Against the Wind

I've been taking the Directing the Black Experience class this semster and a few people presented their final scenes. I knew at the beginning of the class that some people would have to use white actors in place of black actors, and I had no problem with it. I'm all for non-traditional casting IF it can be supported by the script. For example, one person did a scene from the play "Simply Heavenly" with two white actors. The play itself is set in Harlem during the 1920's, however, by changing it to two white people I felt that it didn't enhance nor take away from what these actors and play were trying to say. Then there was a scene from the play, "Against the Wind" which is based loosely on Tupac, and in fact he is one of the characters. The scene was set in an interagation room and the cop that is questioning him is suppose to be a black person who takes issue with black people like Tupac who he feels tarnish the imagine of black which makes it hard for people like him to get ahead. And there are several lines that the character Tupac throws at the cop which question his "black". However, the director made the cop white and for me it didn't work because of the words.
So, it got me thinking about this topic of "ownership" and "representation". I know that we have been tossing this up in the air for the semester and this scene has me almost re-thinking my original stance. I wonder if this really could work because I think of the Anthony Hopkins movie, The Human Stain, which is about a black man who is light enough to pass for white and he lives his life as a white man because he knew he could get further in life. I think my issue with this scene was not the fact that the director used a white man to play a black man, but more of the fact that I felt there was no purpose behind the decision. I felt that it was well I can't find another black actor so I'll just do this and try to make a statement. I guess that's why I'm rethinking this representation thing because I feel that any person or culture can take someone else's culture story and apply to their own, but there has to be a reason. Not only does there have to be a reason, but that reason must resonate through.