Lion King Costumes

This story is a bit different then my others. I am very involved in the musical theatre department in my school, and we put on the musical Lion King. I was given the opportunity to play the role of Simba, and was extremely excited. That being said, the costumes for the show caused a lot of controversy. They were traditional African outfits with animal heads and accent pieces. This is how the show is done on Broadway, mainly because the show does take place in Africa. Personally, I was completely fine with these costumes, but there were multiple people in the program who were not. They thought it was offensive to have African clothing to represent animals, and even further offensive because the majority of the cast was not black. The people who felt strongly about the costumes ended up approaching me backstage, SECONDS before I went on for my entrance and demanded that as the lead of the show, a black student, and the founder of the Black Student Union, that I needed to do something. In the name of the show and amongst all the backstage hassle, I quickly responded "Hakuna Matata," which so famously means "No Worries." This enraged the group, and after the show, they came up to me talking about how "black issues don't really matter to me because I'm just a white kid whose parents have money." I tried to explain myself, but they wouldn't hear it.

There really is no way to overcome this one. I had a difference of opinion on something they were passionate about, and then they retaliated at me because of that. I think its immensely destructive to the black community to target each other in the same ways our oppressors do. This only fed into the concept of me being too black for white kids, and too white for black kids. These ideas are not okay. The best way for me to combat this is to just be who I am, and make it clear of my morals and intentions before others can form those opinions on me.