Today, races are seen a lot differently then they did back in the time of To Kill a Mockingbird in the 30's and Freedom Riders in the 60's. Back then, the big issue was black and white. Oh how things have changed! Now we have an African American president, prominent African American singers, actors and other entertainers, teachers, political figures and law enforcers. Back when the book and documentary took place, African Americans couldn't ride in the front of the bus, let alone run an entire country. That time period was certainly a huge flaw in American history, but things aren't exactly rainbows and sunshine now.
After the tragic attack on September 11th, things changed drastically. Right after the event, hate crimes targeting the Muslim decent rose to a new level. Kareme Abdul Amed and Abdullah Namier were both American citizens for over 12 years. After 9/11, they were both shot and killed, leaving behind their children and wives. Those two people aren't the only two people in America killed for being Muslim after September 11th, may other people died as a result of the attacks.
Being very interested in the arts, I read an article about how racism has affected Broadway in the current running season. There are shows playing such as Memphis, Hair, Finnian's Rainbow, Avenue Q, and West Side Story, just to name a few. I realized that the common plot within these show is racism. In Memphis, a white and a black musician fall in love while having to battle with the consequences of being a bi-racial couple. That is similar to West Side Story between Tony and Maria, a white man and Latina woman. There are gang fights about their love because in their society, white people don't fall in love with Latino people. A very popular one out of that list of musicals is Avenue Q. The 2003 Tony Award winning show for best musical, best book of a musical, best original score, best actor in a musical, best actress in a musical and best direction has an entire "R" rated song about racism, sugarcoating nothing. Going after all races in the song, the audience still loved and supported it. Maybe the 6 Tony's gave that away. Not to mention, shows like West Side Story, Hair and Finnian's Rainbow are considered classics. What does that say about our country in the past and now? I, myself, am a huge fan of all of these musicals because of the gorgeous music that accompanies the actors and dancers. Its an art form, but am I one of the only people that notice that, sure, racism has changed since the 60's, but has it changed that much? Do we support racism by loving these shows? Or is it simply because of the art? It is said that the only way to truly get emotion across is through song in musical theatre, "We sing because we have nothing left to say" says Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth. Does that mean we are still very emotional and passionate about the topic of racism? Or do writers write about it because its not?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-finkle/broadway-looks-at-racism_b_353753.html
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