Originally Posted by
Adam Allen
I think this is my problem with the musical, and with veneration of the founders in general -- again, leaving aside the specifics of exactly how much Alexander Hamilton himself participated in the the institutional of slavery, as a private individual.
You'll have to forgive me for just going full Godwin here, but the easiest analogy I can think of to compare it to is if there was someone who was an integral part of the founding of the Third Reich, but then we want to give some lenience for what their personal beliefs about race were. Now, the US government did grant lenience to some former Nazis, because they had useful information/skills/knowledge ... I have a problem with that, too.
I admit that I did not know this until just reading it, but apparently Vermont was the first US state to abolish slavery, as early as 1777. Not only that, but Quakers in the US were opposed to slavery in the colonies pretty well from the very start, which counters that old common defense that "everyone thought that way" back then, and supposedly the founders just didn't know any better, or whatever. No, there always were people who knew and said loudly that it was evil -- furthermore, how racist and evil is the idea anyway, that somehow reasonable white people could look at an enslaved black person and not understand this was a human being every much as they themselves? I think that is apologist bs. I don't think it's really possible to talk about the human spirit and freedom and all that, and really not see that someone with darker skin has every much an intrinsic right as someone with lighter skin. I think the founders just chose to ignore this out of pragmatism and personal interest.
Which is what it is, as far as it goes, because there is no changing the past. But just saying, this is where it bugs me, to see a story told about a "heroic" founding father, using music that came from African American culture, and using a multi-racial cast so the story feels accessible to people who are not white, or might be put off by an all-white cast. I mean, I'm saying I guess that I see the pragmatic reason to do that ... maybe even the artistic reason, because the show is entertaining, as I've already noted.
Just leaves a bad taste for me. I'll aim to stop ranting about it now though, because I don't know if I can be any more clear about why it bugs me.