To Whom It May Concern at the Society of Red Men,

You do not feel exactly like an American, and neither do I. I understand that in some ways, the Indian – the “red man” - is a symbol of your Americanness. But I do not understand why you would want to portray yourself as something other than what you are – a Christian white male, enfranchised and part of the American system. You play the role of the Other, the Indian, not quite to mock it but to claim it as an American symbol. We both perform, but you do it secretly and behind closed doors, so your performance apparently doesn't have the same goals – as I perform the Other, I try to convince the audience to accept me as American, as less Other than that which I am performing. You, on the other hand, are using the role of an Indian to show how far you are from England and how America has formed its own Other group. I am curious as to why Indian performance necessarily makes you any more American, and why it is often done in the form of secrecy. Wouldn't it be more effective to portray this Other in the most public sense possible, and thus maintain and expand your sense of Americanness?

Jack Robin


Why does the author of “The Jewish Jazz Singer” draw the conclusion that one of the themes of the Jazz Singer is literally the murder of the Jewish patriarch?

In what ways has the idea of the “Other” translated to other racial performances than blackface and playing Indian?