I didn't argue that the US is more (or less) racist than other societies --
just mentioned descriptively that it "is" racist. I quite agree with you
that there are other racist societies, although I would add that they each
construct race in a slightly different manner and (de)value various
categories in different ways from how they are constructed/evaluated in the
US. -- which is why being a "Moor" has to be "translated" to "either black
or white."
I suspect, but don't know, that the question of boys playing women did come
up -- by women who wanted to be actors and who protested the assumptions of
the day about who could play what.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Timothy Lillie" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "Lilah Pengra" <[log in to unmask]>;
<[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2001 12:53 PM
Subject: RE: Moulin Rouge - without Crips?
> However, I mentioned color not because the US is any more racist than any
> other society (see the Palestinian demands to label Zionism as racism, for
> example and see the Northern Sudanese Arabs and Muslims STILL enslaving
the
> Southern Sudanese Christians and animists, not to mention the racial and
> religious bigotry of Hindus and the racial animus of Japanese towards
> Koreans and Ainu and the list goes on and on...) but because the role is
> traditionally played as if being a Moor equals being black.
>
> In Shakespeare's time, women never played women: boys did. The question
of
> whether a boy can play a woman never came up -- nor did the question of a
> "real" Jew playing Shylock and so on.
>
> Let me put forth a provocative thought that has just surfaced in my mind:
> is race socially constructed? Can "racism" be a product of the
perceptions
> of those being oppressed, rather than a product of active thought in the
> minds of the oppressors? Could racism be eliminated by the oppressed,
> rather than by the action of the oppressors? Just a thought.
>
>
> Timothy Lillie, Ph.D.
> Department of Curricular & Instructional Studies
> The College of Education
> 322 Zook Hall
> The University of Akron
> Akron OH 44325-4205
> 330-972-6746
>
>
> > perhaps, because I am still racist even though I have tried to change.
> > Sadly, I can't think of a famous black person in the US where color
wasn't
> > part of who he/she was -- but then, that's because the US is a racist
> > society and color is always noticed (e.g., I noticed it in the remake of
> > Cinderella even though "race" was irrelevant to the story). And Timothy
> > noticed it by questioning the color of the character rather than of the
> > actor ("However, he [Laurence Olivier] should not be excluded
> > simply because
> > of the color of his skin. After all, perhaps Othello was a light-skinned
> > Moor, no?") but nonetheless assumed a "color-match" between actor and
> > character.
> >
> > Lilah
>
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