Hungarian opera singers declaring themselves African-American
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Re: Hungarian opera singers declaring themselves African-American
#2Context: Hungary is under the rule of Viktor Orbán, a nasty piece of work who has impoverished his people, run constant anti-Semitic campaigns and harasses any cultural organization including universities that don't follow his culture-war line.
Re: Hungarian opera singers declaring themselves African-American
#3When I was at school in the US I had a minor medical procedure. One of the forms required me to list my race.
My doctor was Egyptian and having grown up in the middle east myself we joked about whether he qualified as African american or if he could medically identify my race. Race has no medical definitions and worldwide few courts would ever dare tell someone their race. This case is going nowhere. The opera has made a valid artistic point and won't be forced to change the cast.
That said, the US is one of the few places where courts remain willing to determine race and/or religious identity. It isn't common but it does come up (wills, immigration/asylum, some issues involving native american tribes, and cases where people have lied on various forms). If this case can find a way into a US court the opera would not win.
Re: Hungarian opera singers declaring themselves African-American
#4"As per the request of heirs of Gershwin's catalogue, only Afro-American singers are allowed to perform the piece, and maybe this was due to a mistake, but the fact is that the Hungarian Opera was offered a contract last year that did not have the famous "all-black cast" clause, which they ended up going for."
The requirement of allowing only Afro-American singers seems unreasonably restrictive if you want it to be performed outside the US. And having an all-black cast is not the same thing. Not all black people are American. Not all black people trace their ancestry to Africa (except in the way all humans eventually do, of course). And not all Africans are black.
So mixing up black and Afro-American may usually end up being the same thing when you're in the US, outside the US it becomes a lot more complex. It becomes a requirement to hire people from the US and a ban on local singers who didn't emigrate from the US.
There is of course the letter of the rule and the spirit of the rule. The piece is explicitly about black Americans. Does that mean it can't be performed by non-Americans? By people who aren't black? If it turns out there are no black opera singers in Hungary, does this mean Hungarians shouldn't be exposed to this important piece of black culture? It does feel a bit like one of those cases where a totally justified attempt to to justice to an oppressed minority in the US turns into American cultural imperialism once you leave the country. Then again, it is a piece of American culture.
Re: Hungarian opera singers declaring themselves African-American
#5Not the first to make this claim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Dolezal
Re: Hungarian opera singers declaring themselves African-American
#6Some extra context from the linked Guardian article:
>The opera house was in the news last year when it cancelled 15 performances of the musical Billy Elliot after rightwing media claimed it could “turn children gay”.
Re: Hungarian opera singers declaring themselves African-American
#7When I was at school in the US I had a minor medical procedure. One of the forms required me to list my race. My doctor was Egyptian and having grown up in the middle east myself we joked about whether he qualified as African american or if he could medically identify my race. Race has no medical definitions and worldwide few courts would ever dare tell someone their race. This case is going nowhere. The opera has ma…
If the performances only take place in Hungary, it's pretty unlikely that US court has jurisdiction.
Re: Hungarian opera singers declaring themselves African-American
#8Sounds like a simple oversight in contract negotiation that the director and some performers decided to turn into a political statement.
Re: Hungarian opera singers declaring themselves African-American
#9Context: Hungary is under the rule of Viktor Orbán, a nasty piece of work who has impoverished his people, run constant anti-Semitic campaigns and harasses any cultural organization including universities that don't follow his culture-war line.
This has nothing whatever to do with this article.
Re: Hungarian opera singers declaring themselves African-American
#10Context: this is about an opera by George Gershwin, Porgy and Bess https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porgy_and_Bess . Apparently, Gershwin's heirs request that "an African-American cast" be used in performance. This might actually make some sense as the opera itself is a bit divisive towards Black culture, and there is a rather long history of performances by non-African Americans tending to make it even more so. This statement by the opera cast can be seen as a clarification that they did intend to properly respect the work, although one can of course argue about this.