b'After you read each question, butHistory will tell you that theQuestion\x06 before you read each answer, deter- Founding Fathers of this nation2 Are you able to be honest mine how you might answer if thewere white. Many of them evenenough with yourself to say pen was in your hand. owned slaves. But in Hamilton,that you have seen or been many of the characterssuch asa party to racial injustice in the past? Question\x06 George Washington, Aaron Burr,Can you name it? Will you? Weve 1 The majority of what blackand Thomas Jeffersonareseen it within our association in the people have watched or readportrayed by actors of color. Creatorpast. Until youre willing to be honest or listened to most of theirand star Lin-Manuel Miranda says,in that regard, youre actually part lives has been whitefaced andThis is a story about Americaof the pain that has been and is whitefocused. What could youthen, told by America now, andcontinuing to be felt in the black learn by seeing things from anotherwe want to eliminate any distance.community.perspective? Our story should look the way our country looks.Response\x06Response\x06 Perhaps Hamilton was before itsSam Glenntime. While the casting choices mayWattsCranfieldnot be historically accurate, they areWelcome Hall Mission, Nashville Rescue Mission,certainly culturally accurate and rele- Montreal, Quebec Nashville, Tennesseevant as a reflection of this great nationCitygate Network Board Member Citygate Network Board Memberbuilt by immigrants. This version of history becomes an inclusive one,Its not easy to own up to failure when I want to answer this question byinviting every American to see them- your self-image is that of a polite describing an experience my wife,selves reflected in the story of theCanadian. While not being a direct Shelly, and I recently had. We watchedFounding Fathers. participant in racial injustice, I have the theatrical release of the BroadwayWatching Hamilton and discussingcertainly been guilty of looking the musical Hamilton. If youve not seenthe topics of race and social justiceother way. Growing up in a suburb of it, the musical is entertaining, educa- with Shelly helped us see that we haveMontreal, I was largely unaware that tional, and thought-provoking onbiases we dont even realize we have. an y forms of racism existed. Any ten-many different levels. When it comesI call those unconscious biases. It alsosion I observed was often between the to racial justice and equality, thisgave us a tiny glimpse into what itEnglish and the French in the musical found a unique and subtlemust feel like every day to walk inprovince of Quebec. way of making a statement. the shoes of a person of color.We rarely saw people of color, even though we lived in a multi-ethnic neighborhood. In the larger metropoli-Discrimination is sometimes implicit rathertan area of Montreal, racial tensions were largely ignored, and a numeri-than explicit. It can exist overtly or bubblecally small black population suffered in beneath the surface of a polite exterior.relative silence. Racialized minorities in our city learned to live with reduced opportunities and a healthy fear of 30 WWW.CITYGATENETWORK.ORG SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020'