<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Alice Herndon Childress’s 1962 play <italic>Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White</italic> mines many of the issues that the most recent US race crisis has brought to the forefront, but in the twenty-first century, a long overdue shift in political climate has raised new questions regarding what is acceptable, even in the realm of art. Childress investigates oppressive forces through realistic, compelling characters and setting, and electric dialogue, yet in doing so, she employs the N-word and other disturbing epithets that discomfit contemporary students, actors, and audiences. In a time when use of such words can result in one’s being fired or sued, do the lessons of this play outweigh the turmoil that such terms can cause? This study argues that they do, with an important caveat: just as words’ meanings are contingent on their context, the positive power of the play is contingent on careful <italic>treatment</italic> of it, suggesting that current US sociopolitical crises, like those of the past, cannot be satisfactorily resolved by simple rules or mandates.</p>
</abstract>

Alice Herndon Childress’s 1962 play Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White mines many of the issues that the most recent US race crisis has brought to the forefront, but in the twenty-first century, a long overdue shift in political climate has raised new questions regarding what is acceptable, even in the realm of art. Childress investigates oppressive forces through realistic, compelling characters and setting, and electric dialogue, yet in doing so, she employs the N-word and other disturbing epithets that discomfit contemporary students, actors, and audiences. In a time when use of such words can result in one’s being fired or sued, do the lessons of this play outweigh the turmoil that such terms can cause? This study argues that they do, with an important caveat: just as words’ meanings are contingent on their context, the positive power of the play is contingent on careful treatment of it, suggesting that current US sociopolitical crises, like those of the past, cannot be satisfactorily resolved by simple rules or mandates.

The N-Word and Other Sticky Issues: Considering Alice Childress’s <italic>Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Relationship in Black and White</italic> in the Black Lives Matter Era

American, British and Canadian Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The N-Word and Other Sticky Issues: Considering Alice Childress’s  in the Black Lives Matter Era

Alice Herndon Childress’s 1962 play Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White mines many of the issues that the most recent US race crisis has brought...

The N-Word and Other Sticky Issues: Considering Alice Childress’s Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Relationship in Black and White in the Black Lives Matter Era

Published Online: Feb 15, 2023

Page range: 79 - 99

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/abcsj-2022-0018

Keywords
Alice Childress, N-word, race crisis, contingent, black theater

© 2022 Tanya Long Bennett, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The N-Word and Other Sticky Issues: Considering Alice Childress’s Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Relationship in Black and White in the Black Lives Matter Era

Published Online: Feb 15, 2023

Page range: 79 - 99

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/abcsj-2022-0018

KeywordsAlice Childress, N-word, race crisis, contingent, black theater

© 2022 Tanya Long Bennett, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Alice Childress, N-word, race crisis, contingent, black theater