expected this fall during the 2010 mid-term elections.

As Rachel Maddow discussed on David Letterman last night - race-baiting works.



And from Maddow's blog this morning, a story about a a shooting game at a Catholic carnival involving a cardboard black man holding a document that says "Health Bill."

Not Like Ban on Inter-racial Marriage. Worse.

Zeitgeist favorite Ta-Nehisi Coates in The Atlantic on the analogy (or not) between interracial marriage and gay marriage

Much worse, the comparison with interracial marriage actually understates the evil of reserving marriage rights for certain classes of people. Banning interracial marriage meant that most black people could not marry outside of their race. This was morally indefensible, but very different than a total exclusion of gays from the institution of marriage. Throughout much of America, gays are effectively banned from marrying, not simply certain types of people, but any another compatible partner period. Unlike heterosexual blacks in 1960, the ban gays suffer under is unconditional and total and effectively offers one word for an entire sector of Americans--Die. For evading that ban means virtual--if not literal--suicide.

Our Defective Leaders

Frank Rich in the New York Times on race on the Fourth of July.

The Birth of "Ticket to the Zeitgeist"

This blog is a place to talk about my interest in the intersection of theater and politics. What started as a discussion topic on a community radio show at the end of last year, is now a full-blown obsession that occupies a fair number of hours in my week as I scour the web for political events that meet the definition of theater and theater events that are political in nature.

This intersection is where I am currently living as an artist. In the coming months, I will be continuing work on writing Prop 8 On Trial, a multi-media performance examining the 2010 trial, Perry v. Schwarzenegger, challenging the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 that banned same-sex marriage. I will use this blog to post updates on the project, and links to interesting, relevant articles about the case. Next week final arguments in the case will be presented before Judge Walker. There will be lots of information and analysis to sift through and lots of links to provide.

I am also working on a collaboration with Damian Torres-Botello called American Alphabet for the Kansas City Fringe Festival. The piece traffics in the topics of race, religion, and sex. Yep, all the topics you're not supposed to discuss in polite company.

This, of course, in lieu of overwhelming and annoying my Facebook friends in my frenzy to gather all the information I can to write these plays.