Bright lights and colored checkerboard backdrop that spelled out "N-W-C" were the first things the audience saw, before the actors took their places on stage and began the show with loud racist chants.
The Rockland Community College Cultural Arts Center on Oct. 25, hosted the play "Nigger Wetback Chink (NWC)," a play about racial intolerance and cultural identity. The play poked fun at racial stereotypes and slurs to attempt to sway the audience towards acceptance. The show was a major hit, enlightening the audience with the realities of race prejudice through the actors' own personal experiences. The next day, in the Student Union Building, there was a panel discussion on race on campus.
"They [the performers] make you realize injustice by making it funny, so it sticks with you," remarked student Dalem Arsa Artha.
Jackson McQueen, an actor who participated in the show, described his emotions and thoughts of what the show mean to him on a personal level.
"As an actor, I wanted to get through it flawlessly. I didn't realize how powerful it was until I did it the first time," McQueen recalled. "I remember after the first show, a Latino woman came up to me in tears, and told me how great it was to hear someone else talk about her culture in a positive way… It's a project that I'm not investing in," he also added.
The main theme of the show exemplified that there is only one race, the human race, and that everyone is a human being and should be treated as an individual, regardless of racial background.
Writer and actor Rafael Agustin hoped that "by telling their very personal stories the audience could relate."
On that very same note, RCC hosted a panel on the issue of race and racism on campus where five students on the panel shared stories and ideas on the subject.
"The discussion was very important because it helped with understanding and awareness around campus," remarked panelist Zehra Sheikh.
Also at the panel were representatives of the Asian American, Hispanic, African American, and Caucasian communities.
Sheikh, who represented the Muslim community on campus, said that she personally has experienced racism.
The experiences of the actors motivated the them to put on a production that would touch all people of all races. The show attempted to combat the very issues of racial intolerance and discrimination.
It attempted to instill within the audience the concept that the world consists of one human race, and envisioned the ideal of a world without racism.
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