This season’s production of ‘Otello’ at the Metropolitan Opera House is steering away from the use of blackface, a practice that has been used during the play for 124 years. Being that racism is prevalent within the world of theater and fine arts, this is a move that, although long overdue, is a leap in the right direction.

On a Huffington Post Live segment with Naomi André, University of Michigan professor and editor of Blackness in Opera, and Dr. Yohuru Willams of Fairfield University, they discuss the implications of The Met’s use of blackface.

Dr. Williams quotes André’s book stating, “Without really connecting with that history, one really is divorced from the central crux of that story,” while adding his own sentiments, that although “this is a huge step in the right direction… if we divorce the history of race from this play, we lose a great deal in the process.”

 

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