Sarah Smith Blog 9: Private, Public, and When It Gets Personal

What is private or public in a community really depends on the community. Some communities share everything—good and bad—while others have strict notions that everything is private. Most fall in between. I think, in the greater American community, it really depends on the person. Some share, some over-share, and some don’t like to share at all. Beyond the issue of property, there is the concept of thoughts: what thoughts do people keep private or publicize? Ought some thoughts be kept private, or should everything be laid on the table, the better to reconcile issues?

Clybourne Park exemplifies the clashing of conceived communities: essentially, black and white. In both cases, the issue of race is openly discussed to some extent, offending some but perhaps being appreciated by others as, “Finally! We acknowledge it!” The struggles and issues that accompany racism are something which is often privatized. Remember when people would talk about being “color-blind”? We can pretend race isn’t an issue, that we are oblivious to it—but there’s a difference between being “color-blind” and being accepting. Isn’t it better to acknowledge realities and work towards reconciliation?

I have acted since I was a kid, and have been almost exclusively typecast into the roles of affluent but sympathetic women, achieving their status through no achievement of their own, and generally a bit ignorant of the rest of the world. As we were acting out scenes of Clybourne Park, I was cast as Bev. In the classroom and in one of my earlier blog posts, I mentioned that I grew up in a Chicago bedroom community that made a point of excluding minorities during the same time period as the first act of Clybourne Park, and even (in more subtle ways) into the present. To play a role not unlike the roles I’ve always played, but in a setting that hits close to home and strikes a very personal—and uncomfortable—chord was both striking and perplexing. I realized that I identified with aspects of Bev’s character in ways beyond what I initially expected.

Ultimately, nation and personal life are somewhat linked. Public or private, how we conduct ourselves and what we think affect the people who participate in our nation alongside us. For me, my personal life is, in essence, personal—but sometimes it nevertheless affects others, influences others, and the thoughts and beliefs formulated through my personal life affect what I do publically. Though the white characters in Act 1 of Clybourne Park might consider their views of black people to be personal/private, they become public as soon as black people move onto the street. I think it’s important to at the very least recognize that sometimes what is private becomes public—and that it can have implications for other human beings.