There are a lot of people up in arms about the most recent casting call for the Broadway hit musical, “Hamilton,” which has made waves in the fact that its cast is primarily composed of people of color. The call itself asks for “non-whites only,” and there are people like Randolph McLaughlin who claim that the language is racist: “Imagine if a casting call asked for whites only,” he says.
Except, we don’t have to imagine. It’s happened. It’s been happening for years.
In recent memory, in fact, we have “The Hunger Games,” which had a casting call only asking for Caucasians to play Katniss, the leading character. It might have been one of the first times it’s come to light that very frequently in Hollywood (and Broadway, and every other space where actors are being called to come forward) that people were furious about the whitewashing of a female character. We’ve got HBO's “Girls,” where the only time they specified that any ethnicity would do for a role it was for that of a junkie.
Here’s an open casting call for a production in New Orleans from literally last week asking for “female Caucasian, age 30-40, a strong, hard-working mother with a twinkle in her eye and joy in her heart; and a male Caucasian, age 50-70, tall with angular facial features, a tough man whose hard life and rough exterior mask a trustworthy soul. No acting experience required.” But no, you’re right, McLaughlin: People would be up in arms if any casting call ever asked specifically for white people only.
Let’s be honest with ourselves: Hollywood and Broadway alike are predominantly white spaces, and it’s not an accident that it’s that way. People of color have been being excluded from acting in large roles for as long as large-scale productions have been a thing.
“Hamilton” has been revolutionary in the fact that, for one thing, it’s been as much of a success as it has been (I remember watching the video from the White House dinner where Lin-Manuel Miranda first performed the first song and watching people laugh at it), and for another, its cast is intentionally diverse. It’s only recently that we’ve seen people of color in iconic musical roles like Norm Lewis as Inspector Javert in “Les Miserables.” It’s only recently that there’s been a breaking away from solely white casts in the movies that are being thrown up on the big screen.
If you’re mad about the casting call, I have to ask you a few things: one, why are so angry that a hip-hop musical is asking for the people who typically are associated with that genre be performing it, and two, where have you been when Hollywood and Broadway continued asking for specifically Caucasian actors for the past hundred years? Are you actually mad about “racial inequality,” or are you just salty that it’s people of color asking to have one thing for themselves?