My coworkers were "swatted" by a Karen for "Acting While Black"
Here's the context: I am a sound technician for a living history museum. We have lectures, live musical performances, plays, and public speeches by actors playing well known (and not so well known) historic figures. The actors know their people backwards and forwards. They have to because they aren't merely actors. They're interpreters of history. Our period is the 18th century.
3 guesses as to what we spend a lot of time interpreting
It's notable that the museum itself is actually the historic area in the middle of our city. The museum is private, but the streets are public. For the sake of maintaining the "privacy" of all those involved, I'll pretend no one knows where I'm talking about.
First, here's what happened over the Juneteenth weekend. During an outdoor performance by one of our more prominent historic figures, a passer-by on the backstreet decided it was time to let his white power freak flag fly and proceeded to heckle the performer, accusing him of all things of being "anti-white." The actor remained in character and dropped the MOST GIANT OF TRUTH BOMBS, and my tech colleague had to instantly turn his mic way down to accommodate the double decibel SPL. Let me tell you: The actor was pissed, but he let the character do the admonishing. The benefits of being an amplified orator.
Granted, the crowd roared its approval, and it's always good when a bully gets his comeuppance. But it was inappropriate, and it bordered on being dangerous. I hope the kids in the audience had parents who were decent enough to explain the folly of that bigoted man's reasoning.
But wait, there's more.
I worked tech for the full dramatic program that afternoon. It's called "What Holds the Future?" In it, a group of enslaved men and women face an uncertain fate as they are about to be sold away from their home and family. It is a heavy piece that usually leaves the audience in a state of shock At the climax, one of the enslaved men escapes while a guard who was once a friend points a musket at him. The actor has to make his way at top speed towards the same backstreet from before. This time, a passer-by decides he's going to attempt to "stop the runaway." Luckily, the actor was able to take care of the situation himself and no harm came to anyone.
That morning, the same actor had a man chastise him during a program because his character was explaining how freedom and liberty didn't apply to everyone, not even for those who fought for it.
Again, it was inappropriate. And dangerous. I hope the kids in the audience had parents who were decent enough to explain the folly of those bigots and their reasoning.
This all happened on Saturday. On Sunday, security was asked to be on hand.
Which brings me to 2 weeks ago. We have several programs that we perform daily right in the middle of the public street. We're opening a new scene soon, so it's in the rehearsal stages . The cast was blocking ithe new program on the street so naturally, people gathered to watch. The actors were not in costume yet, and it wasn't a tech rehearsal so there was no audio support either.
Just people on the street.
One part of the scene involves a physical altercation between 2 black actors. You can probably already see where I'm going with this. Apparently, someone called 911 because they were convinced the fight was real. After observing for several minutes.
The police showed up, and the director had to get between them and the actors. No one was hurt or arrested, but from what I gather, the cops had their "hands on their guns" and they were confrontational before they were understanding
This is bullshit. Anyone who was observing for even 3O seconds would have witnessed the director stopping action to give notes, "back to 1 everybody.", etc.... The actors holding scripts would have been a clue too. The person who called knew exactly what they we're doing. Needless to say, the rest of the rehearsal was scrapped. We're behind because of the incident and the new scene won't go up in time.
My job is to support those whose job it is to tell the truth about the beginnings of the American Experiment (Hint: Not so much with the Mt. Rushmore) As historians, there's no other way to teach the past. This ain't no WOKE bullshit. This is the truth. You don't like it? Well, remember Jack Nicholson in A FEW GOOD MEN? Also, these people have become my friends and my work family, and frankly, they shouldn't have to put up with that kind of trifling crap.
One can expect the 1st Amendment to allow for free speech, unhindered by the government. You can't expect your free speech to go unchallenged, especially when It's BULLSHIT.
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