Tres Viudas en un Crucero publicity photo
Oh, Little Havana. As a story from the Miami Herald reported over the weekend, a new parody about three widows on a cruise ship (Tres Viudas en un Crucero) is selling out audiences in a local Spanish-language theater and nobody seems to care one bit that one of the characters is in blackface.
The blackface character is played by actress Marta Velasco, and according to Herald story, she sees no offense:
Velasco and the play’s director, Pedro Roman, also shrugged at the notion that the character might be offensive. They said the characters of a black, a mulatto and a gallego (a Galician immigrant) are part of the Cuban tradition and that their intention was not to hurt anyone.
Velasco said she has played similar characters for years in Miami and there has never been an issue.
“Now people protest for everything. I believe people should start worrying about more important things. There is nothing discriminatory about it. It was just created to make people laugh and have a good time,” Velasco said of her character, whom she describes as “genuine, funny, vivacious and the loudest one.”
Yeah, our bad… WTH.
Here’s our message to Velasco: this IS an important thing. And we have the examples to prove it. Here are just a few reasons:
Blackface, Brownface and Black Lives Matter in Latin America
Colombian TV Network Puts an End to Blackface Soldier Character
The Burial of Chianita La Negra: White Fragility and Blackface in Puerto Rico
Talking Colombia’s Blackface Problem with the #GodmotherDoc
Afro-Colombians Condemn Blackface Soldier TV Character
Read the whole Herald article here.
