San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
‘Our industry and world will evolve, with or without you'
William “BJ” Robinson is a San Diego actor, musical director and music teacher. He wrote this with Ciarlene Coleman, a San Diego actor and playwright.
The past year has been a never-ending trial of ethics, economics and artistic integrity for San Diego performing artists of color. As we slowly approach a “return to normal,” we BIPOC artists advocate for our industry to be better than it was before the pandemic. The tough truth is that much of San Diego theater was founded on inherent elements of misogyny, racism and White supremacy. Today, the greatest challenge is getting those with power and control in San Diego theater to hold themselves and their organizations accountable.
Historically, BIPOC performing artists have made countless efforts to address instances of racism in our industry. Instead of being met with open discussion, we are typically met with dismissal and silence. Because of this treatment, many BIPOC artists are abandoning our community completely, seeking work either outside of San Diego or outside of the arts industry entirely. To us, it has become clear that San Diego theaters — all of which are PWIS (“predominantly White institutions”) — currently lack the capacity to meet the needs of BIPOC artists.
The Theatre Alliance of SDPAL (San Diego Performing Arts League) lists over 45 member organizations. Of these, only five organizations have published anti-racist action plans. After contacting 20 of the organizations that did not release action plans, 10 never responded, three questioned motive, and six provided more insight. One artistic director mentioned that having conversations on race, going through diversity training, and deliberately putting focus on BIPOC artists was simply: “... just not what (they’re) comfortable with.”
We acknowledge that change and growth are not easy, but it is what BIPOC artists should expect from the organizations that employ us. Change is exactly what artistic leaders need to put themselves through, because we ensure that our industry and world will evolve, with or without you.
“Today, the greatest challenge is getting those with power and control in San Diego theater to hold themselves and their organizations accountable.”