Photo credit: Entertainment Weekly
“I’m simply saying, can’t you just wait a while and leave it alone?” Rita Moreno asked on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” when talking about the lack of Afro-Latino representation in the newly-released “In The Heights” film adaptation.
No Moreno, we can’t.
Now a household name, thanks to the success of “Hamilton,” among other projects, Lin-Manuel Miranda first came to Broadway in 2008 with his musical “In The Heights.” Semi-autobiographical, it tells the story of a barrio (neighborhood) in Washington Heights, Manhattan during a few hectic and life-changing hot summer days. It ended up being a smash hit, receiving 13 Tony Award nominations, and running for 29 previews and 1,184 regular performances at the Richards Rodgers Theatre (which now houses “Hamilton”).
My first encounter with “In The Heights” came shortly before the “Hamilton” craze, about six years ago, when I listened to the original Broadway cast recording and watched a bootleg of the show (you didn’t hear it from me, but multiple easy-to-find versions of the stage production exist on YouTube, and it would be a shame for you to watch the film without checking out what it was adapted from). I was instantly in love with the show and how powerful it was. A Latino cast on Broadway in a show that wasn’t plagued by gang violence (“West Side Story” I’m looking at you) with characters dancing, falling in love and even rapping. It was absolutely revolutionary. It was also 2008.
So, over 13 years later when the film was released, I expected “In The Heights” to be just as revolutionary as it was when I first watched it, yet it ended up being somewhat regressive.
The film, which was released on June 11 simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max, received initial critical praise and still holds a 96 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the discussion around the film was changed by The Root journalist Felice León.
In a video produced by The Root titled “Who Gets Represented ‘In The Heights’” shared on June 13, León interviewed director Jon M. Chu and multiple stars of the film, asking them hard-hitting questions about the lack of Afro-Latino/dark-skinned lead character representation in the film.
With about a dozen principal or main/featured parts, the cast was mainly populated by white and/or light-skinned Latinos. Washington Heights has a predominantly Latino population that is largely Dominican, many of whom are Afro-Latino and of darker skin complexion.
“It was a very lovely musical, but as a Black woman of Cuban descent, specifically from New York City, it would be remiss of me to not acknowledge the fact that most of your principal actors were light-skinned or white-passing Latinx people,” León said to start the interview. “So with that, what are your thoughts on the lack of Black Latinx people represented in your film?”
Chu, an Asian American man from California, gave a seemingly disappointing response, even pointing out that there were Black extras as dancers in the background.
“I think that was something we talked about, and I needed to be educated about, of course,” he said. “I think that’s a really good conversation to have, something that we should all be talking about.”
This isn’t the first time an excuse of this sort has been made. Miranda and “Hamilton” cast members gave a similar answer multiple times when asked about the lack of slavery mentions and the glorification of slaveholders in the show.
It is simply not enough to have a retroactive conversation, and it left viewers wondering why things weren’t changed prior to its release if conversations like this had been happening during the development of the film.
This is also not a case of asking for diversity for diversity’s sake (though there is nothing wrong with that either).
As Twitter user @camerouninema put it, “Washington Heights is a real place, no one is asking too much at all to see it represented properly.”
Both Chu and Melissa Berrera, a white-passing Mexican actress who played Vanessa, also used the “best for those roles” card to explain the lack of representation, suggesting that Afro-Latino actors are and were simply not as good as the light-skinned, white and white-passing actors that were ultimately chosen to portray the characters.
What was not brought up in the interview with Chu and the actors, but became a hot topic in the discussion on Twitter was the Antihaitianismo present within the film.
Perhaps the most notable instance is in the bodega owned by the main character, a Dominican man named Usnavi. Behind the counter is a huge Caribbean flag, yet there’s a circle suspiciously covering up the entirety of Haiti and only Haiti as he raps about his love for the Dominican Republic.
The island of Hispaniola consists of the independent countries of both Haiti and the Dominican Republic, yet tensions have existed between the bordering nations for centuries. Haiti is often most known for being the first independent Black nation, as well as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. On the other hand, one may think of the lively tourism and culture of the Dominican Republic.
While there are definite differences between the inhabitants of both countries, such as language (Spanish versus French and Haitian Creole respectively) and tradition, the most notable difference that tends to be the focus of tensions comes with skin color and racial prejudice.
In 1937, Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo targeted Haitians along with those deemed “dark enough” to be Haitian, or who could not roll the “r” in perejil, the Spanish word for parsley. The result was the Parsley massacre, in which the Dominican military killed mostly along the border for some time between five and eight days. According to NPR, mass graves have never been found and there is no true estimate on the number of lives taken, but it could be as many as 30,000 people.
While the colorism and discrimination, particularly around the border, didn’t start or end with the massacre, it is often remembered as a bloody moment that solidified the issues between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, encompassed by the term Antihaitianismo.
As Sharri K. Hall, a research associate at the Council of Hemispheric Affairs wrote, “Antihaitianismo is the present manifestation of racial prejudice, selective interpretation of history, and nationalistic Dominican false consciousness.”
Modern-day issues reached a peak in 2013 when the Dominican Republic Constitutional Court passed a law revoking the citizenship of Dominicans born after 1929 to parents not of Dominican ancestry. Before this change, everyone born in the country was automatically considered a citizen. Many perceived this as an attack against Haitians specifically and a concerted effort to keep the image of Dominicans as white and light as possible. According to the New York Times, about 200,000 people born in the Dominican Republic had Haitian parents at the time, making them the largest immigrant group in the country.
“It is clearly an illegal act, it is an immoral act, it is a racist act by the Dominican government,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in 2015. “And it’s happening because these people are Black.”
Beyond covering up the Haitian flag, in the big dance number “Carnaval del Barrio” many flags from Latin American and Caribbean countries are shown, from the obvious in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic to Cuba, even Jamaica was represented. Yet the Haitian flag was nowhere to be seen. To many, this was a deliberate move made in line with the Antihaitianismo still so prevalent in Dominican history, culture and mindsets.
It is not enough to just call out colorism, as nothing will change unless the root of the issue is understood, and that’s what Antihaitianismo and the erasure of Haiti within the film appears to be for many viewers.
“This makes me so angry because Haitians are Latinos as well it’s the anti blackness anti dark skin,” Twitter user @AlexizGucci tweeted. “Haiti has been getting sh** for so long and kept out [of] the Latinos convo because it’s a black nation I hope this movie fails so badly.”
A quote that was brought up on social media following criticism of the movie was one made by darker-skinned Afro-Latina actress Gina Torres (“Suits,” “The Matrix Reloaded”) years prior to the film’s release.
“When I became an actress, I quickly realized that the world liked their Latinas to look Italian and not like me,” she said.
In not casting Afrolatinos that look like Torres, “In The Heights” holds up an unfortunate standard and image of what a Latino or Latino-American looks like.
Specifically for white viewers who have never been to Washington Heights, or have internalized the message that Hollywood has sent over the years through Latino representation, the colorism or lack of diversity may not even be apparent to them.
With such criticism, Miranda took to social media the day after The Root interview was shared to apologize for the lack of Afro-Latino representation.
“In trying to paint a mosaic of this community, we fell short. I’m truly sorry,” Miranda wrote. “I’m trying to hold space for both the incredible pride in the movie we made and be accountable for our shortcomings. I promise to do better in my future projects, and I’m dedicated to the learning and evolving we all have to do to make sure we are honoring our diverse and vibrant community.”
Many praised his apology, glad that he’d addressed the controversy and took accountability for it. Others felt it was too little too late, but it was an important step towards future progress, especially given how influential and popular Miranda has become.
However, the following day, during an appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” in an attempt to defend her friend, Moreno made comments that immediately offended Black and Afro-Latino communities, who took to social media once again to share their disapproval and hurt.
Moreno, the legendary Puerto Rican triple threat (“West Side Story,” “One Day at a Time”), notably darkened her skin multiple times earlier in her career as an ambiguous racial figure in the old Hollywood system. She played many races and ethnicities, including Southeast Asian and Native American in order to eventually achieve a status in which she would no longer have to do so. Moreno has also been very open about having to wear brownface during the filming of “West Side Story,” for which she won an Oscar.
For someone who has had such a long career in which she’s faced discrimination and also contributed, willingly or otherwise, to the discrimination of Black and Afro-Latino actors in the industry, it was upsetting to many that she’d ask them to “wait” for proper representation.
Her iconic role of Anita will be played by Afro-Latina actress Ariana DeBose (“The Prom,” “Hamilton”) in the Steven Spielberg remake set to hit theaters this December.
Almost immediately following the interview and the subsequent backlash, Moreno issued her own statement and apology.
“I’m incredibly disappointed with myself,” she said. “I was clearly dismissive of black lives that matter in our Latin community. It is so easy to forget how celebration for some is lament for others. In addition to applauding Lin for his wonderful movie version of [“In the Heights,”] let me add my appreciation for his sensitivity and resolve to be more inclusive of the Afro-Latino community going forward.”
Regardless of one’s feelings on the film, the representation it provides, or doesn’t, the apologies made are something that can be learned from. It is possible to both criticize a piece of media while also enjoying and lifting it up for the representation it does provide for many.