read “White Like Me”

Here’s a new twist on some of our conversations on identity and performance, from Ben Westhoff, over at the Village Voice. It’s a story on Victor Varnado, who is an African American with albinism. He works as actor, and is also a stand-up comedian.

In his decision-making about which opportunities to take, he must confront the question many artists, particularly artists from marginalized backgrounds, often face: where is the limit between wanting to be known as an “artist of x,” and knowing that some of your success as an artist might also hinge on your deployment of your racial, sexual, melaninal specificity?

In the Voice article, Varnado frames his dilemma this way: “I want to be perceived as a person before I’m perceived as a black albino.” But as Westhoff points out, Varnado must of course also confront the fact that his condition has contributed to his success, and is at the center of much of his comedy, which you can catch here.

The article discusses much more than I have noted here, and you should definitely check it out. To end, this little excerpt:

“Race and racism is so arbitrary,” he says. “Sometimes people see me and they think I’m ‘acting black.’ Once, I was in a secondhand clothing store with one of my friends and commenting on the fashion, joking: ‘I need baggy pants and long T-shirts—what rappers might wear.’ And this white woman came up to me and said: ‘I really find what you’re saying offensive.’ And then I said, ‘I’m black,’ and she was like, ‘OK. It’s fine.’ Then she walked away.”