The Problem of the Color[blind]: Racial Transgression and the Politics of Black Performance

225 Pages·2011·1.171 MB·English

by  Brandi Wilkins Catanese

The Problem of the Color[blind]
THEATER: THEORY/TEXT/PERFORMANCE
Series Editors: David Krasner and Rebecca Schneider
Founding Editor: Enoch Brater
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The Problem of
the Color[blind]
Racial Transgression and the
Politics of Black Performance
brandi wilkins catanese
The University ofMichigan Press
Ann Arbor
Copyright © by the University ofMichigan 2011
All rights reserved
Published in the United States ofAmerica by
The University ofMichigan Press
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cPrinted on acid-free paper
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No part ofthis publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system,or
transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic,mechanical,or otherwise,
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A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Catanese,Brandi Wilkins,1974–
The problem ofthe color(blind) :racial transgression and the
politics ofblack performance / Brandi Wilkins Catanese.
p. cm.— (Theater—theory/text/performance)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn978-0-472-07126-5 (cloth :acid-free paper) —
isbn978-0-472-05126-7 (pbk.:acid-free paper)
1.African Americans in the performing arts. 2.African
Americans in motion pictures. 3.African Americans—Race identity.
4.Performing arts—Social aspects—United States. 5.Motion
pictures—Social aspects—United States. 6.United States—Race
relations. I.Title.
pn1590.b53c37 2011
791.089'96073—dc22 2010043128
ISBN 978-0-472-02792-7 (electronic)
Acknowledgments
I am very honored to have been the bene‹ciary ofall ofthe support that has led
to the publication of this book.Friends and family,mentors,colleagues,and
students have all shaped this book,and in the process,have shaped me as well.
It is a humbling privilege to begin the act ofthanking them with this list ofac-
knowledgments.
I must begin by recognizing mentors who nurtured these ideas in their ear-
liest forms: at UC Berkeley, Saidiya Hartman, Barbara Christian, Margaret
Wilkerson,David McCandless,and Dunbar Ogden planted the seeds that pre-
pared me to avail myself of the support and encouragement of Harry Elam,
Peggy Phelan,Alice Rayner,and Helen Brooks during my time at Stanford Uni-
versity. Upon my return to Berkeley, institutional support from both the
Humanities Research Fellowship and UC Berkeley’s Of‹ce of Faculty Equity
provided time and a room (and laptop) ofmy own in which to achieve major
work on this project.Funds from the Mellon Foundation made its completion
possible.My colleagues in the departments of African American Studies and
Theater,Dance,and Performance Studies at UC Berkeley have been constant
sources ofinspiration and support.I offer overarching thanks to all ofmy fac-
ulty and staff colleagues in both departments.I offer special thanks to W.B.
Worthen,Charles Henry,and Percy Hintzen for their leadership at the time of
my arrival at Berkeley,and to Mark Grif‹th,Shannon Jackson,Catherine Cole,
Ula Taylor,and Stephen Small for their leadership and guidance in subsequent
years.I am grateful to each ofthem for the ways in which they have encouraged
my work,and I also appreciate the support ofcolleagues including Peter Glazer,
Leigh Raiford,and Shannon Steen,who responded to my work at various stages
throughout this journey.I am exceedingly thankful for the critical and personal
generosity they have bestowed upon me.I have tremendous respect and appre-
ciation for the graduate and undergraduate students that I have had the privi-
lege ofteaching at UC Berkeley,whose courage,optimism,and dazzling intelli-
vi / Acknowledgments
gence have in›uenced my thinking in ways that keep me grounded in my rea-
sons for pursuing a life in this profession.
I am also grateful to a broader web ofcolleagues who have worked directly
and indirectly to support me and this work at various stages: they include
Patrick Anderson;Stephanie Batiste;Annemarie Bean;Hershini Bhana;the far-
›ung members of the Black Performance Theory group; Jennifer Devere
Brody; Daphne Brooks; Telory Davies; Tommy DeFrantz; Michele Elam; the
other members of the Fab Five cohort: Faedra Carpenter,Shawn Kairschner,
Jisha Menon,and Zack;Kathleen Frydl;E.Patrick Johnson;Dwight McBride;
Heather Nathans; Elizabeth Nordt; Sandra Richards; Joseph Roach; David
Román;Maya Roth;Scott Saul;Arden Thomas;Bryan Wagner;Stacy Wolf;and
Harvey Young.The forced periods of isolation that the practice of writing re-
quires were sweetly healed by the fellowship that these scholars and others have
offered over the years.
At the University of Michigan Press I have bene‹ted from a level of care,
patience, and engagement that begins with the support of the incomparable
LeAnn Fields,whose patience and enthusiasm for this project have sustained
me on many occasions.Additionally,while I only know to acknowledge Scott
Ham and Marcia LaBrenz by name,I offer thanks to the entire staffat the press
whose help has gone into making the publication ofthis book possible.Addi-
tionally, while the shortcomings of this book are my own, it has bene‹ted
tremendously from feedback during the peer review process,and from the ed-
itorial wisdom and encouragement ofDavid Krasner and Rebecca Schneider.
Finally,I offer my deepest thanks to my family,the people who have offered
me unconditional love during the immediate process ofwriting this book,and
in so many other ways.My parents,Robert and Vicki Wilkins,have been unerr-
ing in their support ofmy development as a person and as a scholar.I am sure
that I will never fully comprehend all that they have done to make the life that
I enjoy today possible,but I thank them for their ‹erce love and the values that
they instilled in me.I cherish my brother and sister,Rob and Courtney,for the
joy that they have brought into my life and all of the ways that they make me
proud to be their big sister.I honor my grandparents,LaVada Wilson and Rose
and Leroy Lawson,for the examples of hard work,commitment,and love of
family that they have shown to future generations.I thank the entire Catanese
family for welcoming me so wholeheartedly into their lives and rituals,and my
extended family ofaunts,uncles,cousins,and friends-as-family (including my
favorite armchair cultural critic Christina Royal, with whom I have thought
through more than one of the ideas in this book) for giving me a robust and
joyful life that helps me to keep the vagaries ofwork in perspective.
Acknowledgments / vii
Without question, the greatest thanks of all go to my husband, Joseph
Catanese, and our exquisite daughter, Olivia Rose, and to the long-suffering
Miss Trinks, who have patiently endured the days (and days) and nights of
work that this project required with extraordinary levels of generosity and
sacri‹ce,and healthy doses of laughter as well.In every way,completing this
book would have been impossible without your patient and seemingly limitless
love and support.Thank you for being friends ofmine.

Contents
chapter1. Bad Manners:Talking about Race 1
chapter2. The End ofRace or the End ofBlackness?
August Wilson,Robert Brustein,and
Color-Blind Casting 32
chapter3. The Limits ofColor Blindness:Interracial Sexuality,
Denzel Washington,and Hollywood Film 72
chapter4. Transgressing Tradition:Suzan-Lori Parks and
Black Performance (as) Theory 112
chapter5. Are We There Yet?Race,Redemption,and
Black.White. 143
Notes 173
Bibliography 201
Index 209