We just saw Brian Copeland's "Not a Genuine Black Man," it was truly moving and beyond my expectations. We heard tonight that his show is the longest running solo show in San Francisco history. It has been extended until August 27, 2005. See the show before you read about it in his upcoming book and on an HBO special.
This show reminds me of an article I read a while ago, "Unpacking the White Knapsack," which was written in 1988. It's about the invisible privilege that white people have, but often don't realize. By white people I'm sure the writer was not referring to white people who are actually French and not American, nor white but of a different religious background. She's talking about the inescapable fact of pigmentation. Check out the article--it's very black/white yet I am often bothered by the reality of #26,#27, #34, and #38.
Brian Copeland mentioned the often clueless ways white people try to empathize...like a white man telling him that he could understand how hard it was to be black and misunderstood b/c he had long hair and was always judged for it.
It made me think of Morgan, my well-intentioned white lesbian roommate who once told me, "Oh I can understand how you felt growing up Asian in a mostly white community. I mean, I used to come home and tell my mom, "Here's Pedro my Mexican boyfriend, or here's Kaya my African-American girlfriend...my mom would just freak out. I totally feel your pain."
Or the annoying yet harmless Armenian-American pizza guy in my college town. He asked if I was sad one day, and I told him I had just broken up with someone. "Oh don't worry," he said, "You'll fine some nice man. You're exotic!" Actually, i was sad because my car had been towed the night before and I couldn't retrieve it b/c the keys were locked inside. And as for the breakup, I felt giddy and free from my too possessive Taurus girlfriend.
For every Morgan, there are thousands of others who are completely incapable of any empathy whatsoever. It's best to applaud rather than critisize the attempt. I think Brian Copeland may have reached a similar conclusion. It's no fun trying to be genuine anything but your true self.
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3 comments:
Geez! I've been telling you to see that show for, what, over a year now?
But you should give the Armenian guy a break...you DID tell him that you were sad because you broke up with someone.
I think he was just trying to be polite and make small talk.
Yes, great show!
The whole point of mentioning that situation at the pizza shop was to point out that at times it has been better for me to applaud the attempt at empathy rather than critisize it. [And for the record, he was a big flirt,though not in a charming way...] Also, not all Asian-American women are thrilled to be called "exotic" :)
I wish someone would call ME exotic!
But I hear what you're saying.
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