By Marly Falcon, Knight Foundation

Sunday concluded the Miami run of Platanos & Collard Greens, a love story between an African-American man and a Latina who are confronted with racial and cultural prejudices from family and friends. The Knight Foundation’s Marly Falcon weighs in with her reactions to the show…

The play, satirically, addresses the stereotypes, prejudices and urban myths that African-Americans and Latinas are faced with. For example, the argument is brought up that the only reason black men date Hispanic women is because that is the closest they’ll ever get to dating a white woman. Even though some of the viewpoints were absurd, they were relatable to those of us who were raised hearing such absurdities.

Take me, for example. I was born in the United States to Cuban born parents, however my parents weren’t the issue – my grandparents were. From early on my grandmother would tell me that I needed to “advance the race” by marrying a white man. The heroine in the story was told the same thing by her mother, who did not approve of her daughter dating a black man even though her own mother was black, but from the Dominican Republic, which somehow didn’t make her black anymore. Sound confusing? Well, sadly, this is how some people really think.

The play did a fantastic job in tackling all of the misrepresentations regarding race that society has instilled in us. It allowed for you to laugh while analyzing all the times you have been stereotyped or have stereotyped others.