Racism in Thoroughly Modern Millie

Thoroughly Modern Millie was offensive to me. White privilege denies me the right to feel the pain I experienced.

Whether you are white or a person of color, if you were not offended by the musical, you have no right to deny another’s pain. That’s my takeaway from the Talk Back.

Last night I reluctantly attended the Talk Back held at Newton North High School to discuss the stereotypes from the recent musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. Emotions were heightened as The Boston Globe was running a piece the next day and had spent an hour interviewing administrators at Newton North.

I did not want to go. This racist controversy was wearing on me. It is not even my personal bone to pick. I am a third generation Asian American and my children — ethnically Chinese, Japanese and Korean — have never experienced racism at all. This was not my cause.

I have actually spent the last year on a crusade to make available more multicultural books for children, even creating a special day for celebration this past January. And yet, maybe this is the same thing. Learning empathy from other voices through children’s books seems an effective way to combat the nascent racism in all of us and certainly bubbles under the surface of Newton as one insightful Newton North student who attended commented.

So, what exactly happened at the Talk Back? The NNHS administrators, Todd R. Young (Chair, NNHS FPA Department), Adam Brown (Director, Theatre Ink), Jennifer Price (Principal, NNHS), and Bradley Jensen (English Teacher and director and choreographer of Thoroughly Modern Millie) started it off by saying that they were here to listen.

The stories began as nearly 80 people in the room shared their perspectives.

“We do not program shows to reflect the diversity in our school. Frankly, I think we program shows to entertain our white audience.” A 17-year-old student at Newton North High School who is part of Theatre Ink

“Our son made the difficult decision not to do the show because he could not invite his grandparents, my parents, [who are Chinese American and speak with an accent] to come and see this show. … He felt like he couldn’t participate. Who else was excluded?” Jenny Chou, mother of Newton North High School Theatre Ink Sophomore

“I was really offended yesterday [her voice breaks and she is in tears]. And I read the program notes and what it said to me was there are some really bad stereotypes in here but we made it a teachable moment and everybody learned a lot so it’s ok. And it’s not ok. Teachable moments should be planned. They should not be reactions to something that someone else pointed out because that what it feels like to me.

…

This was not one of those planned teachable moments. It’s not the message that I want my Asian American kids to hear that just because we learn about the issue that we can still do it. My father was an Asian American immigrant who was made fun of all the time for his accent and was never given any respect and was considered stupid until they found out that he was a doctor.

…

I hope this dialogue leads to action and not just to more talk and appreciation that we learned a lot more.”

Joy Bautista, Academic Dean and Science Teacher at Boston Arts Academy

“This is a play that — I have no other way to say it — at its heart, in its DNA is deeply, deeply racist. Ignorant. There are stereotypes. You have the names Ching Ho, Bun Foo. Those aren’t actual Chinese names. What you have is a sort of a White American concept of what Chinese and Asians are meant to be and it’s there, laid out, for entertainment value.” Charlene Beh, English Teacher at Newton North High School and Co-Advisor to Thoroughly Modern Millie

“I chose to move here from Hawaii and to work here and live in Newton when it could be so much easier for me as an Asian American to live out West where people don’t question my experience as painful when I experience racism, little and big.

…

To have people doubt the pain that I experience, that has been another thing that has been hard about all this stuff. Not intended at all, but it’s happened where I’ve had to have conversations with staff members who doubted the racism and pain that exists in the play.”

Michele Leong, English Teacher and Director of the Office Human Rights at Newton North High School and Co-Advisor of the Asian Culture Club and Thoroughly Modern Millie

[This is her response to White privilege Husband who was texting and failed to listen to Michele Leong and therefore wasn’t able to respond to her.]

Michele continues …

“Acknowledge and respect that our pain is real whether we are Asian or not. I know that I have many allies in this room who experienced the same pain and I ask that you all hear that.”

“[You did not make more changes] Because you are afraid someone is going to sue you [for changing the script]? And instead what happens? You have offended me. You have offended her. You have offended everybody in here. You had a teaching moment for how many nights that you performed? You think that disclaimer was going to be good enough? NO! For all this talk about doing an anti-bullying curriculum. What have you just committed? You have bullied a whole community just like that.” Andrew Leong

“Telling Asian and Asian Americans that their anger is inappropriate or that art someone trumps the validity of their feelings is an indicator how deeply socialized White Supremacy is within us. … I was concerned about the letter that went out that said “for some this will still not be enough.” But I think that if it’s not enough for some in the community, then it shouldn’t be enough for Newton North and it shouldn’t be enough for Theatre Ink. And I was really concerned about that.

….

I know that Theatre Ink thinks of itself as a professional company and that’s great but that doesn’t that mean that because there are Broadway shows that are more racist than Thoroughly Modern Millie that it’s ok to do Thoroughly Modern Millie.

…

There is a huge problem with casting and that fact that there was a white student — and I know that Ezra is a great actor — but that doesn’t mean that it’s ok for him to be cast as an Asian man. And there was nothing that went out about yellowface. What does it mean when the only roles for Asian students are these really stereotypical, demeaning, hurtful things? And what does it say when Asian students aren’t even given a chance to be in those roles?”

Aviva, a Newton North High School Student

“As a person of color, when white people say “don’t be angry,” it’s one just one more way to offend. It’s one more way to put down. It’s one more way to diminish the power and the truth of what is being said.” Cynthia Silva Parker

“To me it’s disappointing because we’re talking about having all these anti-bullying sessions and then the actions that the school takes by having a play like this … it’s all a lie. The actions don’t back up what the talk is. That’s disappointing to me. How can you teach kids by just talking and not showing?” Archana Szpak, parent of two kids in Newton Schools

“Art tackling stereotypical representations and using that as a point of humor. When you thinking largely about the production as it was put on these past couple of days, to me there was an element about those moments of humor within the context of an audience that was predominantly white, within a cast that was also predominantly white, and feeling that the humor felt uncomfortable and spurred deep feelings of anger, of just general discomfort, because it seemed that the representations that you saw — which in actuality they were — lacked nuance and depth of experience.

…

A musical for a variety of reasons did not have a lot diverse representation so a lot of the notes around humor felt as those they were pointed and that was the larger idea around why so much discomfort was felt. I always say this to my students, when you are having a discussion about race and about stereotypes, I think it’s important to feel uncomfortable. Honestly, I don’t think you are doing the discussion right if you are feeling comfortable.” Ariel Roshlan, a first year teacher in Newton who teaches Social Studies to 10th and 11th grade and a person of color

The hurt and anger were palpable. As well, the white privilege man to my near right. I will refer to him at White Privilege Man.

A man in his late 50s were there to protest the protest he told me. As Asian Americans in the room shared their heartfelt stories of how this musical hurt them, White Privilege Man to my right made snorting, derisive noises. My husband called him out, asking him to speak up as he clearly did not agree with the Asians in the room. His point was that there were racist stereotypes in a lot of musicals and works of literature and that this was ok. When Michele Leong responded, she waited for him to reply. There was a long pause.

Why? He had been texting on his phone the entire time, not listening and not realizing that, in fact, this Michele was speaking to him.

That’s so telling isn’t it? So illustrative of the conflict between an Asian American trying to voice her feelings of not being heard and validated while While Privilege Husband snorted and texted away, not listening, not caring, not learning anything that night. And while I personally found this behavior offensive, he was an important reminder of the racism that exists in our community that takes a stubborn hold and is difficult to diminish. It won’t go away with just one night of sharing our feelings either — that much was clear!

Thankfully, the Newton North teachers and administrators were a completely different story. They truly listened, painfully, and heard, painfully, what we of color had to say. That this was bullying all over again. That this hurt us. That some rising freshman of Asian descent were now nervous to come to NNHS (breaking the heart of principal Jennifer Price).

That a grandfather and grandmother could not come to see their grandson perform because he elected not to try out for fear of subjecting them to painful racism.

An elderly Asian American man who was likely a grandfather himself made this point, “So the grandparents could not see their grandson perform.”

And then there was deadly silence as we all felt the shame, the sadness and the tragedy that could have been so easily been avoided.

Newton North teachers were brave to lend their voices about how this play and their participation made them feel uncomfortable and marginalized.

Newton North students asked why:

In the letter from NNHS, they asked why is ok for it not to be enough? “We do apologize for the impact that this has caused and may cause members of our community. Even with these steps in place, we acknowledge that for some it may not be enough.” No, they said. We expect more from Newton North. Make it enough.
They asked why aren’t more Asian Americans on staff as teachers and administrators at Newton North?
Why aren’t students of color in leadership roles at Theatre Ink?
Why can’t all students take a Leadership Class led by Michele Leong that teaches racism in order to break it down.

As each person told their story of disappointment in Newton North, of the hurt that they caused, of the pain that they felt, the emotions felt overwhelming at times. It was not surprising to see people break down in tears.

But when Adam Brown bravely said, “I’m sorry, I am so, so sorry you are feeling the anger you are feeling. We blew it. I’m sorry,” the clouds parted. He had heard us. Truly heard us. And he wasn’t making any excuses or spouting any rhetoric.

From there, the group came together. We felt validated for expressing our point of view. We felt heard. We knew we could work together and that changes, really wonderful and positive changes, were going to result from this. (Hopefully!) It felt great. We feel grateful to everyone in that room including White Privilege Man.

On the stage of life, we all have roles to play and in seeing and really hearing each other, we can make something truly great. And that is the essence of Newton North High School and living in a town like Newton.

I am so very proud of my community — students, NNHS alumni, parents, teachers, administrators, community members who are not even at NNHS, alderwoman, Asian American activists, neighbors and friends — on this day. For coming out. For speaking up. For listening. And most importantly, for the willingness to learn and grow. I am so grateful to you all for coming to my blog and attending the Talk Back. For engaging. For caring. For making our corner of the world just a little better. Thank you so much. I can not tell you what this means to me.

p.s. I taped half of the Talk Back (until my phone ran out of space). I have posted it privately on my YouTube account. If you would like to give me permission to make your portion of the video public, please contact me and I will add the video to this post. The quotes were all taken from video transcription. (Clearly, I don’t have Millie’s stenography skills!)

Thoroughly Modern Millie Talk Back Videos

One way to use this Talk Back as a teachable moment is to have students or audience members read the quotes and the compare it to the video of the exact same words. You will notice, as I have, how more affecting the video is compared to the words on the page. It’s because the video conveys the deep emotions in a way that the written word simply can not.

p.p.s. Our neighboring town, Brookline, put on Thoroughly Modern Millie a few weeks ago. There was no murmur of dissent there. Why? They had, on their own, and without pushback from parents, rewritten the musical. I do not know if they did this under the radar or in conjunction with MTI who sells the script. They made Mrs. Meers a Southerner and the two Chinese brothers undercover cops.

Brookline has a 18% Asian population. Newton has 11%. Does this 7% make all the difference? Why would Newton react differently to the racism in Thoroughly Modern Millie than our neighbor? What do you think?

Brookline High School performed its own revised version last month.

“I felt strongly the script was disrespectful,” said the Brookline director, Christien Polos. He and students rewrote the part of Mrs. Meers to change her from Chinese to Southern American and turned the two Chinese laundrymen into undercover police officers. From The Boston Globe

More links:

The Boston Globe: School play’s stereotypes bring outcry and apology. “Millie” touches nerve in Newton by Ellen Ishkanian, Globe Correspondent

The Boston Globe: ‘Millie’ Flag Highlights How Old Plays are Rife with Stereotypes by Don Aucoin

The Telegraph: US high school show triggers race row by David Millward

NECN TV Segment: NECN Broadside with Jim Braude, Historical Musical Sparks Controvery at Massachusetts High School

The Boston Globe: ‘Millie’ Fight Creates a Chilling Effect by Joan Vennochi

The Boston Globe: ‘Millie’ in Newton: Turn Stereotypes into Lessons

The Boston Globe: Musical is Little More Than Staged Racism by Jeffrey Melnick (Letter to Editor in response to Joan Vennochi’s article above).

Monitoring, Exposing & Fighting Against Anti-Semitism and Racism: Thoroughly Modern Millie’ play draws controversy in Mass. over racial stereotyping

Company One: In the Intersection, Thoroughly Modern Millie Controvery at Local High School

A case study published by UMass Peter Kiang almost 20 years ago (see pages 9-13), parallels almost exactly what happened at Newton North High School. ScholarWorks at UMass Boston, We Could Shape It: Organizing for Asian American Student Empowerment by Peter Nien-Chu Kiang.

The Notebook: Racism isn’t entertainment: Why “Thoroughly Modern Millie” didn’t belong on CAPA’s stage

Resist Racism: Thoroughly Racist ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’

Genki Speak: Racism in Our Backyard

Angry Asian Man

Village 14: Decision to Stage ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ at North Challenged

AsAm News: Play Filled With Offensive Images Sparks Town Hall Meeting

AsAm News: I Love Newton: High School Production Fails To Address Heavy Dose Of Asian American Stereotypes

Greer Tan Swiston: Kudos to Newton North for a thoroughly modern update of ‘Millie’

The Boston Globe: Oh, by the way, how about a round of applause for the kids? (Letter to the Editor from a grandparent)

The Boston Globe: Choice, execution of musical informed by thoughful education process (Letter to the Editor from the writers who comprise the Theatre Arts Opportunity Committee at Newton North High School.)

The Boston Globe: We miss a vital chance for understanding when we swap out ethnic characters (Letter to the Editor from a great-grandmother, teacher and volunteer)

Arissa Oh ‏@arissaoh 1h

3 white ppl on @GreaterBoston unhelpfully discuss HS prodns of “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” cc: @pragmaticmom

Pawprint: Millard West Student Newspaper: Through with Thoroughly Modern Millie

The Washington Post: Twenty-Three Skiddo: ‘Modern Millie’ Doesn’t Dance

It’s an attempt, sort of, at a parody of the old-style musicals of the ’20s and ’30s, the sort jerry-built out of cheerful songs, convoluted plots, elaborate tap demonstrations and derogatory stereotypes.

IMDb: Thoroughly Embalmed Musical

Project Muse: Thoroughly Modern Millie (review)

Not Like Crazy: An Easily Overlooked Racism?

In the Spring semester at school, the Musical Theater Department put on Thoroughly Modern Millie, which was overflowing with racism in its portrayal of Asians. I must say, I was thoroughly upset about the whole thing. First, the guys playing the Asians, I believe they were supposed to be Chinese immigrants, had white face makeup and slanty eyes. I couldn’t help but think that if they’d dressed in blackface, surely there’d be an uproar (Of course, they are putting on Ragtime this year, so we’ll see how they handle that– they’re already sending out emails about how they want the black students to try out for roles because there aren’t many black people in the musical theater department *eyeroll*). That wasn’t the only bad thing about the musical, however, the villian was a white woman pretending to be Asian who pronounced her L’s as R’s, and said she used soy sauce to clean a stain. Of course, she also treated the two Asian immigrants who worked for her as if they were stupid, and the silently and humbly submit in front of her, though behind closed doors they argue in Chinese (I guess it was real Chinese), with subtitles projected above the stage. And then one of the Asian men falls in love with one of the white women in the musical, blonde hair, blue eyes, you know the deal. At the end of the musical, they get together, as if his reward for working hard and being submissive, for being mistreated, is the gift of white womanhood, the pinnacle of creation. So yeah, I was pretty pissed about that whole thing.

Myvanwy: Review of Thoroughly Modern Millie

Someone sent me video of a local comedian’s youtube video of a character I’ve seen him portray once before. To call it infantile and racially insensitive would be a gross understatement. For the targets of his ridicule, it’s every bit as offensive as a mean-spirited performance in blackface. But because it’s against one of the few groups for whom bigotry, hostility, and ridicule is still acceptable (Chinese Americans and others of Asian and/or Pacific Island descent), it’s seen as okay by most and even encouraged by other local comedians. Kevin Marshall’s America

Zak Keith: Hollywood Asian Stereotypes

Racism against Asians is often “unawares”—a form of racism that flies under the radar due to its widespread acceptance as the norm. Its interactive dynamic resembles that of an unwritten social contract. Asians in the West are expected to accept patronizing remarks and racist taunts so demeaning that perpetrators would think twice before dishing them out with such unwavering consistency to any other minority group, such as Latinos or African Americans. Asians who object to such treatment are typically met with befuddlement and offense at their audacity to make an issue out of it.

Mia Wenjen blogs at PragmaticMom: Education Matters, here and occasionally at her Asian American blog JadeLuckClub. She resides in Newton with her husband and three kids, the oldest of which will attend Newton North High School this fall. She can be found on Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Sulia, Google +, Instagram and YouTube.

Photo credit: Grasshopper and Sensei, my oldest.

Tag: Racism in Thoroughly Modern Millie

Talk Back: Racism in Thoroughly Modern Millie at NNHS