Reddit reviews Stand Up Straight and Sing!

There are no tenors anywhere of any ethnicity who can sing the role of Otello on the level of the all times greats, because there has been a huge decline in singing in favor of pretty people who can’t actually sing in a manner that does the art form justice. This point was also referenced in the article. I would, however, prefer to hear Russell Thomas in the part to Johan Botha who mangled it with Fleming in 2012. But you’re not seeing the forest for the trees. Neither Midgette nor I said that there had been no black singers who had major careers. The larger issues are what institutional barriers keep black singers from getting the best training and also how they are viewed in certain repertoire by people in the industry. Having a fulfilling career in opera and being on the Porgy & Bess circuit for over a decade are very different things. After all, there were many black actresses before Viola Davis too, but how many of them had characters as rich as those she has played on stage and on screen?

But also, do you really know the stories of these black singers you mention? Did you really read Jessye Norman’s book
wherein she has an entire chapter dedicated to her experiences of racism in the industry? Have you ever met Felicia Weathers
or spoken to Reri Grist
about how good they had to be to even be given a chance, and how quickly black singers are discarded if they aren’t absolutely excellent? Did you know about Camilla Williams
who debuted as Butterly at the NYCO 9 years before Marion Anderson sang at the MET, and how she was never given the recognition she deserved? How about Roland Hayes (who had to rent out Carnegie Hal with his own money in order to give a recital there and was barred from a career in opera) or Terrence Winters who was one of the greatest baritones of the 20th century and was similarly never given his props? Have you seen Simon Estes talk about how much better a black singer has to be than a white singer to get a job, and how they will still be paid less like he did in the documentary I linked above? Or do you just hold up black singers like these and Leontyne Price as trump cards when you want black people to shut up who have the audacity to speak out about the racism in the world of opera?

It seems like your black bean counting is seriously lacking in substance and perspective. You sound a lot like the guy saying he isn’t racist because he has a black friend or those who say race isn’t a problem anymore because Obama was President for 8 years. Pointing out examples of black excellence in opera does not discount the very real grievances that many singers of color have (even among those whose careers you make trite reference to), and it actually belittles their legacies in a transparent attempt to brush off accusations of disparate treatment.

I also cannot fathom the entitlement and arrogance of you coming here to filibuster a black singer with a list of black opera singers. It was clear the last time you derailed a discussion about race in opera with regard to Otello with false and ironclad interpretations of the work and a complete straw man about how Otello isn’t a minstrel show, as though that was what was the only thing offensive about the depiction of a white singer in black face. But I’m sure you’ll find a way to make yourself out to be the victim again, and be offended that you were called out instead of recognizing the dangerous ways you have diminished the experiences of black people. I mean how dare a black opera singer have a vastly difference opinion than you on the role of racism in opera.