Tokenism and the New Blackface: Combatting the Inequity That Exists in the Quest for Equity
Mayor Rawlings left out a few things last week while bragging about the Dallas arts community at Moody Performance Hall. He neglected to mention how local funding of our arts institutions continues to be inequitable.
Two decades ago, Dallas expressed its desire to be a worldwide destination for the Arts. We have made strides toward that goal aesthetically and through the establishment of a true Arts District but what might our city look like if it could boast of having both highly inclusive regional theater companies that reflect the diversity of its citizens, and a variety of sustainable, highly resourced people of color (POC) and women-led specialized arts organizations and institutions, dedicated to culturally specific storytelling?
This past fall, Dallas adopted a new Cultural Plan led by the Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) that has placed “equity” as its first priority. In fact, it will “be the lens through which the rest of the plan will be approached.” This is an exciting position to declare but the stark reality is the vision of cultural equity can look different, depending on the lens you see through.
I see through the lens of a middle-aged Black woman who is both an artist and patron of the arts. I see through the lens of a co-founder of one of two Dallas theater companies dedicated to producing works about the Black experience. Most importantly, I see through the lens of a Dallas native who knows all too well our city’s ongoing struggle with its legacy of systemic and institutionalized political, racial, and economic inequity.
What looks like intentional strides towards achieving cultural equity to many in the arts and philanthropic community, looks like tokenism and a new form of blackface to me.
For one, Dallas’ top-down approach to equity is problematic. The Arts District’s big three – ATTPAC, Meyerson Symphony, and the Dallas Museum of Art – continue to receive 50 percent of the OCA budget and private funding. Much of the effort to improve equity citywide through “expanded and adapted programmatic offerings” and to “subsidize low costs or free offerings” currently benefit these larger and mainstream institutions. Unfortunately, what I fear, is that through the historic trap and practice of tokenism and the intentional expansion of the production and funding of more diverse works within larger arts institutions, the equity needle may move, but at the expense, dissolution, and potential dismantling of historically POC or women led arts institutions which are vital to our overall artistic landscape.
Cultural equity should first reverse economic disinvestment to ensure community trust and the vision of a thriving city where all citizens are valued and have a sense of belonging. The OCA has set a target of at least 40 percent of its funding to be allocated to organizations and institutions of color by 2023, but this feels like an after-thought. When will Dallas learn to empower the under-resourced first? Dallas would truly make a bold, valuable statement toward equity if it were supporting the smaller, mid-size organizations at this time. Build up their infrastructure. Increase their access to resources and spaces to call their own.
One could argue, that funders should give significant dollars to these larger organizations, as they are properly staffed, equipped with larger budgets, and oftentimes more years of management experience. But how will the smaller, mid-size organizations ever grow and realize their potential if they continue to be underfunded?
The new blackface is funding mainstream organizations to portray Black art, while continuing the legacy of inequitable distribution. By equipping already heavily resourced arts organizations with the largest quantity of grants, sponsorships, staffing, and space, our City and major private funders run the risk of perpetuating inequity, of declaring “we can tell your stories better” or worse yet, “we will continue to control the narrative.”
Dallas should be a city where people from around the world are able to experience great art in more than one arts district. Imagine a thriving arts district in every sector of our city. Now, that is what I would call a World Class city, the result of true equity, as seen through my lens.
Anyika McMillan-Herod is a Dallas writer, actor, director and Co-Founder/Managing Director of Soul Rep Theatre Company. She is a 2019 Public Voices Fellow with the OpEd Project.