My Experience with Blackface – Up close and personal 1996 by Levy Lee Simon
Two days after I arrived at the University of Iowa, and after meeting my fellow classmates, I was invited to see a play written by a former grad student of the Iowa Playwright’s Workshop, who’d met some success in Hollywood. He was commissioned to write a play for the, 150 year celebration of Iowa becoming a state. The play was entitled “Hawkeye,” the nickname for the university athletic teams.
They were making a big deal about the celebration, and the 60 year anniversary of the Theatre Department, founded by E.C. Mabie, in 1936. EC Mabie Theatre was the largest theatre in the department, 457 seats. Their was a large sepia tone picture of EC Mabie in the lobby’s hallway of fame, where there were pictures and paintings, of the many famous people who had attended the University of Iowa Theatre Department, including Tennessee Williams, one of my favorites.
I was very excited to be at Iowa and equally anxious to see my first play at the university. I wanted to see what they had to offer and how high they set the bar. I couldn’t wait to jump in and get my feet wet. The theatre was packed mostly with white towns people from white I could gather. I believe I was the only Black person in the place. The play began, and within the first ten minutes I found myself becoming very uncomfortable. Twenty minutes in, I was appalled by the images I was seeing on stage. By the time the play ended I was beyond disappointed, I was furious. There were racial stereotypes, and clichés prancing all over the stage making comments about Native Americans and African Americans that should have never been uttered at any time in history let alone 1996. My mind raced, I thought we were past that. Boy, did I get a rude awakening. They had actors on the stage in Black face, and white face. Black face in 1996!!! Hadn’t the Ben Vereen’s debacle at the Reagan Inauguration of 1981, taught us anything, or was it selectively forgotten, or ignored? I mean it was surely a widely publicized moment that should have not been forgotten only 15 years later.
And then, there was the stereotypical white male hero who all the women, white, Black and Native American wanted. In fact, the Native woman in the play betrays her entire tribe for the love of a white man. Did this actually happen, or was it a fantasy of the playwright? At the talk, back after the performance, many of the all white audience members stayed to compliment the production.
“This is the best play I’ve seen at Iowa, and I’ve been coming to this theatre 35 years.”
“I loved it. I simply loved it! Some excited gray haired woman exclaimed!!!!
I buried my head in my hands. I was only there for two days but I couldn’t stay silent. If they were going to take offense to what I had to say so be it. I mean they were going to get to know be sooner or later, so why not now. I raised my hand. Eric Forsyte, the director of the play and head of undergrad acting seemed eager to call on me.
“Lee, right?”
“Yes, Levy Lee Simon. What I am going to say is going to be in the minority here and I don’t mean to offend anyone, because it seems that everyone enjoyed the play very much, but sitting here as a Black audience member, I have to say, I was highly insulted and offended by the content of the play and quite frankly thought it was racist.”
The audience became quiet immediately. Eric looked at me with all sincerity and said.
“Well, I have to disagree with you. I don’t think it’s racist at all.” He said setting on the lip of the stage. I continued.
“You have actors in Black face on stage, which is a symbol of racism at it’s highest point in this country. You have a white male lead who all of women are so in love with that they are willing to betray their family, culture and community, for the love of someone who obviously doesn’t love them.”
Eric looked at me obviously stuck, because he wasn’t expecting this. Neither was I. Eric had not thought about any of the things I said, it was clear. But he had to say something in front of that audience.
“Well, I hate to disagree but those things don’t mean that it’s racist. I can speak for myself and the playwright and tell you neither of us have racist bone in our body. You are wrong.”
“Wrong? I’m wrong? OK, I’m wrong. I’m not trying to debate you about it. That’s my honest reaction to what I saw, and the mere fact that I’m a Black man expressing feelings about what I saw and you are telling me I’m wrong, is actually racist in itself, because you are denying my voice and my feelings and you even refusing to even consider what I’m saying.”
You could hear a pin drop. Afterwards word got around the theatre department and back to the chair, Alan McVey, pretty quickly. The following day I was sitting in his office recalling the encounter with Eric. Alan, to his credit sat at his desk and listened. He said he wanted to address the issue and called for an interdepartmental meeting with staff, professors and students to discuss the Hawkeye the play. The meeting was held in one of the larger class rooms and it was packed with grad students, professors, staff, and, Edris Cooper, an African American MFA directing student from San Francisco who like myself had met with some success in the real world before being offered an opportunity to come back to school
Edris, was from the Bay Area. She was Black in every way. Dark skinned, straight from the hood, and would cuss you out in an instant, but she also spoke five languages, was articulate as they come, and knew a thing or two about acting and directing. She was one of the most talented and intelligent people I have ever known, but don’t make her angry, or you just might have hell to pay. She was cool with me and she had my back. Eric continued to defend his position. Sometimes white people mean well but because of their privilege, they just don’t know when to stop.
“What do you mean, don’t you hear us? We are telling you that we were offended by the play. We are offended by white actors on stage in Blackface! You are just going to ignore that!!!!!”
Edris ’s voice was raising, and the tension in the room was building.
“I’m not ignoring anything. I just disagree with you.”
“It’s not for you to agree or disagree. I don’t give a fuck weather you agree or not. I need for you to hear what we are saying. That’s it. Just hear what we are telling you, and accept it as truth!!!!”
“Well, I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you are so upset about.”
I don’t think Eric was a true card carrying racist, I don’t. I know one of those when I see one and hear one, and he wasn’t that kind of racist by any stretch. But he was a different kind of racist. He was the ignorant kind. That’s why he couldn’t understand what Edris and I were trying to get to over to him. He was clueless. He was staying fast to his position and that was making Edris crazy. I could see that her simmer was becoming a boil and it wouldn’t be long before she boiled over.
“You don’t understand? You don’t understand. What do I have to do to make you understand?”
And before anyone could respond, Edris picked up a desk/chair and flung it across the room as hard as she could. It crashed with a loud thud, against the black board. Even I was shocked.
“What do I have to do to make you understand? What do I have to do for you to see that we are not bullshitting you. Is that what I have to do to get your attention? This is real for us. That play insulted us and all Black people!”
Alan McVey ran out of the room.
“I have a phone call.”
He didn’t have a phone call. Later I came to understand that Alan McVey didn’t like confrontation of any kind, and this was the height of a confrontational act. Edris could have been expelled for throwing that chair.
“All of you should be ashamed of yourselves!”
And then, she walked out. People there didn’t know what to do or say or do before I broke the silence.
“I was invited to Iowa as a playwright and I get here, and find out that there is not one person of color in the graduate acting program. Not one. And I find that hard to believe in 1996. I also find it hard to believe that those of you in the grad acting program are OK with that. How could you be OK with that? I would not be OK, looking around the room and seeing people that only looked like me in 1996. I wouldn’t need to say anything if you had said something long before I got here. It’s not just Eric and the play, you are all guilty. All of you.”
One by one people filed out of the room but my comment didn’t fall on def ears. I felt like I was heard. We were heard. Later Alan McVey called me into his office. First he said that, we were right to challenge the play and the fact that the college was so lilly white in 1996.
“Lee we’ve tried to get people of color into our program. We have ..”
“No hard enough.” I said. “You mean to tell me, that there are no African Americans, or Latinos who want to come back to school on a full ride, to get their Masters degree at a school like Iowa? I don’t think you are looking hard enough,” I said.
“Well, maybe you can help us in recruiting.”
I didn’t come to the University of Iowa to recruit, but I also could see it would be in my best interest to say that I would.”
“Yes, I’ll help.”
“OK, great! I’ll make sure to have potential students call you and talk to you about coming to Iowa. I’ll spread the word with the professors, and when we have URTAS next month in Chicago we’ll make sure to give those students your number.”
I shook my head. What else could I do? I did help with the recruiting and the following year of the 16 new grad students, nine were people of color. And from that point on there was no Blackface on stage. For the next three years, I’m proud to say we rocked at the University of Iowa, doing some fine work.
Levy Lee Simon
