{"id":9276,"date":"2021-04-02T15:04:39","date_gmt":"2021-04-02T15:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2021\/04\/19\/hamilton-artist-bryan-terrell-clark-there-is-a-deeper-conversation-than-are-we-being-treated-well\/"},"modified":"2022-09-07T15:39:46","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T19:39:46","slug":"hamilton-artist-bryan-terrell-clark-there-is-a-deeper-conversation-than-are-we-being-treated-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/hamilton-artist-bryan-terrell-clark-there-is-a-deeper-conversation-than-are-we-being-treated-well\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Hamilton’ artist Bryan Terrell Clark: ‘There is a deeper conversation than: Are we being treated well?\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAmerica, you great unfinished symphony, you sent for me!\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Echoing one of the most compelling lines in \u201cHamilton,\u201d the hit Broadway production in which he stars as George Washington, Bryan Terrell Clark told a group of Furman students the United States of America is a \u201cbeautiful song that is still being written. We can be whatever we want to be, but what do we want it to be?\u201d<\/p>\n

Clark is more than \u00a0an actor \u2013 few people in his profession or any other speak as eloquently or with as much passion and moral clarity as Clark on issues of race, inclusion and equity. He covered all those bases and more during a Cultural Life Program in March that students attended \u00a0via Zoom.<\/p>\n

From its hip-hop score to its casting of actors of color to play the roles of some of our nation\u2019s most consequential historical figures, \u201cHamilton\u201d has been held up as an example of diversity and inclusion at its best, signaling to some through its colorblind casting that America\u2019s racial healing is in full bloom. The full picture, of course, is much more complicated, as Clark pointed out.<\/p>\n

There is a difference between diversity and inclusion, and true equity, Clark said. Clark \u2013 a Black actor who plays the role of the country\u2019s first president \u2013 said he has loved starring in Hamilton. At the same time, Clark said, the optics of Hamilton\u2019s cast must not obscure the fact that behind the scenes of the production, progress toward racial equity has been halting, if at all. From ownership stakes in theaters and production companies to backstage jobs, people of color are largely missing from the marketplace.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlack people being celebrated for being able to sing, dance or play a sport is nothing new in this country,\u201d Clark said. \u201cWhat we are asking for is true equity and equality. \u2026 It\u2019s one thing to be hired to do the thing, it\u2019s another to be invited to help make decisions. There is a deeper conversation than \u2018Are we being treated well?\u2019 The next step is how do we have a real stake in the equity of the marketplace?\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, racism, Clark said, is \u201cmuch deeper than \u2018I don\u2019t like you.\u2019 It is about owning land and assets. It is about the ability to inhibit someone\u2019s way of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

All too often, Clark said, he hears the refrain of \u201cwe don\u2019t know where to find\u201d people of color to fill the hundreds of backstage jobs on Broadway. Helping to elevate people of color and ensure they have access to that marketplace is one of the ways Clark is investing his time to work toward racial justice. He recommended students motivated to help but wondering how and where to get involved to likewise start with people and places close to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor those wondering how to enter the conversation, I recommend starting within your sphere of influence,\u201d he said. \u201cYou might not know what organization to get involved with, but you can start with your neighborhood, with your family. You can start by taking a stand at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

The talk was hosted by Furman\u2019s departments of history and theatre arts and was part of the history department\u2019s series on \u201cRace and Ethnicity in the American Past.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cClark\u2019s talk was enormously useful because students really got to see behind the proverbial curtain, to get a sense of what the theater business looks like from someone who has actually been \u2018in the room where it happens\u2019 (apologies for the \u2018Hamilton\u2019 joke there),\u201d Jason Hansen, associate professor of history, said in an email. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to focus on abstract ideas and say, \u2018I oppose racism, I\u2019m for equality.\u2019 But you can\u2019t bring change without knowing the specifics: How far have we come over the past 20 years? Where are the areas where greater effort is still needed?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAmerica, you great unfinished symphony, you sent for me!\u201d\u00a0 Echoing one of the most compelling lines in \u201cHamilton,\u201d the hit Broadway production in which he stars as George Washington, Bryan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,42,41,76,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academic-department-page","category-history","category-theatre-arts","category-top-four-news-3rd-story","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9276\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}