Ask A Reenactor: Ethnicity & Reenacting
Shortly after my question about bullying, I got another series of questions about a potentially controversial subject within the reenacting hobby: ethnicity. Here are the questions:
“Given the stigma of “farbery”, what are the odds of reenacting as a non-white person? It seems like most reenactors deal with European or American events where people of color are rarely, if ever, involved. (But on the other hand, I’ve seen white people portraying Viet Cong fighters, which seems weird.) I realize this is a really complicated issue, but any thoughts you have would be much appreciated!”
“How accepted it is for a person of color to portray a white person? Because most events focus on white history. Our rev war group didn’t have a problem with it, but we did garner a lot of derogatory comments from the public. Because, you know, tourists are classy.”
“re: ethnicity in reenacting – It often sounds like you can be caucasian and be anything, but if you’re ethnic, you gotta be whatever your ethnicity is! Like, if I’m asian, are my only “valid” options Vietnam or Korean wars? What if I want to do some medieval European thing? But meanwhile caucasians are being Viet Cong and everyone is cool with that. (Not accusing you/your group of anything, it’s just… interesting.”
Me, Marc, and other reenactors portraying Chinese communist forces during the Korean War.
These are all great questions! However, since there are really kind of two main themes going on here, I’m going to address them separately, and then also post some of the commentary I got from other reenactors that I know.
1. In regards to white reenactors portraying other ethnicities (such as the aforementioned Vietcong), the reasoning is actually a practicality issue: there simply aren’t enough reenactors of said ethnicity to go around. I myself have portrayed both Vietnamese and Chinese soldiers in my time, due simply to the fact that there weren’t any Asian reenactors who stepped up to do so. The vast, vast majority of reenactors are white/Caucasian, and sometimes in order to have an “enemy” to fight, some of us have to portray combatants who were originally of a different race. You run into this in many different periods.
Good friends Neal and Emmanuel, portraying master and servant.
2. There are actually plenty of roles available to Asians, Latinos, and People of Color if you do enough research. History was actually far more multi-cultural than our whitewashed history textbooks would have us believe, and I think that many reenactors would actually love to see a little more diversity at events. If you’re a prospective reenactor who isn’t white, you have quite a few options available to you:
A. Find a unit (or form one!) that was a historically black/Asian/Native/whatever unit.
B. Find a unit that will allow you to “latch onto” them as someone from a historically black/Asian/Native/whatever unit who got lost and is temporarily with them.
C. Find a unit that was historically diverse and/or integrated to join.
D. Find a historically appropriate role for you to play. Some of these may be a bit uncomfortable or un-PC (such as slaves, servants, workers, “savages”, etc), but they are a part of history and it’s important for people to see how poorly people of different ethnicities were treated throughout history, and how far we have come, as well as to see the roles they played in history.
E. Find a conflict that had a high proportion of other ethnicities, such as wars that took place outside Europe, and try to drum up enthusiasm for reenacting it.
F. Find a unit that will allow you to portray someone who would historically have been white.
As you can see, there are plenty of ways for non-whites to get involved in reenacting in just about every period you could ever wish to do, with the right research. Plus, as you’ll see in other reenactor’s comments below, many reenactors would love to see more diversity in the hobby. You are, admittedly, at some risk of facing some attitude from more conservative reenactors or tourists, but I feel that your presence would overall be very appreciated.
Here are some of the comments by other reenactors within my personal circle:
Well, I say that you should not let something as random as ethnicity stop someone from reenacting what they want. Still, if you are worried about it (not that I think you should be) if you do detailed research, you’ll find examples of what you want to do. Did you know that in both WW1 and WW2 the Canadian Army was completely intergrated? They were! There is even a great photo from WW1 of a Canadian Highland unit (in kilts) just out of action and one of the wounded is an Asian-Canadian. Also, there were many African-Americans that went north to Canada to join what they thought at the time as an “all black unit”. They joined the Black Watch of Canada. People of color (what does that really mean, we are all of the same race… human race). Well trying to stay on point here, every culture has a varied and rich history and our histories are also more intertwined than most want to believe. We must remember that this is a hobby and we are not really the people we portray. – SK
I’ve never personally run across someone who was told s/he could not portray a certain impression because they are a certain race/ethnicity. But considering the other ideas/opinions held by people in the hobby, its not a large stretch of the imagination that it occurs. – SL
You can make sure your equipment and uniform is accurate, but you cannot control your ethnicity. If you like an impression, go for it. If we can look past things like age and physical condition, there’s no reason we should scrutinize someone over their ethnicity. – SB
I think part of the reason that seeing non-whites portraying “white roles” is more rare and heavily scrutinized comes from the fact that the hobby as a whole is vastly skewed towards white reenactors. There just aren’t large numbers of minorities involved, to the point where it’s almost surprising to me any time I see non-white people at a reenactment, no matter what role they’re playing. I heartily wish this weren’t the case, since 18th century America was an amazingly diverse place. Personally, I would love to get more African Americans involved in portraying black loyalists during the AWI. To echo what others have said, if you research hard enough you can likely find a correct impression that fits. – TS
I agree with the current thread. It would seem that reenacting is skewed, but I DO think research is key (for any impression)… IMHO, this is a game that we all agree to play, and I think there is a place for everyone with an honest interest in history…. – KL
I, too, would like to see more minorities in reenactment. I do not think it is vital that they portray someone of their racial/ethnic group though. – SL
Interesting that we in the 2ndSC have had African Americans join our ranks. Francis Marion was described as haveing a 50/50 split along racial lines. – BP
This is a topic I’ve been stuck in for awhile. I’ve had several people hit me up to do WWII Japanese or Vietnam War Viet-Cong, but for nothing else than Authenticity’s sake, I refuse to reenact as anything other than white, Caucasian people. I would love to do a WWII Japanese impression, but no matter how good someone’s impression looks, it is still greatly countered by them being an “incorrect” race. I wish that more “whites” would follow that. I do think the main problem is that the reenacting community in Europe and the US is comprised mainly of white reenactors. It would be much easier and authentic if there were enough Asians to reenact Korean/Japanese/Vietnamese roles, but there aren’t. So whites have to fill their places, sadly. My friend Kim has run into this. He’s Korean and really has a hard time doing anything other than Korean War, Vietnam, or Soviet… – CB
I think they should be able to do whatever they damn well please. I saw a black rev war reenactor at Lancaster and whether the role was “appropriate” or not, it was the most badass thing I saw! I thought rock on! – KK
If you are a non-white reenactor and would like to chime in, PLEASE do, as I think it will serve as encouragement for more people to get into the hobby where they may have been hesitant to before. Heck, if you’re a white reenactor who has something to say about this issue, please leave a comment with your thoughts as well.
Another epic article, touching on things that people in the hobby usually don’t.
I just answer the questions! I think that many reenactors who have been in the hobby for 15-25 years have no idea what the concerns and questions of new prospective reenactors are, and so this serves a double purpose: new recruits get their questions answered and older reenactors get to see what concerns their new recruits may have!
While I understand that white people fill in the gaps for POC because there aren’t any, but I don’t see why this matters. Unless you are going for a super authentic reenactment, it really doesn’t matter and then you would have to hire actors. I don’t care if a POC takes over the roles of white people. In fact, please do.
I understand the practicality issue with 1, but it’s so tricky. There’s a difference between a white person taking on a Chinese or Vietnamese role in a 20th century conflict re-enactment and doing a full on Native American impression in the 18th, I think, though. Although I can’t articulate exactly why, and maybe I’m wrong.
SJW aren’t terribly helpful to the discussion, as you noted on Tumblr, but it’s definitely an issue I’d want to hear more about from PoC re-enactors’ perspectives.
maybe it’s just that things are different down here in Florida, but out of the nearly one hundred Seminole re-enactors i know, only two of the regulars are actually Seminole. the rest of us are white or mixed blood. there are about a dozen or so that take part in the event that occurs on one of the reservations every year, but i seldom see them at any of the other events year-round. i am white with Muskoke, Cherokee, and Scottish ancestry (and one or two more i am in the process of working out), but i mainly portray Seminole, Creek, or pre-Columbian Florida natives. (Timucuan, Apalachee, occasionally Calusa). we have no problems with anyone of any ethnic background joining us, simply because it’s fresh blood. when an African American joins us, it’s even better, since they played such a major part in the Florida Wars. but there are few of them. i know of about a half-dozen in the state. maybe it’s just that the accepting attitudes of the natives we portray have become ingrained, but we’re happy with anyone so long as they are striving for authenticity in their garb and kit and friendly and open. we have no organized group, but we keep in touch outside of events and do things together outside of history events. the main theme with us tends to be families. the parents get involved, then the kids, and now with this weekend, i bring the next generation into it with my son’s first event. (he turns 7 weeks monday)i’ve been lucky down here it seems – i’ve not experienced any problems beyond the occasional tourist asking why a native has a moustache and goatee. (i try to shave for every event, but sometimes i have reason to keep it involved with work)
I have some input here. I am a Euro-American reenactor, but I am married to a multi-ethnic woman of color (a fancy way of saying that my wife has both European and African ancestry, probably with some First Nations thrown in). The first season that we were dating, my wife came with me to a handful of events but really didn’t enjoy it, mostly as she felt rather out of place, surrounded by so many (loudly and assertively “conservative”) members of mainstream culture. Most reenactors weren’t sure how to deal with her (and seemed to avoid her) and many tourists insisted on approaching her to ask questions about being a slave girl. While these latter questions were probably genuinely motivated by a desire to learn, she just wasn’t prepared for them. I have come back into the hobby after sitting out for a bit and have done so with people that I can count on to be supportive if Michelle ever does come back out with me; I have taken our son (soon to be six!) with me to a couple of small local events without any trouble, especially as he has other kids to play with. He has yet to encounter any racially based ugliness, possibly because he can “pass” (and don’t get me started on how hearing an elderly African-American man use that phrase broke my heart). This really hasn’t been terribly coherent, and I apologize for that. Let me summarize by saying that persons of color seem to feel, with greater and lesser justification, that they are not wanted at reenactments, or if they are it is just to show how degraded their forebears were. I like to point out, if it comes up, that to the enslaved African in the colonies, the Crown forces were frequently the army of liberation during the AWI. Hopefully it doesn’t come across as somehow condescending…
Listening to NPR this morning; the photo at the top of your page could be the story they commented on…in WW2 a Korean forced to serve in the Japanese army was captured by the Russians, forced to serve on the Eastern Front, captured by the Germans, once again conscripted and finally captured by US paratroops. As to the original question of ethnicity and authenticity, I participate in F&I and Rev War primarily. I think there is a balance that people have to judge for themselves; go totally authentic and portray only the roles your ethnicity historicaly did, or portray what you want to…it is actually te 21st Century and a whole lot of folks sacrificed for our various freedoms and liberties and the ability for us to make our own choices.
An interesting topic to bring up, especially for me since I am of mixed race (Chinese and white). For the most part, I don’t incorporate my ethnicity into my portrayals. Frankly, I don’t know that many people like me existed for much of this country’s history, except perhaps in extremely particular places and times. For me to create a persona around my ethnicity would be incredibly restricting, and I’d rather not limit myself in that way since my historical interests are so varied. To date, I have never been turned away from an event, and I’ve only received a few comments about my ethnicity that really bothered me. I’m an American, so this country’s history is my history regardless of my ethnicity. Ethnicity isn’t a choice. Would we turn away someone with a disability? What if someone requires modern hearing aids but they wish to portray 18th or 19th century people? I work hard to keep as accurate an impression as my research and skill allow, but there’s nothing I can do about my ethnicity.
Sorry for the rant! But it’s something that’s important to me.
YES to all of this! “I’m an American, so this country’s history is my history regardless of my ethnicity.” Awesome, awesome point. I thought about the question of disability as well–particularly since someone in our unit *does* require modern hearing aids! The thought of turning someone away over something they can’t control is disgusting to me.
Having recently attended a lecture and book signing by an author who wrote about naval engagements during the War of 1812, I noticed that the author was particularly impressed by the high number of free men of color who sailed for the U.S. (approximately %20 of total seamen including U.S. Navy and merchant sailors). The presentations at Ft. McHenry show this off by including many participants of color and specifically mentioning how great were the contributions of freemen in the defense of Baltimore.
There are very few impressions in which a non-white face would be so inaccurate as to approach farbiness (SS and Confederate officers spring immediately to mind). In the vast majority of times and places, there is a place for everybody.
In the 9th century, it would have been no problem for a Frankish marketplace to contain not only ethnic Franks and members of nations they conquered, but also Jews, Arabs, Persians, and Chinese people since the trade routes at that time are documented to have been well traveled between Europe and East Asia. Our group actively wants to include people of multiple ethnicities in order to portray this authentic diversity, and yet the people who consistently show up are a handful of white folks. Public folks think medieval Europe was supposedly so homogenous, and yet Charlemagne was pen-pals with Haroun-al-Rasheed, they regularly exchanged ambassadors and gifts, complete with large trains of entourage and merchants, and Charlemagne also enacted laws protecting his Jewish subjects from harm or injury. Oh, look history was more diverse than it looks from the vantage point of a schoolbook.
Throughout all of time, there are people whose stories are not being heard by the mainstream public due to the white-washing of history and the perceived race issues in reenacting. Please, people of color, please come show the public that history is not all white. Please come participate and come armed with research to debunk myths and dispel false notions. Please do.
I would love to have seen the looks on the visitors’ faces if the above poster’s wife had explained that she was in fact a free woman and not a slave. In certain times it would have been appropriate if she carried papers to prove it, or perhaps her forbears were manumitted in Britain when slavery there was abolished, or were bought and manumitted by abolitionist Quakers, or any number of factual scenarios would be possible and also serve to educate the public. Isn’t that part of why we do all this?
So what if you really really are drawn to portray some history wherein nobody looked like you? Do that too! If anybody asks, you have the choice to explain, everyone here is portraying somebody from history that they don’t look exactly like. Most of us are way fatter than their antecedents.
Awesome points to bring up. I think there’s actually a huge misconception that we’re portraying “white” (or, for that matter, “male”) history because every era of history is peopled with plenty of nonwhites! I reenact Rev War and there’s no reason that people of color shouldn’t be involved–because they were most certainly involved then. I know less about other eras but assume it must be the same for nearly all. Honestly, how do we break the cycle of misconception from the public if we don’t fight back with portrayals of the multiracial past that did in fact exist?
This is so important for engaging with the public, too–we reenact in many multiracial areas, and there’s often a desire to know “what would my ancestors have been doing then?” I love getting these questions from the public, but I wish it was better represented in our ranks, too. There are so many amazing and engaging stories from our multiracial past that get shelved because no one’s telling them!
And I have no problem with an “inaccurate” ethnicity being represented. We’ve had unit members of ethnicities we couldn’t document as authentic within our unit…you know what? No one ever cared. In the end, who cares? The public probably won’t, and fellow reenactors really, IMO, shouldn’t. If seeing someone of the “wrong” race ruins your experience…I don’t want to be rude, but perhaps your priorities are out of order. The one exception I would always make, of course, would be insensitive portrayals of a race of which you are not. But that goes without saying.
A friend on mine posted this article onto his FB site, and the response below is essentially what I wrote to him….thank you for writing this article and highlighting this issue….BTW I’m involved in Renaissance reenacting and portray a Spanish Princess at an English Court…soooooo, my character is despised and yes, I am many shades darker not only than my actual character, but the rest of my guilde as well….geeze, I’ve got a triple whammy goin’ on!
Anyway, here’s my two pence on the topic…..
Intertesting article and interesting posts following….I do wish there was more diversity in reenactment…..it can be difficult to be one of a handful of people of “colour” at events, esp. when, as the author states, portraying less desireable roles….anyone who has played one of “those” roles (regardless of colour) knows just how strenuous it can be…speaking from just a bit of experience, it can be daunting and intimidating some days to know you completely stand out and dont look like anyone else esp. when portraying someone of a different colour (My character, the Infanta Isabella, had bright red hair and a pale complexion, hmmmmmm, I suppose I could dye my hair red, and claim I holidayed in sunny Ibeza) and it takes a bit of a tough constitution to spend a day getting insulted and berated “for fun.” Equally challenging is convincing someone else to join in said fun….Please, come play with us, they’ll all hate you, it’ll be fabulous, somehow doesn’t translate well….Addionally, I believe what some people not involved in reenactment do not realize is what occurrs on stage, is on stage, and for the most part, a “made-up” persona is just that, a “made-up” persona…I’d love it if I had a castle, ladies in waiting and tiara, but I don’t….(BWT I really do want a tiara…..just sayin’…..) and when they insult my father as being an over-zealous Catholic warlord, they are not insulting MY father, the short, round little Jamaican man, with a funny accent who can cook wicked Jerk Chicken…..and the people I just called heretical bastards and who called me a tightly wound Catholic whore, I’ll be drinking with once the sun sets, and in coming days, we’ll do it all over again…for fun…convincing an outsider, any ousider, particularly those who are more colorful, that there is separatism, is not always easy…..and yes, there are people/cast who will always overstep boundaries, and yes there are the tourist/patrons, etc. who can be incredibly cruel and just plain ignorant, (I’ve had some particularly mean, racist things said to me) but at the end of the day, when doing something you love, with people you adore and more importantly trust, it makes it ok, being the “undesireable character” or even being in the one of these things looks different than the rest, catagory….again, unless you’re involved, it can be difficult to know just how close knit one is with their group/troup/guilde….it’s an amazing thing knowing that if I cant handle something “on-stage” A. someone on-stage will rescue me, they would never let me drown and B. if need be, I can pop back-stage and will have an entire slew of people there to help me get over whatever it is before kicking me, lovingly, in the bum and sending me back out….but, unless you’re involved, you really have no idea of the level of camaraderie ….with reenactment it’s all about finding ones niche in both the character and the group….you have to be open to a bit of trial and error to find what works and building ones comfort level does take time….also doesnt hurt to have your own arsenal of responses when someone ticks you off….ultimately, I think the more those of us minorities continue to do our thing, get our reneactment groove on and are seen doing said thing, the more interest may be generated, hopefully encouraging others….What I love about my role (apart from the fact that I am a totally kick-ass Spanish Princess—Spain in the house…. booo ya!) is that Im proof that the right character with the right group can make skin colour a non-issue….you just have to want to play!
I can only say from personal experience some “re-enactors” are not necessarily interested in presenting history accurately but tend to portray a very skewed version. In fact I was recently shocked to find a conversation between re-enactors in California discussing, in a very scholarly tone, how if more African-Americans would “assimilate” to society they would be less likely to depend on welfare. I think many who glamourize a past rife with debauchery and ignorance would not willingly admit the real motivation for their interest in certain eras in history.
For women of color looking to do a civilian impression, I would recommend the site http://ofanotherfashion.tumblr.com/ for primary source photographs. Most of the photos are 21st century and not organized by era, but many are submitted by family members and come with background on the subjects.
Personally being Hispanic, I prefer doing impressions where at least my coloring, if not my actual ethnicity, is historically correct, mostly because not many other people do those. I don’t see any reason other people should have to though, so long as they at least have an awareness of the actual history and conduct themselves respectfully.