Being biracial is an identity struggle for most and Bill Posley makes us look head on at the fraught relationship America has with multiracial people. His 90-minute one-man comedy show, The Day I Became Black, is a raw look into the heart of a ‘mixed’ race person who tries to answer why we feel the need to categorize. He reminds us of Tiger Woods, who was vilified by many for describing himself as “Cablinasian” aka Caucasian, Black, American Indian and Asian. Black people felt he disowned them while others believe that the whites who accepted him, did so because he was a golf champion. Let’s not talk about his lack of acceptance by the Thai community.
Bill always viewed himself equally – half black and half white. If he denounced one half of his race, he was also denouncing that parent. With two loving parents, what person in their right mind would do that? The show takes the feel of a standup comedy special that incorporates, mini–monologues from his past, current events, political satire, video clips, graphics and a lot of jokes that sometimes leave you feeling extremely uncomfortable but are all based on truth. His show is raw and maybe too raw for those who aren’t able to let their insides be seen. But if you’re bold enough to ask someone, “what are you?” then you should definitely see the show. Anyone who is of mixed races is familiar with that question. If a person looks at you and is uncertain on how to classify you, their ignorance gives you a label without first getting to know you, because classification by race is the default. Bill heartedly tells us of his new approach to answering a question he is tired of hearing: “What am I? I’m a Libra? I’m a Costco member. ‘I’m just a small-town girl, living in a lonely world’.”
And the world as we know it is growing, but maybe not in the way you might think. The 2010 Census showed us that biracial people are growing at 3x the rate of the population. Now what does that mean? According to Bill, we could potentially see a world one day where being ‘mono-racial’ is the minority. Can you imagine, being asked then; “What are you? Both your parents are black. So how do you tell them apart?” As absurd as that might sound to some, that’s the point Bill is trying to make to others, who ask him the same question. I am human. I bleed blood.
The show starts out with a fair warning: “WHITE PEOLE, IT’S OK TO LAUGH. BLACK PEOPLE, DON’T STARE AT THEM WHILE THEY’RE LAUGHING. THIS IS A SAFE SPACE.” I found that statement to be funny but ironic when the truth is revealed about, The Day I Became Black. The circumstances surrounding it could have landed him dead like so many other people when your skin color is the basis for how you are treated. I don’t want to spoil the story, but let’s just say, the amount of shit he went through, was very humiliating.
Overall, I loved the show. There were bits and pieces of it that felt a bit unpolished and unnecessary but the sentiment, the truth and the facts of what being bi-racial means were all laid out there for us to examine on our own.
You can see Bill Posley’s show, The Day I Became Black at the SOHO Playhouse until May 27th.
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