Musical drama, In The Heights is the best opportunity to reintroduce the conversation of colorism within today’s society. Non people of color can not keep allowing this specific form of discrimination to continue, as if our Brown and Black ancestors have not fought and made their voices be heard because of the prejudice behind having a darker skin tone than others. Minorities never had the advantage to express and showcase their authentic self, so to be able to in this century should not be a surprise but should be normalized. From the very beginning, Brown and Black people have their distinct features. One culture has a naturally bigger nose bridge, another has more naturally frizzy hair when it is not wash day, and others were just as simple as they have a certain dialect their ancestors have passed on. We have our beautiful differences that make up our community and putting it together show the global diversity that exists. Now, when you turn on the TV, you see a Brown and Black person slowly falling into the ideology of the perfect ideal look, or the preferred European features because it is more “appealing” for on screen entertainment. This can simply mean that the person you are seeing has completely changed themselves because they were convinced they would be more attractive if they looked like every person in Hollywood OR it could be that the colorist entertainment system has normalized people of color should be lighter, skinnier (or strongly built), youthful and perfect. Why is this society trying to shape themselves into this toxic stigma? Hispanics and Latinx communities should be represented from all the diverse shapes, colors, and features that we bring to the world.
As a person of color, we all want to be represented on any platform that exists because we have not been appreciated enough. When all Hispanics and Black communities heard about the recreation of In The Heights, it was thought to show
the diversity that the Lower East Side has had for decades. Parts of New York City are more diverse than other, and to be able to describe the one area where minorities feel at home and have made it all their own, it would be a wonderful feeling to share with the world. However, when watching the musical in theaters, we did not see any Afro-Latinos as a lead role, or any dark-skinned main leads at all. If we did, they were on the sideline, in the ensemble as a dancer or a backup singer, where not all the audience’s attention goes towards them. Sadly enough, it has been this way for decades. Where a person with darker melanin or with “non-likeable” traits are pushed aside, and the light-tone Hispanic or white person is displayed as the prime example of what is right in this world’s beauty standard.
In her article, The limitations of ‘Latinidad’: How colorism haunts ‘In The Heights’, 2021, article review author, Monica Castillo asserts that within the acting industry, it has becomes difficult to find more Hispanics and Latinos who are outside of the physical norm seen in today’s films and shows by addressing the misrepresentation that impacts how our generation will continue their authentic image, the consistent pattern of erasure of a community that are not acknowledged enough, and the irresponsibility of people who have a bigger name and acting towards their colorist thoughts to please themselves and white audiences. By supplying the reader with information about colorism and erasure, Castillo builds her claims about the lack of Afro-Latinos in the musical, by Hispanic producer Lin-Manuel Miranda. Castillo wishes to convey to readers the importance of educating others and our own community about the discrimination of dark skinned individuals in order to change in society the racial seperation that does not benefit people of color. The author’s audience likely consists of those interested in bringing awareness to this issue. “The answer that only the most talented were chosen to play these characters was an especially painful response because part of the issue of colorism is that it denies opportunities to darker-skinned people.” (Castillo) The European look has been stigmatized in today’s society and sadly it is what is being more seen and attractive to audiences. This is physically, mentally, and emotionally damaging to many individuals who do not fit the look that is appealing to see. Hearing this response from casting directors leads to insecurities within communities and only brings them down from what their natural self look like. Therefore, Castillo sharing with us what Chu said about the “ideal” fit for each role, it creates this idea that we, in some way and somehow, have always ended up pleasing other audiences other than ourselves.
Associated Press, Astrid Galvan, in her Arts Article, Controversy over ‘In the Heights’ raises awareness of colorism and racial inequity, published in 2021, addresses the topic of engraved racial separation in our lives, white or person of color, and argues how this creates a difficult problem to fix because it encourages the system of racial inequality. “If we think about race and racial inequality without taking these skin tone differences seriously, then we’re actually missing how this system of racial inequality works.” (Galvan) When discussing this worldwide, ongoing inequality within race color, we have to understand and know how the other forms of racism could fall together and have an essential impact on communities, large or small. Racism can happen within our community and outside, within our families and between friends. Eventually, we will notice that even if we are with other people of color, there are going to be certain situations where your skin tone will determine how you will be treated there too. Sadly, this mentality comes from the manipulation of whiteness and how some individuals will compare their standards to others, and then bring them down because of how they look; something that many can not control or alter.
A novel that touches upon the silence of race is written by author Warren Hoffman, in his book, The Great White Way, published in 2014. Which addresses the topic that musicals should stop the construction of white identity plays and be more diverse with their plot and cast and argues that, as a Latino Jewish he wishes he grew up witnessing more people of color/minorities in plays since they give hope to younger audiences for future generations and impacts how we see society. He supports this claim by sharing his well thought out ideas of how musicals have only showcased for a white audience and have expanded themselves throughout the world still not being able to completely diversify for other audiences and communities. Hoffman states, “ignoring a musical’s historical context or assuming that white shows are universal propagates white normativity and overlooks the specific challenges that people of color have had to face in the United States.” Musical theater was a distraction from the lives that were miserable, from the social injustice within the opportunities for Black people, more specifically. Hoffman’s purpose is to reveal the racial politics that musicals were mirroring in the late 1900s in order to change society and rethink how entertainment in musical theater is viewed. Connected to the 2021 musical, In The Heights, there is an obvious unspoken white norm in plays for the late 1900’s, still finding its way in people of color forms of entertainment. Leading to an idea of how musical theater will continue to look in today’s day and time and how racism could be seen more subtle than the violent ways done in the past.
Looking at the bigger picture, for readers who do not see musicals as often, colorism still exists in global literature. In the dissertation, Colorism in the Spanish Caribbean: Legacies of Race and Racism in Dominican and Puerto Rican Literature, published June 2011, author Malinda M. Williams, Philosophy graduate student from the University of Denver , asserts that colorism has grown and impacted into the forms of literature which now seem to demonstrate what is “appealing” to satisfy society’s norm and suggests that it plays a major role in how communities of Latinos and Hispanic grow a major gap from their identity to their nation. Caribbean communities, in specific, struggle with their damaged image because all that is considered the right physical attributes is the “European look.” She backs up this claim by doing the following: first, she speaks about the Dominican Republic and how people with more melanin than others would go to the extreme to fit into the ideal image, not fully understanding how this would only create a gap with themselves and their culture, their roots. Next, she states how in Puerto Rico many tend to reject their own community to seem more “aware” of what is the right image of their people instead of appreciating the authenticity of their background and attributes. Williams appears to write in hopes of bringing awareness to how the relationship between the Caribbean and the United States will continue to separate in order to change the reader’s perspective on the importance of diversity and how it shapes our society. Because of Williams’ understanding tone, it seems as if she writes for people of color AND white individuals who are interested in Hispanic literature and its
development. “Yunior is initially more successful in assimilating to American culture… he doesn’t buy into the myth that American society is color blind as easily… ‘despite the realities of racial inequalities, the dominant ideology of race in America is that of color blindness’” (Williams 177) Being color blind helps support the idea of racism, it does not help with the ending of it. Not many people know this because they are not properly educated on the impacts this has. Mentally a person may not see race, but physically it is present to everyones eye and it does not stop the discrimination. So, instead people should not believe in the idea of “color-blindness” because it does not stop racism, it just lets it keep happening.
I will concede that: In The Heights did not mean to cause an issue in terms of their cast diversity. Miranda has publicly apologized as stated in Castillos article, and I can understand he was making an effort to show appreciation to Washington Heights. Because at the end of the day, not all people of color care enough about the film to vent on how everyone wasn’t showcased properly. Therefore, it is not a big issue if not everyone complained or had something to say. However, I will refute this using Williams’ dissertation. It does not matter how many people have a say in how the film went down or if they felt no way about it. What matters is the clear message behind it and where it takes place. In this essay, when talking about colorism in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, eventually this generation will follow along with what they see and hear. And if films like this keep up with this image of an “ideal” physical, we are not all going to be appreciated or celebrated when it is our time. This form of unfairness should not keep continuing.
The topic of colorism goes beyond Hollywood in this argument. It happens within communities itself, within literature, within any opportunity that is accessible for anyone but mostly given a higher advantage to white people or light skinned people of color. You do not need to be white, Brown, or Black to understand what being racial discrimination is or about someone stating they are “color-blind.” At the end of the day, this is years of racism that is impacting communities still when we thought it was all over decades ago. All in all, colorism in In The Heights has led to the open conversation of colorism and “color-blindness,” when all we hoped for was a passageway for hopefulness in communities of color. Whether it being in literature or in films, or in person, we are all present and all have our own image that does not need to look ideal for an audience. Do not let these disadvantages affect the way you see yourself and your peers, we should all stay authentic and honest.
Work Cited:
Castillo, Monica. “The Limitations of ‘Latinidad’: How Colorism Haunts ‘in the Heights.’” NPR.org, 15 June 2021, www.npr.org/2021/06/15/1006728781/in-the-heights-latinidad-colorism-casting-lin-manuel-miranda.
Chu, J. M. (2021). In the Heights. Warner Bros.
Galvan, Astrid. “Controversy over ‘in the Heights’ Raises Awareness of Colorism and Racial Inequity.” PBS NewsHour, 18 June 2021, www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/controversy-over-in-the-heights-raises-awareness-of-colorism-and-racial-inequity. Accessed 16 Nov. 2021.
Hoffman, Warren. The Great White Way : Race and the Broadway Musical. New Brunswick, N.J., Rutgers University Press, 2014.
Williams, Malinda. Digital Commons @ DU Colorism in the Spanish Caribbean: Legacies of Race and Racism in Dominican and Puerto Rican Literature. 2011.
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