African-Americans are always forced to learn the other…
“African-Americans are always forced to learn the other culture, but the other culture is not forced to learn ours. I went to acting school at Juilliard, and we learned Shakespeare and Shaw, but we never did the work of a single African-American playwright, not August Wilson or Ntozake Shange or Imir Baraka.”
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
African‑American artists often study dominant cultures but rarely see their own works taught.
In simple terms: Our own cultural works are under‑represented in training.
Advocate for inclusive curricula.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- acting school
- playwright workshops
- academic programs
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How can institutions better include marginalized voices?
- What impact does representation have on artists?
Changing curricula can meet institutional resistance.