Centennial Honors College
Western Illinois University
Undergraduate Research Day 2014
Podium Presentation
The Not-So-Distant Past:
An Exploration of the Effect of Stereotypes Within Society
Tuesdai Perry
Faculty Mentor: Rachel Chaves
Theatre and Dance
With the approval of my faculty mentor, Rachel Chaves, I opted to direct Amiri Baraka’s
Obie Award-winning play, Dutchman in March. Set in 1963, the play tells the story of
two people riding the subway: Clay, Black, and Lula, White. Through a series of tactics,
she gets him to erupt into the stereotypically aggressive Black man and she kills him.
He is then carried off the train and subsequently replaced by another young black man;
Lula goes after him as well.
In entertainment, Blacks are often typecast to play someone poor or criminal. Within my
research, I analyzed the multitude of issues Baraka was bringing to light through
characterization, text, and setting. Although the play highlights the issue of stereotypes
through race and gender, it also sparks the discussion of the way “queer” people or
certain religions are also grouped into a certain personality and even typecast in
entertainment. My research concludes that the ways stereotypes are presented can
manifest themselves off-screen as well, proving to be an issue that is still relevant in
today’s world.
The solution is through representation. By directing this play, I aimed to give people of
color an opportunity to play against typecasting and show their full acting potential
beyond the sensationalized idea of “black culture.” Since every personality type is
represented through every race, there should be a wider array of personalities
represented onscreen. Doing this will show that everyone is human and no race or
“type” is liable for a societal issue. (249 words)