Stock Stories of Racism

Storytelling project model helps to connect narrative and performing arts for social justice storytelling. It also offers a profound framework to allow individuals to get exposed to and develop a critical perspective that offers a broader understanding of cultural as well as pervasive patterns that still perpetuate racism in daily life today

Stock Stories:  The stories that are told by the dominant group and is passed on through historical and literary documents, and celebrated through public rituals and media that explain racial dynamics in ways that support the status quo and legitimize the perspective of the dominant white racial group in our society

Concealed Stories:  The stories that are told from the perspective of the people of color outside of the dominant group. These stories are oftentimes hidden beneath the surface, toppled over by the stock stories told by the dominant white group.

Resistance Stories: The stories that resist racism and challenge stock stories that support it in order to fight for more equal and inclusive social rights and arrangements.

Emerging/Transforming Stories: New stories we construct to challenge stock stories, build on and amplify concealed and resistance stories, and take up the mantle of antiracism and social-justice work through generating new stories to catalyze contemporary action against racism.

An example of a stock story that is told by the dominant group is "America is now a colorblind/post-racial society". While some individuals may argue that this is true, this statement hides an implicit meaning that arises through living in an unequal society. This can be exemplified through the various performances I have attended. For the first performance at the KCPA Opening Night, I was able to enjoy a performance by Gracie and Rachel. Despite the positive themes expressed during the performance, the introduction seemed hypocritical by presenting the importance of Native American cultural preservation, then showing two White women from Brooklyn, New York. The performance was amazing, however, it did not promote the themes of diversity. Later in the evening, I was able to attend the performance by Mariachi Herencia de Mexico. Everyone was dancing along to the music and enjoying the music that was manifested by the group. The crowd was very diverse and individuals seemed to be enjoying the performance. At the exhibit, “Encounters: The Arts of Africa”, I was able to feel the power of art to create multicultural public spaces. Having an exhibit dedicated to artworks from west and central Africa created diversity within the museum and it was very informative, especially to someone like myself who is not that familiar with the culture and art from west and central Africa. The Pilobolus Theatre also had an act dedicated to Native American cultural heritage preservation. It showed how important it is to save the nature and land that their ancestors have lived in. The Chicago Immigrant Orchestra incorporated all different kinds of instruments from all over the world at the same moment. Usually, a lot of people and orchestras or bands stick together to play pieces within their culture or family of instruments, but the fact that they reached out to multiple performers from different cultures who played their own unique instrument to make a single orchestra was really inspiring. Despite the University's various attempts to promote diversity, the graph on the right shows the complete opposite. If America is truly a post-racial society, the graph on the right should be a little more diverse and equal. However, Whites are still the overwhelming majority.

 The Chicago Immigrant Orchestra manifested music that represents the rich, diverse cultures of the world and really showed how global music is and how music is very powerful in bringing different cultures across the world together. Even though the instruments were from different cultures, it was really beautiful how they all came together and were all part of making a single musical masterpiece.