I once had this great Agent, Nancy Greene. One day, full of myself, I asked, "why don't I get auditions for parts that are traditionally "white". She said, "That's all you have been going up for. They're all white parts. If I waited for a black role, you'd never work."
Needless to say, this was very sobering thirty years ago, but is, even true today. Yes, there are "Black Sit-Com's" that the scripts say what race the role is, but only if the character is white. ( I'm still trying to get use to, most of what you say now days can, and will, be contradicted by someone who will always give you the one exception, like it's proof of what you say is wrong. Like you say, "Black men, don't win Emmys for best dramatic actor in a series", and they say, "Well Bill Cosby won." You look at them like what the fuck are you talking about, that was forty some years ago. One! ONE!)
Anyway, still in this day and age, White Actors actually believe that Black Actors are doing as well as they are. Getting the same breaks and compensations. Tell them that's not the case, and they will bring up Will Smith and Samuel L. Jackson. Two rich Black Actors vs the whole NBC Monday night line up...alone, for starters. The Screen Actors Guild know this for a fact, but I wouldn't hold your breath on them striking on this. Since I joined the Guild back in the 1970's there has been a lot of hand ringing, and speech's, and "we ought a", and "in the future's" but no action. Back in the 80's at a place called Sittens, a late night Actor hang out, in the Valley, I heard one white Actor tell another that he didn't get a part because the show had to meet it's quota of Blacks. He believed this bullshit just like the President is from Kenya. The idea of maybe, the producers were trying to make the show look like what America looks like, did not occur to him. As far as he was concern, the producers, to meet a mandated quota, by who knows where, had to hire, who he thought was an inferior being. I mean, the producers were white and they wouldn't, on purpose, not give a job to another white person, would they...no, don't be silly.
Well, what this is all about is, a few weeks ago, in this new Obama Era, I was sitting in the waiting room at an audition, and let me say it a loud, MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS. As usual, the role is for a "frumpy, 70 year old white man". Well, this Actor, White guy, mid sixties or so comes in and sits next to me and says, "Hey you should get this, I saw you as a frumpy, 70 year old white man as soon as I came in". I get his joke. Okay, I'm Black, okay...hardy ha ha.
I say, "I've been getting sides like this as long as I've been in LA. There are just so few roles for middle age Black men."
Wait for it. He turns to me and says, " Why you have to bring race into it. I'm making a joke here and you guys ...it's race, race, race." Did I mention , that I was MINDING MY OWN DAMN BUSINESS. He went on to tell me how this is dividing the country and bring us all down. I hear what he is saying clearly because in the Obama Era it's being screamed all over the place, if you people would only except your inferiority, America's race problem would solve it's self. See, it's our fault. We've ruined everything.
To "show" me, he moved to another seat. He didn't know that I was happy about that. If he really wanted to show me, he should have sat there as I beat him until the police came and took me away. However, I'm too old for that trap, and kinda use to it. Like the guy who wanted to insult me into hitting him on the Golf Course so he could sue me. He had seen me on TV and saw a quick buck.
I have lived all over the country and nowhere is it as segregated as the Hollywood world, but that, is our "Red Carpet Secret".
