Essays
'Everybody is Welcome': American Prom and The Myth of the Post-Racial Small Town
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'Everybody is Welcome': American Prom, The Laramie Project, and The Myth of the Post-Racial Small Town
In 2018, Moises Kaufman - one of the founders of and the driving force behind the Tectonic Theater Project - sat down with The Coloradoan to discuss the 20th anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard.
In 1998, two men had viciously beaten and left Shepard for dead in a field - Shepard later died in the hospital - because he was gay. The murder took place in Laramie, Wyoming, a small town that east coasters like Kaufman assumed were populated with homophobic “rednecks and hillbillies.” But when Tectonic Theater Project began to conduct interviews for what would become The Laramie Project, Kaufman discovered “how similar [Laramie] was to the rest of the country. Whenever I go to a production of the play…people always say ‘Oh my god, Laramie’s just like my town.’”
In fact, throughout The Laramie Project, the population of the town drives a narrative that the murder was a terrible, but isolated, occurance in what is otherwise a ‘normal’ community. Kaufman explains their motivation for this insistence: “When a town’s reputation has been stained, people take it personally, and they try to rewrite history to accommodate their sense of pride or their sense of identity.” In exploring this topic, Kaufman and his team bring an important truth to the fore: the supposed friendliness and closeness of a small town is no insulator from racism and homophobia, no matter how badly white, straight individuals strain to see otherwise.
In the play American Prom, Jimmy Sr represents this perspective on race relationships. The monologue on page 15 - whether delivered by Jimmy Sr or another white adult speaking his mind - contains several admissions that Principal has a racist history (his memory of a fight, segregated schools, racist slurs), but he has excuses for them all. Close to the end of the play, he insists to another character that, at his church, “Everyone is welcome” - despite clear, quantifiable evidence to the contrary.
Addressing this narrative and Jimmy Sr’s perspective is key to understanding the play, in grasping how a small town like Principal could maintain segregationist, racist, and homophobic structures - like the prom - into the 21st century. It also provides context to Jimmy and Kia’s realization that, for all of Principal’s tragic failings, they are still “from here.” Without this context, the end of the play can feel like false consensus, and not the bold action the prom actually represents.
The mythological friendliness of the rural small town is deeply ingrained in the American psyche. From the Andy Griffith show to modern country music, small towns are portrayed as quiet, idyllic, peaceful, and filled with kind, neighborly people. A 2012 article in The American Conservative acknowledged the real challenges of living in a small town, yet juxtaposed this with the idea of a Mayberry-esque paradise as an American “ideal” that we should aspire to. In the documentary Southern Rites, a Black candidate for sheriff confronted with the question of why he would live in a town with a racially segregated prom admits: “You just have to live here to understand,” going on to explain that it’s a good place to raise a family.
However, the reality for those outside the straight, white paradigm is quite different and has never represented any sort of ideal. The vandalism splayed across the garage door is a potent moment that Jimmy Sr tries to downplay with an admission of “This town ain’t perfect.” Jimmy Sr also attempts to blame outside actors for any problem: if bad things happened, it wasn’t because of the people of Principal (see: his reference to the NAACP “messing things up” on page 55).
A different - lesser? - play may have asked Jimmy Sr to recognize this false narrative and change his perspective. And perhaps he does come away from his conversation with Regina - Kia’s mother - with a slightly adjusted point of view. But Goodwin recognizes the power of the myth Jimmy Sr is up against, and how deeply it is integrated into his identity. Instead, redemption is to be found in Jimmy and Kia’s awareness of their surroundings and their own need for change and self-belief.
Kia, in particular, struggles to visualize her life without the small town that she knows has and will fail her. For her character arc, there is no more critical moment then when she admits she enjoys country music and that Principal has, to some extent, shaped her life (“I’m from here you know.” Accepting the parts of her that are linked to Principal is essential for her character. Jimmy T also comes to a place of accepting Principal’s influence on him, though he must first engage in a period of despising its racism. As Iz Icon sings: “Boomerang thrown still come home.”
By treating Kia, Jimmy, and Jimmy Sr with empathy Goodwin posits that ‘home’ can be both a hollow, prejudiced small town and still be the place that defines us.
Discussion Questions
Discuss the place you ‘come from,’ whatever that means to you. How did it mold and shape you? How has it molded Jimmy T and Kia in bigger ways than just ‘liking country music?’
Compare and contrast the monologue on page 15 with the monologue page 27-28. How are these perspectives on Principal different? In what ways are they the same?
What do you think about the ending of the play? After the play ends, what do you think happens next for Principal? Does anything change?
More reading and some of the references I used: