‘In the Heights’ Casting Highlights Colorism in Latin American Communities
Broadway musical turned film adaption In The Heights is under fire after its lack of diverse leads became highlighted by viewers.
Many fans turned to producer Lin Manuel Miranda with confusion as his 2016 Broadway hit Hamilton had well-distributed diversity despite the contradiction that came with the characters they played.
Director Jon Chu was among the first to make a statement regarding the matter. Chu, who has faced colorism accusations in the past, claimed his casting choices were merely based on “people who were best for those roles.”
DAMN DAMN DAMN THIS IS PAINFUL pic.twitter.com/A4TOwYwHlb
— numa perrier (@missnuma) June 13, 2021
Washington Heights, known socially as “Little Dominican Republic,” is a neighborhood situated in the northernmost part of Manhattan. Its history is rich in housing immigrants of all walks of life, but the Latino community was the one to keep their roots in the ground on this side of the city.
I lived in Washington Heights for 5 years. You can’t take a step in Washington Heights without seeing dark skinned Black-Latin people. #InTheHeights erases them from the neighborhood. This ‘light skinned Latinx only’ story is very disappointing. https://t.co/bm6Yzlhpn3
— Amara ❤️ #Democracy🇺🇸🇹🇹🇻🇪 (@Amara_deMachado) June 13, 2021
The issue of colorism within the Latino community is not a stark surprise. Ironically enough, it is jarringly prevalent in the Dominican Republic, where racial tensions against Haitians have scarcely dialed down due to Haiti’s previous rule over Dominican territory. Dominican leaders continue to instill the idea in their citizens that blackness is equivalent to Haiti, that statement being clear in its negative connotation.
The sinister truth of this prejudice is being brought to light further at this year’s Tribeca Festival with the movie Stateless by Michelle Stephenson. The film details the history and expands on the aftermath of the 1937 Parsley Massacre: the ethnic cleansing of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent under the order of dictator Rafael Trujillo.
In an NPR interview with Frances Robles of the Miami Herald, she discusses the phenomenon of Dominicans often rejecting their own identity.
“What you hear over and over again from the Dominicans is that they didn’t find out that they were black until they went to the United States,” says Robles.
To put this into proper perspective: there is a single black lead within this film adaption, and he is a non-Latino presented as an outsider.
Personally speaking, I cannot get past the storytelling decision of In the Heights to cut the plot about Nina’s dad being anti-Black towards Benny, a key part of the play. If we’re going to tell Latinx stories, we should be honest about colorism and racism in our communities.
— Carmen Phillips (@carmencitaloves) June 13, 2021
While there were Afro-Latinos in parts of the dance ensembles, many felt the blatant whitewashing of the main roles left the story missing something authentic and true to the residents of Washington Heights.
On June 14, Miranda issued a statement on Twitter apologizing for not seeking out more Afro-Latino actors to accurately represent the neighborhood the adaption is based on.
-LMM pic.twitter.com/CHfdLgFUz3
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) June 14, 2021
Looking toward the future, Miranda states he will continue to “learn” and “evolve” from the feedback, and viewers wait with hopeful hearts that Hollywood soon understands its continued shortcomings.
