Stories of Freedom in Black New York

Rating:
Summary: Impressive research marred by P.C. agenda
Review: I bought this book because I have an interest in the artistic life of early America. A book about a black American actor in the 1830s sounded like my kind of book. I must give author White credit for the outstanding research he has done. The biographical data on the life of James Hewlett is very scanty. It must be difficult to write a book on a subject when the actual evidence is virtually nonexistent. Alas, White has filled in the gaps with a lot of assumptions and wishful thinking. He takes the tack that Hewlett was a great actor denied his place in the pantheon of American artists because of Americans' innate racism. Because white audiences laughed at Hewlett's mangling of Shakespeare, White labels them racists. (But would not I get laughs if I recited Shakespeare with a Brooklyn or a West Texas accent? Would not audiences laugh if I said in a dialect, "Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of NEW York"? No doubt they would also laugh if I substituted the phrase "brass candlesticks" for the word "basilisks.") Later in the book, when comparing Hewlett with the far more successful black actor Ira Aldredge, he admits that Hewlett was barely literate and lacked the training that Aldredge had received. The impression I get from the actual evidence is that Hewlett's ambition exceeded his abilities. But White finds racism lurking everywhere and attributes all of Hewlett's misfortunes to it. Among the farfetched assertions is that one Jewish newspaperman, Mordecai Noah consciously created an offensive stereotype of blacks. I personally do not see how one man could CREATE a stereotype. White also characterizes New Yorkers' reaction to the uncivilized behavior of the newly freed slaves as racism, when it seems to me that it was only a natural reaction to bad manners, regardless of the color of the perpetrators. White makes outrageous statements throughout the book, using as supporting evidence still more unsubstantiated opinion and unsupported speculation. White apparently does not know the difference between active racism and an unconscious lack of political correctness. The book is also poorly edited and liberally peppered with sentence fragments. There ought to be a book on the artistic life of African Americans in the early years of the republic, but this book can only offer a frustrating glimpse into that world.

Rating:
Summary: Impressive research marred by P.C. agenda
Review: I bought this book because I have an interest in the artistic life of early America. A book about a black American actor in the 1830s sounded like my kind of book. I must give author White credit for the outstanding research he has done. The biographical data on the life of James Hewlett is very scanty. It must be difficult to write a book on a subject when the actual evidence is virtually nonexistent. Alas, White has filled in the gaps with a lot of assumptions and wishful thinking. He takes the tack that Hewlett was a great actor denied his place in the pantheon of American artists because of Americans' innate racism. Because white audiences laughed at Hewlett's mangling of Shakespeare, White labels them racists. (But would not I get laughs if I recited Shakespeare with a Brooklyn or a West Texas accent? Would not audiences laugh if I said in a dialect, "Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of NEW York"? No doubt they would also laugh if I substituted the phrase "brass candlesticks" for the word "basilisks.") Later in the book, when comparing Hewlett with the far more successful black actor Ira Aldredge, he admits that Hewlett was barely literate and lacked the training that Aldredge had received. The impression I get from the actual evidence is that Hewlett's ambition exceeded his abilities. But White finds racism lurking everywhere and attributes all of Hewlett's misfortunes to it. Among the farfetched assertions is that one Jewish newspaperman, Mordecai Noah consciously created an offensive stereotype of blacks. I personally do not see how one man could CREATE a stereotype. White also characterizes New Yorkers' reaction to the uncivilized behavior of the newly freed slaves as racism, when it seems to me that it was only a natural reaction to bad manners, regardless of the color of the perpetrators. White makes outrageous statements throughout the book, using as supporting evidence still more unsubstantiated opinion and unsupported speculation. White apparently does not know the difference between active racism and an unconscious lack of political correctness. The book is also poorly edited and liberally peppered with sentence fragments. There ought to be a book on the artistic life of African Americans in the early years of the republic, but this book can only offer a frustrating glimpse into that world.

Rating:
Summary: Incredibly interesting book--some very sad stories
Review: This is an extremely well-written and well-researched account of black New York in the nineteenth century, concentrating mostly on theater. Especially fascinating to me is the story of Shakespearean black actor James Hewlett and his [ublished responses to an English actor who had tuaght Hewlett Shakespeare and later mocked his performances on stage in England. The book got a rave review in the New Republic from Christine Stansell. I highly recommend this book.