Black students misidentified by professors, classmates

Black students on campus have expressed frustration about getting mistaken for one another.

Brandon Stalling, acting junior, posted on Facebook that he’s saddened some faculty are calling black students the wrong names. Stalling has been mistaken for Taylor Blackman, acting senior, and alumnus Valentino Valentine.

Blackman said he’s been called the wrong name since he was a freshman, primarily by professors.

“It’s just funny how our professors can memorize a thousand different ‘Carries,’ but can’t memorize ‘Taylor’ and ‘Valentino’ and ‘Brandon,’” he said. “It’s kind of just at this point where I’m starting to call people out. I don’t want this for future generations.”

Blackman said he feels minimized when called the wrong name.

“You don’t know us, you just know black and you’re throwing out names,” he said. “Do you even care? Because Lance Marsh knows every single one of our names, and he’s the head of theater, and he knows a thousand different kids.”

Blackman said he laughed it off initially because he felt uncomfortable, but is now trying to educate people about their mistakes.

“That’s obviously hard to do because you don’t want to be seen as rude or disrespectful ever,” he said. “You have to say something, because if you don’t say something, you can’t complain about it. It may be scary to say something because you are scared of reprimand or getting on somebody’s bad side, but I would rather somebody be given information and be taught than just ignoring the conversation.”

Blackman said people don’t do it out of spite, but ignorance.

“It keeps happening, and I don’t know whether it’s just if they’re not paying attention,” he said. “It’s like they don’t see us, like they don’t know who we are.”

Blackman also said the issue can be minimized if professors and students ask people their names and get to know them.

“Learn your students’ names, and, if you don’t know them, be quiet until you do,” he said. “There’s no harm in asking what my name is. I’d rather you ask that than get me mixed up with somebody.”

Ashley Arnold, music theater junior, said she was praised several times for being in The Bluest Eye, a show with an all-black cast, which she was not a part of.

“I was sitting in the caf with some friends, and a professor came up to me and was like, ‘Oh, you were in The Bluest Eye, right?’ and I just remember being so confused because this is a professor who is part of the theater school who went to go see the show,” Arnold said. “He saw the show and saw all the characters, like had the program and everything, and yet he still was unable to tell me apart from the people who were actually in the show.”

Arnold made a Facebook post announcing she was not in the show and said she still was congratulated for being in it.

The Bluest Eye is based on Toni Morrison’s book of the same name. It centers around a girl who’s constantly called ugly because of her dark skin. She wishes to have blue eyes, which she’s learned to equate with whiteness and beauty.

Courtney DiBello, assistant professor of stage management, directed the show and had to encourage students of color to audition because the casting pool was smaller than expected.

“I did not feel at a disadvantage,” DiBello said. “The actors who did audition were incredibly gifted and kind to share their gifts with me, and I would not change the casting at all, even if a hundred students had come. I had exactly the right people playing the right roles.”

Blackman said the turnout for the show was good, but he didn’t think it was as good as it has been for other mainstage productions. He said it didn’t seem like people made as much of an effort to find time to watch the show.

“I think it was because it was a ‘people of color show’ that didn’t represent white people and they didn’t feel the need to see it,” he said.

Arnold said professors should spend more time getting to know their students so they’re not all considered the same.

“They just don’t take the time to really get to know their black students, which is confusing to me because there’s so few of us compared to all the Caucasian kids that are in the school of theater and the school of music,” she said.

Arnold also said black students should get cast in more shows simply as characters and not black characters.

“They can cast us in shows that don’t require black people,” she said. “There’s no reason why we have to play a servant or be in an all-black show. We don’t have to do black shows to get students in shows.”

DiBello said the school of theater’s mission statement encourages colorblind casting.

“It even alludes to the attempt to use non-traditional casting whenever appropriate so that we have as many opportunities for all students,” she said. “Not because of the color of their skin, but because they are the right student, the right actor, to convey a certain role. That I do believe we do. Can we do that in all shows? No, we can’t.”

Certain shows require some or all of the cast to be a certain race or look a certain way as part of the story, DiBello said.

“The way actors are cast in a show has to be subservient to telling the story. The story that is intended to be told. I personally feel like we do a pretty good job at that,” she said.

DiBello also said she wishes more plays were written for predominantly black casts.

“I wish there were more plays that were written that would allow us the opportunity to showcase these brilliant actors more in addition to showcasing them into colorblind casting,” she said.

Editorial: Avoid discriminating students by paying more attention