
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 14, 1990                   TAG: 9005140108
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

`90S RACISM ADDS REALISM TO BLACK-LIFE ROLES

Christy Coleman, wearing an 18th-century costume and sitting on a bench near the Apothecary Shop on Duke of Gloucester Street, was approached by a white male visitor who asked, "How does it feel to play a nigger?"

Coleman said she wanted to lash out but couldn't. "I was stuck. I was so angry."

As Felix Simmons finished his interpretation of an 18th-century slave, a smiling, elderly white man said jokingly, "Boy, come over here and shine my shoes." Unshaken, Simmons, 34, remained in character and replied, "Them don't be no shoes. Them be some dog skins."

The experiences of Simmons and Coleman are not unique among the 11 other blacks who play the roles of 18th-century blacks or give talks on the subject throughout the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's Historic Area.

The interpreters who describe 18th-century black life for visitors say they have been on the receiving end of racial slurs, racial stereotyping and subtle snubs since the program began in 1979.

Although the comments may be unintentionally offensive and infrequent, they make portraying a painful experience in American culture even more painful, the interpreters say.

Simmons, who works at Carter's Grove Plantation, said the man's request for a shoeshine outside the site's slave quarters evoked a "very uncomfortable feeling inside of me."

He said his first inclination was to lash out verbally and physically against the visitor. Instead, he pulled the man aside to explain that the term "boy" is offensive when used - even jokingly - to address black men.

"As a professional I can't let myself get drawn out like that," Simmons said. "I cannot say that I would have had the same reaction away from here."

Racial comments in recent years are not as harsh as in the early days of the African-American Interpretation program, said Coleman, who began working in the program in 1982 and now portrays Kate, a feisty domestic slave at the Benjamin Powell House.

Although Colonial Williamsburg does not maintain records on the number of black visitors, Coleman said she thinks more blacks are visiting the Historic Area and are more receptive than they were in the earlier days of the program.

The program ran into resistance before it ever got started. Those objecting, according to program director Rex Ellis, included black visitors and employees who said it would be better to leave that part of history alone and that data to support an accurate interpretation of blacks was inadequate.

Since 1979, black life has been portrayed through theatrical productions, musical programs and interpreters who give talks about, or act out the role of, 18th-century blacks. Black interpreters are most visible at the Henry Wetherburn Tavern, the Benjamin Powell House and the slave quarters on Carter's Grove Plantation.

"Sometime it's like I's dead," Emily Frazier said in a somber tone to a group of visitors recently in her role as Belinda, one of Wetherburn's slaves.

"You got no control over your life. You belong to the master. Your children belong to the master. Even the cows in the pasture got it better than me." Frazier had entered the tavern's great room following a white interpreter's talk on the tavern, which was a popular meeting place in the colonial era.

In some cases the visitors react to Frazier's character with tears, she said, other times with applause. Despite the painful comments, Coleman, Frazier, Simmons and others agree the need to teach visitors about the realities of 18th-century life is the overriding motivation to persevere.

by CNB